Ecosystem change at Kulivatnet since the end of the last ice age
Photo: Prof Anders Schomacker installing the sediment collection tube at the end of the modified percussion corer used to retrieve a continuous sequence of sediments from the bottom of Kulivatnet. Photo credit: Alexandra Rouillard
Monday, March 7th, 2022: Thanks to our volunteer transportation specialist from Vågnes, we quickly reached the lake and got an early start to our sediment coring operations. Through holes in the ice, we used a hand-held piston corer (see photo) suspended by a cable in the water above the sediment to hammer our way gently (yet effectively!) into the precious environmental archive. At Kulivatnet, we were able to collect over 5 m of sediments, which we expect represent up to 12,000 years of slowly accumulated environmental history. Through a range of techniques including radiocarbon dating and ancient environmental DNA analyses of the sediments, ArcEcoGen will explore change in the lake and terrestrial ecosystems (WP2) and peopling (WP4) over this period. Furthermore, the associated project PolarCH4ives will determine climate factors influencing the release of methane (CH4), a potent greenhouse gas, from the lake.
Thank you to our team from the UiT Department of Geosciences (PhD candidate Sofia Kjellman, postdoc Alexandra Rouillard and professor Anders Schomacker) for a most productive and fun day on the ice!
