Leaf wax δ ²H and varve-thickness climate proxies from proglacial lake sediments, Baffin Island, Arctic Canada

We present a multiproxy paleoclimate record using leaf wax hydrogen isotopes (δ ²H _wax) and varve thickness from Arctic proglacial lake sediments. We also provide one of the first evaluations of the utility of δ ²H _wax as a paleoclimate proxy in Arctic proglacial lakes. We compare varve thickness and δ ²H _wax at sub-decadal resolution from 1948 to 2004 AD, and at sub-centennial resolution from 1450 to 2004 AD. Varve thickness and δ ²H _wax both contain large interannual variability and are anti-correlated during the late twentieth century, suggesting that both proxies respond rapidly, but by different mechanisms, to catchment-scale forcings. At longer time scales, varve thickness exhibits a strong response to Little Ice Age cooling (1661-1827 AD in this record) but does not show evidence for twentieth century warming recorded throughout the Arctic. δ ²H _wax does record regional-scale temperature changes, with more ²H-depleted values during the Little Ice Age and an abrupt change to more ²H-enriched values in the twentieth century. This corresponds well with a recent Arctic-wide temperature reconstruction in which the seventeenth century is the coldest interval, and the twentieth century is the warmest interval. Our results suggest that δ ²H _wax is a promising proxy that can be applied at high resolution in proglacial Arctic lakes.