Articles | Volume 21, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-1595-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-1595-2025
Research article
 | 
11 Sep 2025
Research article |  | 11 Sep 2025

A new 1500-year-long varve thickness record from Labrador, Canada, uncovers significant insights into large-scale climate variability in the Atlantic

François Lapointe, Antoine Gagnon-Poiré, Pierre Francus, Patrick Lajeunesse, and Clarence Gagnon

Related authors

Measuring varve thickness using micro-computed tomography (µCT): a comparison with thin section
Marie-Eugénie Meusseunan Pascale Jamba, Pierre Francus, Antoine Gagnon-Poiré, and Guillaume St-Onge
Geochronology, 7, 83–111, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-7-83-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-7-83-2025, 2025
Short summary
High-Resolution Paleo-Storm Reconstruction from Eastern Canada Aligns with Late-Holocene Northwestern Atlantic Hurricane Records
Antoine Lachance, Matthew Peros, Jeannine-Marie St-Jacques, Pierre Francus, and Nicole K. Sanderson
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-400,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-400, 2025
Short summary
The Green Edge cruise: investigating the marginal ice zone processes during late spring and early summer to understand the fate of the Arctic phytoplankton bloom
Flavienne Bruyant, Rémi Amiraux, Marie-Pier Amyot, Philippe Archambault, Lise Artigue, Lucas Barbedo de Freitas, Guislain Bécu, Simon Bélanger, Pascaline Bourgain, Annick Bricaud, Etienne Brouard, Camille Brunet, Tonya Burgers, Danielle Caleb, Katrine Chalut, Hervé Claustre, Véronique Cornet-Barthaux, Pierre Coupel, Marine Cusa, Fanny Cusset, Laeticia Dadaglio, Marty Davelaar, Gabrièle Deslongchamps, Céline Dimier, Julie Dinasquet, Dany Dumont, Brent Else, Igor Eulaers, Joannie Ferland, Gabrielle Filteau, Marie-Hélène Forget, Jérome Fort, Louis Fortier, Martí Galí, Morgane Gallinari, Svend-Erik Garbus, Nicole Garcia, Catherine Gérikas Ribeiro, Colline Gombault, Priscilla Gourvil, Clémence Goyens, Cindy Grant, Pierre-Luc Grondin, Pascal Guillot, Sandrine Hillion, Rachel Hussherr, Fabien Joux, Hannah Joy-Warren, Gabriel Joyal, David Kieber, Augustin Lafond, José Lagunas, Patrick Lajeunesse, Catherine Lalande, Jade Larivière, Florence Le Gall, Karine Leblanc, Mathieu Leblanc, Justine Legras, Keith Lévesque, Kate-M. Lewis, Edouard Leymarie, Aude Leynaert, Thomas Linkowski, Martine Lizotte, Adriana Lopes dos Santos, Claudie Marec, Dominique Marie, Guillaume Massé, Philippe Massicotte, Atsushi Matsuoka, Lisa A. Miller, Sharif Mirshak, Nathalie Morata, Brivaela Moriceau, Philippe-Israël Morin, Simon Morisset, Anders Mosbech, Alfonso Mucci, Gabrielle Nadaï, Christian Nozais, Ingrid Obernosterer, Thimoté Paire, Christos Panagiotopoulos, Marie Parenteau, Noémie Pelletier, Marc Picheral, Bernard Quéguiner, Patrick Raimbault, Joséphine Ras, Eric Rehm, Llúcia Ribot Lacosta, Jean-François Rontani, Blanche Saint-Béat, Julie Sansoulet, Noé Sardet, Catherine Schmechtig, Antoine Sciandra, Richard Sempéré, Caroline Sévigny, Jordan Toullec, Margot Tragin, Jean-Éric Tremblay, Annie-Pier Trottier, Daniel Vaulot, Anda Vladoiu, Lei Xue, Gustavo Yunda-Guarin, and Marcel Babin
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 4607–4642, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4607-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4607-2022, 2022
Short summary
Reconstructing past hydrology of eastern Canadian boreal catchments using clastic varved sediments and hydro-climatic modelling: 160 years of fluvial inflows
Antoine Gagnon-Poiré, Pierre Brigode, Pierre Francus, David Fortin, Patrick Lajeunesse, Hugues Dorion, and Annie-Pier Trottier
Clim. Past, 17, 653–673, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-653-2021,https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-653-2021, 2021
Short summary

Cited articles

Banfield, C. E. and Jacobs, J. D.: Regional patterns of temperature and precipitation for Newfoundland and Labrador during the past century, Can. Geogr.–Geogr. Can., 42, 354–364, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-0064.1998.tb01351.x, 1998. 
Blaauw, M.: Methods and code for “classical” age-modelling of radiocarbon sequences, Quat. Geochronol., 5, 512–518, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2010.01.002, 2010. 
Bonsal, B. and Shabbar, A.: Impacts of Large-Scale Circulation Variability on Low Streamflows over Canada: A Review, Can. Water Resour. J., 33, 137–154, https://doi.org/10.4296/cwrj3302137, 2008. 
Bonsal, B. R., Peters, D. L., Seglenieks, F., Rivera, A., and Berg, A.: Changes in freshwater availability across Canada, Chap. 6 in Canada's Changing Climate Report, edited by: Bush, E. and Lemmen, D. S., Government of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, 261–342, https://natural-resources.canada.ca/sites/www.nrcan.gc.ca/files/energy/Climate-change/pdf/CCCR-Chapter6-ChangesInFreshwaterAvailabilityAcrossCanada.pdf, 2019. 
Boucher, E., Nicault, A., Arseneault, D., Begin, Y., and Karami, M. P.: Decadal Variations in Eastern Canada's Taiga Wood Biomass Production Forced by Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions, Sci. Rep., 7, 2457, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-02580-9, 2017. 
Download
Short summary
A new 1500-year-long sediment record made of annual laminations (varves) from Grand Lake, Labrador, reveals past hydroclimatic conditions. The Medieval Climate Anomaly (~1050–1225 CE) had thicker varves indicating more precipitation, while the Little Ice Age (1400–1875 CE) had thinner varves, suggesting a dryer climate. Teleconnections show that Grand Lake is influenced by winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), hence making this record a promising candidate for future NAO reconstructions.
Share