NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology - Cape Bounty East Lake, Melville Island, Canada 2840 Year Grain Size Data

Annual grain-size variation was measured on the varved (annually laminated) lacustrine sediment from Cape Bounty East Lake using an innovative image analysis system. About 7100 images were acquired using a scanning electron microscope and processed to obtain measurement of particles from 2845 varves. Several particle-size distributions indices were calculated and can be linked to high-energy sedimentary facies. Moreover, the coarse grain size (98th percentile) of these high-energy facies is strongly correlated with summer rainfall (and also summer temperature) of instrumental data from nearby stations. Particle-size distributions show a similar trend through time, especially for the standard deviation and the 98th percentile. Climatic reconstruction suggests that Cape Bounty recently experienced an unprecedented increase of rainfall events since ~AD 1920. On the other hand, changes in varve thickness are weakly correlated with the particle-size distribution. Altogether, these results highlight the need to obtain annual grain-size data to identify a meteorological signal.