LATE HOLOCENE PALEO-AND-ENVIRONMENTAL MAGNETIC RECORDS FROM HIGH ARCTIC LAKE SEDIMENT

We report on the continued development of paleomagnetic secular variation, relative paleointensity and environmental magnetic records from High Arctic lake sediments. Reconstruction of late Holocene paleo-and-environmental magnetic record from the Canadian High Arctic has been undertaken using u-channel paleomagnetic measurements from lakes in Ellesmere, Devon, Cornwallis and Bathurst Islands. At present the most complete records come from Ellesmere Island (Sawtooth Lake, 79º21 N, 83º56 W and Murray Lake, 81°34 N, 69°54 W) as these sediments have excellent magnetic properties, and preserve a strong, stable, single component magnetization. Multiple records have been obtained from each of these lakes and they possess independent age control based on varve chronologies. These data establish the characteristics of late Holocene paleomagnetic secular variation (PSV) and relative paleointensity (RPI) for the Canadian High Arctic for the last 2600 yrs. The paleomagetic records from several other lakes support observations from Sawtooth and Murray Lakes, although they lack either independent age control or replicate-coring. Here we will explore using the Sawtooth and Murray Lakes PSV and RPI records as a magnetostratigraphic template to establish time control on High Arctic lake sediments that could not otherwise be dated.