Determining the date of ice-melt for low Arctic lakes along Søndre Strømfjord, southern West Greenland

Abstract

The length of ice cover has considerable influence on the functioning of lake ecosystems, particularly so in continental and high-latitude regions where lakes freeze annually. Long-term trends in the length of ice cover and the date of ice break-up can be related to regional weather patterns, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation. It is this relationship to weather patterns that has generated considerable interest in the use of long-term icerecords as climate proxies. Although it is reasonable to assume a relationship between the length of the icefree period and lake productivity, it is unclear if this relationship influences the sedimentary record. Whether these ice-climate interactions can be identified in the sediment record is important for distinguishing long-term palaeoclimatic trends from variations in the sediment record (Anderson et al. 2000).