Paleoecology and climatic context of the Pliocene Fossil Forest of Bylot Island, Canadian Arctic

Following the discovery of a Plio-Pleistocene fossil forest remains, with trunks up to 30 cm in diameter, in peat and alluvial sediments on Bylot Island, samples with DGPS positions were collected inside stratigraphic exposures during July 2009 and 2010. This allowed granulometric, GIS, paleomagnetic and pollen analyses on the fossil organic and inorganic units in order to: 1) Characterize the chrono-stratigraphy of the study site, with the help of palaeomagnetism analyses and palynostratigraphic correlations; 2) Reconstruct the assemblages and the succession of plant communities based on pollen analyses; 3) Reconstruct the mean annual climatic conditions (temperature and precipitation) associated with the pliocene organic units ; 4) Identify correlations between the data from Bylot Island and similar sites in the Canadian Arctic containing Pliocene fossil remains. The conclusions of this study will help to understand the paleo-climatic dynamics that characterized this period of time, in this region of the Arctic. They will also shed light on the conditions that led to the implantation of a forest at these latitudes. The site can be also used as an analog to the actual global warming and will help to understand the ecological changes that could potentially occur in the North.