In the last 150 years, the City of Yellowknife has transitioned from an area of traditional subsistence living to the largest city in the Northwest Territories (Canada) due to the economic influence of resource extraction. As resource extraction in the area boomed, large quantities of pollutants from mine tailings and emissions from roaster stacks adjacent to gold mines were deposited on the landscape, leaving a known legacy of elevated surface water, sediment, and soil metal(loid) concentrations. Most of the research to date has focused on arsenic in the region, and my thesis expands the body of knowledge to include other metal(loids) of interest, including antimony, lead, and mercury. My thesis's main objective was to determine the spatial and temporal extent of legacy mining emissions near Yellowknife and assess the associated biological risk from these historic emissions. I analyzed select intervals from 20 lake sediment cores for time constrained metal(loid) contaminants of concern. I used a combination of paleotoxicity and paleoecotoxicology methods to establish a spatial and temporal footprint of biological risk associated with historic gold mining activities in the Yellowknife region. I determined that lakes close to the mine exhibited a low-level hazard to aquatic communities before mining, while the onset of mining increased the hazard posed by sediments deposited to acute levels. I also discovered that lakes within 5 km of Giant Mine exceeded guideline values for sedimentary mercury during active mining. Further, I developed methods in paleoecotoxicology that indicated a concordance between time deposited, estimated risk, and observed mortality of native Daphnia sp exposed to time-constrained sediment archives. My thesis demonstrates that paleotoxicity and paleoecotoxicology are effective methods to separate historic and modern influences of industrial development on aquatic biota. Additionally, my research has application extensions for policymakers, remediation scientists, Indigenous Peoples, and those proposing new industrial ventures.

It is well established that mining and metallurgy on a larger scale in Sweden originated in Bergslagen. The historical mining district Garpenberg in Bergslagen presently show the oldest signs of mining in Sweden (2300 BP) based on a study of a lake sediment profile from Gruvsjön. This report focuses on the mining history around Finnhytte-dammsjön (Garpenberg) to assess when the first signs of mining occur, what type of ore was being mined, when the first sign of modern mining was observed and when the lake development stabilized. A complete sediment profile was sampled from Finnhytte-dammsjön which was analyzed with X-Ray Fluorescence spectroscopy. An age-depth model was created for the sediment profile using the introduction of Norway Spruce (Picea Abies) pollen and by matching known peaks in historical atmospheric pollution of Pb as points of reference. Increased Fe concentrations (3.6 ± 0.4 %) compared to deeper sections (2.6 ± 0.2 %) was observed which were well correlated with Ca (R2: 0.73). Indications of increased Fe concentrations relative to Ca was found from 2000 BP. Stabilization of LOI550 and changes in sediment geochemistry indicates that a steady state in the lake development was reached around 4600 BP. Major increases in Zn and Cu that was presumed to be from modern mining was observed from 1800 CE. This report concludes that Fe-rich dolomite or skarn was mined from 500 CE with indications that mining started as early as 2000 BP.

Arctic climate variability over the Holocene has been both extensive and, at times, abrupt. Current understanding of these changes is still quite limited with few high-resolution paleoclimate records available for this period. In order to place observed and predicted 21st century climate change in perspective, reliable and highly resolved paleo-reconstructions of Arctic climate are essential. Using an 8.5 m sediment core from Nanerersarpik Lake, this project will characterize climate changes during the Holocene, including the deglacial transition, the rapid changes that are known to have occurred around 8,200 years ago, the transition from Holocene thermal maximum (HTM) to the colder Neoglacial period, and intervals of abrupt climate change during the late Holocene such as the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age. The 8.5 m sediment core from Nanerersarpik contains a dense gray clay in the lower 0.5m. The upper 8.0m of sediment is light brown and organic-rich with centimeter to half-centimeter laminations, interrupted by mass-movement events. Paleoenvironmental conditions have been interpreted using magnetic susceptibility, grain size, biogenic silica, TOC, C/N, organic lipid biomarkers, and δ13Corg, as well as with high-resolution spectral reflectance and scanning XRF profiles. These parameters allow us to interpret changes in autochthonous productivity and clastic input throughout the Holocene. A chronology for the record has been established using 7 radiocarbon dates. The age-model indicates Nanerersarpik Lake contains an ~8,500-yr sediment record with a linear age/depth relationship and a sedimentation rate of 0.1cm/yr, allowing for potentially decadal scale resolution of environmental changes. An abrupt transition from dense glacial clay to laminated organic rich sediment occurs near the base of the core. This is interpreted as marking the retreat of glacial ice from the catchment around 8,250 cal yr BP. High frequency variations dominate the spectral, scanning XRF, and magnetic susceptibility data and indicate some correlation with Holocene climate intervals. Biogenic silica and TOC analysis indicate broad scale changes in primary productivity generally consistent with known Holocene climatic intervals: the deglacial period, the Holocene Thermal Maximum, and the Neoglacial, with high variability during the late Holocene. High resolution biogenic silica data over the past 1500 cal yr BP show some correspondence to Greenland Ice Core paleotemperature reconstructions, suggesting biogenic silica may be responding to temperature on short timescales and should be used as a paleo-environmental proxy in future studies. Alkenones and glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers were present in Nanerersarpik sediments, suggesting this location or others in SE Greenland might be suitable for future high-resolution paleotemperature studies using biomarkers.

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This study investigates environmental signals of early mining activities in Garpenberg by analysing sediment core samples from three lakes: Gruvsjön, Stora Jälken, and Trehörningen. In addition, a comparison between two methods for analysing the geochemical composition of lake sediment, energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) and wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WD-XRF) was conducted for Gruvsjön. Age-depth models for the sediment profiles was conducted by matching known peaks in historical atmospheric Pb-pollution as points of reference together with the introduction of Norway spruce (Picea abies) pollen in Gruvsjön, and lake formation in Stora Jälken and Trehörningen. The earliest signs of mining activity in Gruvsjön date back to approximately 300-500 CE, as evidenced by the gradual increase in Zn levels. Similarly, the earliest signs of anthropogenic influence in Stora Jälken are around 500 CE, likely related to Zn extraction. However, the absence of changes in other mining-related elements suggests that the observed geochemical shifts in Pb, Cu, Fe, Br and Ti must be explained by other factors. Furthermore, no clear evidence of local mining was identified around Trehörningen. Hence, the observed geochemical changes in this lakes sediment record were attributed to other anthropogenic influences such as damming and agriculture. Lastly, the method comparison between ED-XRF and WD-XRF demonstrates a high degree of coherence for most of the tested elements from the sedimentprofile from Gruvsjön.

Im Rahmen einer deutsch-australischen Forschungskooperation erfolgte im Südsommer 2001/2002 eine Expedition in die Amery-Oase (70°50’S, 68°00’E), die im Einzugsgebiet des Lambert-Gletscher/Amery-Schelfeis-Systems, dem größten ostantarktischen Eis-Drainagesystem, liegt. Von deutscher Seite wurden im Zuge der Geländekampagne erstmals lakustrine Sedimentsequenzen gewonnen, um die bislang wenig erforschte spätquartäre Klima- und Umweltgeschichte dieser rund 1800 km² großen eisfreien Region zu rekonstruieren. Die drei untersuchten Glazialseen Beaver, Radok und Terrasovoje unterscheiden sich sowohl deutlich in ihrer Größe, Bathymetrie und den hydrologischen Merkmalen sowie in ihren Sedimentabfolgen. <br><br> Einen Schwerpunkte dieser Doktorarbeit bildet die Rekonstruktion der Sedimentationsprozesse und des Ablagerungsmilieus sowie Untersuchungen zur Herkunft des detritischen Sedimentmaterials in den Seebecken. Der methodische Ansatz verfolgt die Charakterisierung der klastischen Sedimentfazies an Hand lithologisch-granulometrischer Merkmale sowie mineralogisch-geochemischer Analysen der Sedimentherkunft. Ein weiterer Schwerpunkt ist die Rekonstruktion der holozänen biogen gesteuerten Ablagerungsbedingungen im Terrasovoje-See, die Rückschlüsse auf den kurzfristigen postglazialen Klima- und Umweltwandel in der Amery-Oase gestattet. Dabei wurden mikrofazielle Untersuchungsmethoden und hochauflösende Elementscannermessungen angewandt. <br><br> Die klastische Sedimentherkunft in den drei Seen unterscheidet sich räumlich deutlich voneinander und spiegelt den komplexen geologischen Aufbau der Amery-Oase wider. Als Sedimentquellen konnten präkambrische Metamorphite, permotriassische Sedimentgesteine und tertiäre Lockersedimente identifiziert werden. Die Varibilität der Herkunftssignale ist zeitlich weniger deutlich als räumlich ausgeprägt und deutet auf relativ konstante Liefergebiete in den einzelnen Seen hin. <br><br> Das glaziolakustrine Ablagerungsmilieu der drei untersuchten Seen zeigt klare räumliche und zeitliche Unterschiede. In allen drei Seen setzen sich die älteren Sedimente aus grobkörnigem, häufig diamiktischem Material zusammen, während die jüngeren Sedimente aus feinkörnigen Laminiten bestehen. Die lithofazielle Zweiteilung in den Sedimentabfolgen deutet auf einen Rückzug der Gletscher und/oder einen Anstieg der Wassertiefen im Übergang von den grobkörnigen zu den feinkörnigen Ablagerungseinheiten hin. Die oberen feinkörnigen Kernabschnitte spiegeln in allen drei Seen die postglaziale lakustrine Sedimentation wider. Im Beaver-See wird die postglaziale Fazies durch laminierte klastische Stillwassersedimente repräsentiert, im Radok-See durch Turbiditsequenzen und im Terrasovoje-See durch Algenlaminite. <br><br> Abgesehen vom Terrasovoje-See ist die zeitliche Einordnung der Fazieswechsel auf Grund mangelnder Altersinformationen schwer erfassbar. Im Terrasovoje-See setzte die postglaziale Sedimentation um rund 12,4 cal. ka ein. Somit weisen die darunterliegenden glazigenen Klastika mindestens ein spätpleistozänes Alter auf. Die sedimentologischen Eigenschaften, Änderungen der Sedimentationsraten und organogene Zusammensetzung der postglazialen Biogenlaminite des Terrasovoje-Sees deuten auf Variationen der paläolimnologischen Bedingungen hinsichtlich Eisbedeckung, biologischer Produktivität, Wasserstand, Redoxbedingungen und Salinität hin, die mit regionalen holozänen Klimaänderungen in Verbindung gebracht werden können. Weitere Anhaltspunkte ergeben sich aus der Zusammensetzung und den Mächtigkeitsvariationen der Laminae, die generell aus Wechsellagerungen von Cyanobakterienmatten mit feinklastischen Lagen bestehen. Lagenzählungen der Laminae belegen Änderungen des Ablagerungsmilieus auf subdekadischen Zeitskalen, wobei zeitweilige jährliche Signale nicht ausgeschlossen werden können. Unter Berücksichtigung aller faziellen Indikatoren lässt sich aus der Sedimentabfolge des Terrasovoje-Sees ein frühholozänes Klimaoptimum zwischen 9 und 7 cal. ka sowie weitere Wärmephasen zwischen 3,2 und 2,3 cal. ka sowie 1,5 und 1,0 cal. ka ableiten. <br><br> Im Vergleich mit Eiskernarchiven und anderen Seesedimentabfolgen aus ostantarktischen Oasen zeigt sich, dass das Auftreten postglazialer Warmphasen nicht allenorts einem allgemein gültigen räumlich-zeitlichen Muster folgt. Die Ursachen hierfür liegen vermutlich in den lokalen geographischen Gegebenheiten. Es lässt sich daraus schliessen, dass die bisher vorliegenden Klimarekonstruktionen eher das Lokalklima an einem Untersuchungsstandort als das Großklima der Ostantarktis reflektieren. Daraus ergibt sich die Notwendigkeit weiterer Untersuchungen von antarktischen Klimaarchiven und Untersuchungsstandorten, um örtliche von überregionalen Klimasignalen besser unterscheiden zu können. / In the scope of a German-Australian research cooperation field work was conducted in the Amery Oasis (70°50’S, 68°00’E), situated in the Lambert Glacier/Amery Ice Shelf region, the largest East Antarctic ice drainage system. The German part comprised the retrieval of lacustrine sediment cores for the reconstruction of the late Quaternary development of the palaeoenvironment in the 1800 km² large ice-free region. The three studied glacial lakes Beaver, Radok, and Terrasovoje reveal marked differences in size, hydrology and their sedimentary inventory. The goals of this thesis were to infer the onset of depostion in the lacustrine basins and to characterize changes in the depositional environment in the course of glacial retreat and the postglacial climate development. The methodic approach followed the recognition of sedimentary facies variability and sediment sources by means of facies analysis and mineralogical-geochemical provenance analysis. Another aspect was the high-resolution reconstruction of postglacial biogenic sedimentary modes in Lake Terrasovoje that provide insights into the short-term Holocene palaeo-climatic and palaeoenvironmental development. <br><br> The origin of siliciclastics shows marked spatial differences between the lakes, reflecting the complex geological setting of the Amery Oasis. The main detrital sources comprise crystalline rocks of the East Antarctic craton, Permotriassic and Tertiary sedimentary rocks. The temporal variability of sediment provenance is less developed than the spatial pattern, pointing to relatively constant sediment sources through time in the respective lakes. <br><br> The glaciolacustrine depositional environment of the three lakes shows clear spatial and temporal contrasts. In all lakes, the older sediments are composed of coarse, partly diamictic lithologies, while the younger materials consist of fine-grained laminites. The twofold lithofacial pattern is related to regional glacial retreat at the boundary between both sedimentary units that reduced direct glacigenic sediment input. In the epishelf Lake Beaver, in addition, the effect of postglacial sea-level rise led also to the rise of lake level and shifted the study site towards a more distal position from the shore, away from the influence of coarse clastic sediment input. The upper sedimentary units of the three lakes are dominated by fine-grained sediments, which only occasionally include ice-rafted dropstones. The postglacial sediments comprise clastic stillwater laminites at Lake Beaver, finely laminated turbidites in Lake Radok, and algal laminites in Lake Terrasovoje. <br><br> Apart from Lake Terrasovoje the timing of the lithological change is hard to determine, because of missing age constraints. At Lake Terrasovoje, the postglacial sequence started at approximately 12.4 cal. ka BP, suggesting an late Pleistocene age for the underlying glacial sediments. Sedimentological features, changes in sedimentation rates, and the compositional variability of the organic-rich postglacial laminites in Lake Terrasovoje point to variations in the palaeolimnic environment in terms of ice cover, biological productivity, lake level, redox conditions, and salinity that can be related to the regional Holocene climate history. Further evidence arises from the structure, composition, and thickness variations of the laminae, which basically consist of alternations of algal mats (cyanobacteria) and fine-clastic layers. The counting of laminae couplets reveal changes in the depositional enviroment at sub-decadal time scales that partly might include annual layering. Under the consideration of all sedimentological facies indicators, the postglacial laminite sequence of Lake Terrasovoje documents an early Holocene climate optimum between 9 and 7 cal. ka as well as two warm spells between 3.2 and 2.3 cal. ka and 1.5 and 1.0 cal. ka, respectively. <br><br> In comparison with ice-core records and lake records from other East Antarctic ice-free regions, it becomes evident that the appearence of warm episodes does not follow a consistent spatial-temporal pattern. Common trends comprise the existence of an early Holocene climate optimum, as seen in the ice-core records and in the Amery Oasis, and several warm episodes in the middle to late Holocene that are often time-transgressive. The cause of this inconsistent pattern probably can be explained by local boundary conditions that affect the study sites, such as topography, maritime influences and the distance to glacial ice. Therefore, many climate reconstructions basically document local climate rather than overregional Antarctic climate. In conclusion, there is need for ongoing palaeoclimatic studies in East Antarctica and the establishment of a dense network of study sites to distinguish and validate local from overregional palaeoclimatic fingerprints.

Increasing concerns over future anthropogenic effects on climate change as a result of increasing greenhouse gases generate concomitant efforts to better characterize recent climate in order to more accurately predict climate in the future. To this end, a multiproxy study of climate variability in western Ireland from lacustrine sediment was undertaken. The interpretation of paleoclimate records derived from lacustrine carbonate minerals is difficult without a good understanding of the mechanisms that generate variation in isotope values of modern surface waters. Variation in surface waters are ultimately incorporated into lacustrine sediment records conflated by temperature. Therefore, a study of the spatial distribution of ä¹⁸O and äD values of lake and river waters from 144 locations in Ireland has been conducted to provide insight into the behavior of lakes and rivers in Ireland, including source, recycling and loss through evapotranspiration. A 7.6 m sediment core was recovered from Lough Inchiquin that provides evidence for rapid and long-term climate change from the Late Glacial to the Holocene. This was determined using carbon and oxygen isotope analyses of lacustrine calcite as well as carbon from bulk organic sediment fractions. Several significant climate perturbations were identified in the ä¹⁸O_calcite record such as the Oldest Dryas, Younger Dryas, and the 8.2 ka cold event. A previously undescribed climate anomaly between 7,300 to 6,700 cal. yr B.P. characterized by low ä¹⁸O</span>_calcite values with high frequency variability. Variations in carbon isotopes of calcite and bulk organics from the Late Glacial to the Holocene are significant in magnitude (~12) and have similar trends that record temporal shifts in the relative contributions of carbon from the weathering of limestone versus the weathering of terrestrial organic matter. ä¹³C_calcite and ä¹³C_org suggest a rapid recovery of terrestrial vegetation following the Younger Dryas. Change in Ää¹³C_{calcite - org} documents a rapid increase in exogenous fluxes of carbon into the lake at ~9 ka.

Increasing concerns over future anthropogenic effects on climate change as a result of increasing greenhouse gases generate concomitant efforts to better characterize recent climate in order to more accurately predict climate in the future. To this end, a multiproxy study of climate variability in western Ireland from lacustrine sediment was undertaken. The interpretation of paleoclimate records derived from lacustrine carbonate minerals is difficult without a good understanding of the mechanisms that generate variation in isotope values of modern surface waters. Variation in surface waters are ultimately incorporated into lacustrine sediment records conflated by temperature. Therefore, a study of the spatial distribution of ä¹⁸O and äD values of lake and river waters from 144 locations in Ireland has been conducted to provide insight into the behavior of lakes and rivers in Ireland, including source, recycling and loss through evapotranspiration. A 7.6 m sediment core was recovered from Lough Inchiquin that provides evidence for rapid and long-term climate change from the Late Glacial to the Holocene. This was determined using carbon and oxygen isotope analyses of lacustrine calcite as well as carbon from bulk organic sediment fractions. Several significant climate perturbations were identified in the ä¹⁸O_calcite record such as the Oldest Dryas, Younger Dryas, and the 8.2 ka cold event. A previously undescribed climate anomaly between 7,300 to 6,700 cal. yr B.P. characterized by low ä¹⁸O</span>_calcite values with high frequency variability. Variations in carbon isotopes of calcite and bulk organics from the Late Glacial to the Holocene are significant in magnitude (~12) and have similar trends that record temporal shifts in the relative contributions of carbon from the weathering of limestone versus the weathering of terrestrial organic matter. ä¹³C_calcite and ä¹³C_org suggest a rapid recovery of terrestrial vegetation following the Younger Dryas. Change in Ää¹³C_{calcite - org} documents a rapid increase in exogenous fluxes of carbon into the lake at ~9 ka.