GLACIAL IMPACTS ON LACUSTRINE ECOLOGY, GEOPHYSICAL SYSTEMS AND POLLUTANT CHEMISTRY IN THE HIGH ARCTIC

This project will utilise a multi-proxy approach to analyse lake core sediments at high temporal resolution and reconstruct a historical record of the changing glacial history and sedimentological processes affecting the study sites, sediment chemistry profiles (including the presence of a selection of nutrients, POPs, mercury and lead) and shifts in diatom assemblages (key primary producers in Arctic environments; Ryves et al., 2002). This will provide a diverse spatial and historical overview of Arctic lake sedimentation, ecosystem variability and pollutant accumulation, putting the present processes into climatic context, and providing key data to develop models on the impacts of future climate change on these freshwater ecosystems.