Reconstructing Holocene climate variability from lake sediments of Amsterdamøya, RiS ID 6655

There are gaps in our knowledge of Holocene paleoclimate in the High Arctic due to a lack of well-resolved records and limitations of existing proxy data. Our understanding of High Arctic climate variability can be improved with the application of new bi ogeochemical methods and chronologic tools to terrestrial sedimentary sequences. The goal of this project is to study sediments from a lake on Amsterdamøya in order to develop a Holocene paleotemperature record using alkenone paleothermometry, a new lacu strine biogeochemical proxy, and develop a chronology for the record using finely dispersed volcanic ash layers, cryptotephra. Amsterdamøya is located off the northwest coast of Spitsbergen. Preliminary samples collected in 2012 from the lake have been a nalyzed and demonstrate the potential for this site in applying alkenone paleothermometry and for isolating volcanic ash layers. The proposed research will re-visit the site to perform additional lake and catchments surveys and collect additional sedimen t samples for analysis.