Great Slave Lake High-Resolution Seismic Reflection Data Christoffersen, P.; Tulaczyk, S.; Wattrus, N.; Peterson, J.; Quintana-Krupinski, N.; Clark, C.D.; Sjunneskog, C. Christoffersen, P. Tulaczyk, S. Wattrus, N. Peterson, J. Quintana-Krupinski, N. Clark, C.D. Sjunneskog, C. earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (Great Slave Lake>LATITUDE 61.6667>LONGITUDE -114) Subglacial lakes identified beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet belong to a rare category of unexplored environments on Earth's surface. The key to understanding the origin and longevity of subglacial lakes is likely contained in their sedimentary sequences. Here we explore the nature of a sedimentary succession in a deep tectonic trough identified as a prime candidate for a large subglacial paleolake. The trough is the 100-km-long, 620-m-deep Christie Bay, located in the east arm of the Great Slave Lake, Canada. High-resolution seismic reflection data and short sediment cores collected in the deep trough show a 150-m-thick sequence of fine-grained sedimentary lake fill separating glacial ice-contact deposits from draped Holocene lake sediments. We interpret this sequence to consist of sediments that accumulated in a subglacial lake that covered an area larger than 130 km2. The inferred presence of a subglacial paleolake is supported by results from hydrologic modeling of drainage pathways beneath the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the last glacial maximum. Our data point toward the existence of a dynamic subglacial lake environment where sediments were delivered by discharge of meltwater from a subglacial water system. A core sample of the sedimentary lake fill in Christie Bay may elucidate whether living organisms exist in subglacial lakes. STUDY NOTES: High-resolution seismic reflection profile data from Christie Bay, Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada. NCDC-Paleoclimatology https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data - Bauer Bruce Investigator : Christoffersen, P. Investigator : Tulaczyk, S. Investigator : Wattrus, N. Investigator : Peterson, J. Investigator : Quintana-Krupinski, N. Investigator : Clark, C.D. Investigator : Sjunneskog, C. 2008-11-01 ONLINE Files online, ASCII https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/18135 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/northamerica/canada/nwt/gsl/seismic/ https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/northamerica/canada/nwt/gsl/seismic/ English https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/18135 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/northamerica/canada/nwt/gsl/seismic/ Poul Christoffersen, Slawek Tulaczyk, Nigel J. Wattrus, Justin Peterson, Nadine Quintana-Krupinski, Chris D. Clark, and Charlotte Sjunneskog 2008Large subglacial lake beneath the Laurentide Ice Sheet inferred from sedimentary sequencesGeology367563-56610.1130/G24628A.1http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/36/7/563.abstract START YEAR: 21000 cal yr BP * END YEAR: 0 cal yr BP -114 61.6667 -114 61.6667