Ayr Lake, Baffin Island 570Yr Leaf Wax Hydrogen Isotope and Varve Data

Also provided is one of the first evaluations of the utility of d2Hwax as a paleoclimate proxy in Arctic proglacial lakes. Comparison of varve thickness and d2Hwax at sub-decadal resolution from 1948 to 2004 AD, and at sub-centennial resolution from 1450 to 2004 AD is made.

Varve thickness and d2Hwax 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. d2Hwax 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.