Terrestrial and Marine Organic Matter Accumulation in Hudson Bay: A High-Resolution Record of Climate/Watershed Processes over the Late Holocene

Abstract:

A high-resolution record of organic matter accumulation in sediments from a combined gravity-piston core was collected from a site located at a water depth of 104 m inside Nastapoka Sound in the south-eastern region of Hudson Bay. The drainage basins in this region of Hudson Bay coincide roughly with the present-day tree line location and are within the forest-tundra transition zone. CAT- Scan and multi-sensor core logger data revealed relatively uniform sediments throughout the core. 14C-based geochronology indicates that the combined record extends to ~3200 cal BP and that accumulation rates were relatively constant (0.1-0.2 cm/y). Organic carbon, inorganic carbon and nitrogen contents display down-core variability consistent with changes in organic matter inputs but overall relatively stable depositional conditions over the last 3,000 years. Compositionally, we measured steady increases in the carbon:nitrogen ratios and lignin phenol content of sedimentary organic matter from 3200 cal BP to present consistent with enhanced inputs of vascular plant-derived organic matter. Lignin compositions (i.e. S/V and C/V phenol ratios) throughout the core are consistent with contributions from a mixture of conifer and angiosperm non-woody plant sources. Steady decreases in both S/V and C/V phenol ratios since 3200 cal BP to the present indicate enhanced contributions from conifer-dominated vegetation and are consistent with a steady expansion of boreal forests (white and black spruce) over shrub -dominated tundra (dwaf birch, willows, sedges) in this southern Arctic region over the late Holocene. No clear trends in the ratio of combustion products over lignin products are evident, suggesting a low fire frequency in the area during the covered time span of the record.