Collaborative Research: Multiproxy Archives of Late Holocene Climate Variability from Ombrotrophic Peatlands in Eastern North America

Lehigh University, Bethlehem PA

Investigators

Abstract

This award funds a project to investigate the utility of peatland in eastern North America as archives of climate information. The researchers will conduct multi-proxy paleoclimate studies in peatland areas located in the Canadian Maritime provinces, northern Minnesota, and southwest Ontario. Stable isotope studies will examine the unique hydrology of ombrotrophic peatlands and further understand late Holocene climate variability based on tree-rings and pollen. Most tree-ring records from the region extend only a few centuries and pollen sequences record responses to climate change but often lag and/or mask abrupt changes. The researchers aim to develop high-resolution and climate-sensitive datasets from peatlands to document climate variability during the past 3,000 years in the region. The research will help quantify regional responses of forest ecosystems to climate change and support interdisciplinary training for a post-doctoral researcher and several undergraduate students.