# Lake Athabasca 200 Year Water Level Reconstruction #----------------------------------------------------------------------- # World Data Service for Paleoclimatology, Boulder # and # NOAA Paleoclimatology Program # National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) #----------------------------------------------------------------------- # Template Version 3.0 # Encoding: UTF-8 # NOTE: Please cite Publication, and Online_Resource and date accessed when using these data. # If there is no publication information, please cite Investigators, Title, and Online_Resource and date accessed. # # Online_Resource: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/25231 # Description: NOAA Landing Page # Online_Resource: https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/treering/reconstructions/northamerica/canada/athabasca2006lakelevel.txt # Description: NOAA location of the template # # Original_Source_URL: # Description: # # Description/Documentation lines begin with # # Data lines have no # # # Archive: Lake Level Reconstruction # # Dataset DOI: # # Parameter_Keywords: #-------------------- # Contribution_Date # Date: 2006-06-05 #-------------------- # File_Last_Modified_Date # Date: 2018-09-24 #-------------------- # Title # Study_Name: Lake Athabasca 200 Year Water Level Reconstruction #-------------------- # Investigators # Investigators: Meko, D.M. #-------------------- # Description_Notes_and_Keywords # Description: Tree-ring reconstructed water level of Lake Athabasca at Ft. Chipewyan, Alberta Province, Canada. Reconstructed variable is the 10-day-average water level for the period July 11-20. # Tree rings of white spruce (Picea glauca) have previously been used to reconstruct annual variations in Lake Athabasca water level back to the early 1800s (Stockton and Fritts 1973). # This study includes an updated reconstruction of Lake Athabasca water level, and extends the earlier tree-ring work in several ways: # 1) improved tree-ring site coverage of the delta with additional chronologies, # 2) increased sample depth at existing tree-ring chronologies, # 3) analysis of the statistical relationship between tree-ring indices and climatic, # 4) analysis of stable-isotope variations in cellulose of tree rings, # 5) placement of the delta chronologies in the context of tree-ring variations over a much larger region of western Canada, # 6) reconstruction of annual streamflow of the Peace and Athabasca Rivers, and # 7) statistical testing of differences in tree-ring data and reconstructed water-level before and after construction of W.A.C. Bennett Dam. # # Supplementary information can be found in the Meko (2002) BC Hydro report at: # ftp://ftp.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/treering/reconstructions/northamerica/canada/meko2002.pdf # # Original data file format is available here: # ftp://ftp.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/treering/reconstructions/northamerica/canada/athabasca-lakelevel2006.txt # # Tree ring data available from the International Tree Ring Data Bank: # http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/treering.html # # Files cana212.rwl - cana219.rwl were used for the reconstruction. These data include # 1970 collections by Fritts and Stockton, and new 2001 collections or recollections by Meko: # # cana212.rwl - Point Providence 2001 Recollection # cana213.rwl - Quatre Fourches 2001 Recollection # cana214.rwl - Horseshoe Slough # cana215.rwl - Revillon Coupe 2001 Recollection # cana216.rwl - Peace/Rouchers 2001 Recollection # cana217.rwl - Athabasca River 2001 Recollection # cana218.rwl - Birch River # cana219.rwl - Mamawi Lake # #-------------------- # Publication # Authors: David M. Meko # Published_Date_or_Year: 2006-12-01 # Published_Title: Tree-Ring Inferences on Water-Level Fluctuations of Lake Athabasca # Journal_Name: Canadian Water Resources Journal # Volume: 31 # Edition: # Issue: 4 # Pages: 229-248 # Report_Number: # DOI: 10.4296/cwrj3104229 # Online_Resource: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.4296/cwrj3104229 # Full_Citation: # Abstract: Tree-ring data were analyzed for a long-term perspective on ecological and hydroclimatic variations on the Peace-Athabasca Delta (PAD). The ecosystem of this Ramsar Wetland of International Importance in northeastern Alberta is sensitive to fluctuations in water levels of the numerous lakes, channels and perched basins, and attention has been focused in recent decades on the possibility of deleterious effects from climatic change and regulation of the Peace River by W.A.C. Bennett Dam. A network of eight Picea glauca tree-ring chronologies was developed, time series features of growth variation were summarized, and the chronologies were applied in a regression model to reconstruct an annual time series of early summer (July 11 to 20) water levels of Lake Athabasca for the period A.D. 1801-1999. Though statistically weak (R2 = 0.36), the reconstruction verifies adequately in cross-validation and is consistent with anecdotal written records of a dramatic decline in water levels in 1879-81. Correlation of reconstructed and observed water levels improves with smoothing. Gaussian smoothing (ten years and longer) identifies a major low centred on 1890. The differential growth responses among the sites as well as evidence from other tree-ring studies suggest the 1890 low was associated primarily with diminished Peace River flows. The 20th century is unusual in a long-term context for high-amplitude multi-decadal variations in tree growth and reconstructed water levels, but the timing of these more recent fluctuations appears unrelated to the building of the W.A.C. Bennett Dam. Further research is needed to better discriminate the tree-ring signal for lake-level variation from the signal due to localized precipitation. #------------------ # Publication # Authors: David M. Meko # Published_Date_or_Year: 2002 # Published_Title: Tree-ring study of hydrologic variability in the Peace-Athabasca Delta, Canada # Journal_Name: Report summarizing research project contracted to University of Arizona by law firm of Lawson Lundell, 1600 Cathedral Place, 925 West Georgia St., Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6C3L2 # Volume: # Edition: # Issue: # Pages: # Report_Number: # DOI: # Online_Resource: # Full_Citation: # Abstract: This report summarizes a tree-ring study of hydrologic variation in the Peace-Athabasca Delta. The study began with field collections of tree ring samples from the delta in late July, 2001. Ring widths and stable isotopes of carbon and oxygen in wood cellulose of rings were analyzed for hydrologic information. The initial objective was reconstruction of interannual variations in Lake Athabasca water level for the past 200 years. The study was later expanded to incorporate a larger network of existing tree-ring chronologies from western Canada and include reconstruction of streamflow of the Peace and Athabasca Rivers. #------------------ # Funding_Agency # Funding_Agency_Name: # Grant: #------------------ # Site_Information # Site_Name: Lake Athabasca # Location: North America>Canada>Saskatchewan # Country: Canada # Northernmost_Latitude: 59.1 # Southernmost_Latitude: 59.1 # Easternmost_Longitude: -109.2 # Westernmost_Longitude: -109.2 # Elevation: 213 m #------------------ # Data_Collection # Collection_Name: Athabasca2006LakeLevel # Earliest_Year: 1801 # Most_Recent_Year: 1999 # Time_Unit: year Common Era # Core_Length: # Notes: #------------------ # Chronology_Information # Chronology: # #---------------- # Variables # # Data variables follow are preceded by "##" in columns one and two. # Data line variables format: one per line, shortname-tab-variable components (what, material, error, units, seasonality, data type,detail, method, C or N for Character or Numeric data, free text) # ## age_CE age, , , year Common Era, ,climate reconstructions,,,N, ## LLJuly lake level,,,meter,Jul,climate reconstructions,,,N,meters above sea level; tree-ring reconstruction; 10-day-average water level for the period July 11-20 # #---------------- # Data: # Data lines follow (have no #) # Data line format - tab-delimited text, variable short name as header # Missing_Values: NA # age_CE LLJuly 1801 209.30 1802 209.43 1803 209.54 1804 210.11 1805 209.85 1806 209.69 1807 209.54 1808 209.55 1809 209.76 1810 209.67 1811 209.46 1812 209.52 1813 209.70 1814 209.37 1815 209.37 1816 209.09 1817 209.16 1818 209.24 1819 209.33 1820 209.40 1821 209.34 1822 209.44 1823 209.59 1824 209.22 1825 209.40 1826 209.18 1827 209.35 1828 209.52 1829 209.66 1830 209.73 1831 209.99 1832 209.72 1833 209.76 1834 209.56 1835 209.33 1836 209.47 1837 209.50 1838 209.22 1839 209.30 1840 209.55 1841 209.62 1842 209.73 1843 209.56 1844 209.50 1845 209.78 1846 209.17 1847 209.71 1848 209.83 1849 210.00 1850 209.95 1851 209.97 1852 209.89 1853 209.78 1854 209.83 1855 209.67 1856 209.72 1857 209.46 1858 209.93 1859 209.83 1860 209.66 1861 209.40 1862 209.30 1863 209.60 1864 209.77 1865 209.66 1866 209.90 1867 209.70 1868 209.74 1869 209.26 1870 209.84 1871 209.70 1872 209.61 1873 209.94 1874 209.95 1875 209.75 1876 209.43 1877 209.75 1878 209.52 1879 209.21 1880 209.29 1881 209.24 1882 209.63 1883 209.57 1884 209.29 1885 208.93 1886 208.92 1887 209.05 1888 209.09 1889 209.20 1890 209.00 1891 209.17 1892 209.01 1893 208.99 1894 209.10 1895 209.11 1896 209.24 1897 209.26 1898 209.28 1899 209.49 1900 209.50 1901 209.64 1902 209.50 1903 209.34 1904 209.63 1905 209.68 1906 209.45 1907 209.33 1908 209.55 1909 209.22 1910 209.10 1911 209.55 1912 209.02 1913 209.11 1914 209.40 1915 209.05 1916 209.20 1917 209.34 1918 209.48 1919 209.84 1920 209.34 1921 209.66 1922 209.91 1923 209.81 1924 209.59 1925 209.79 1926 209.77 1927 209.67 1928 209.24 1929 209.20 1930 209.78 1931 209.73 1932 210.10 1933 209.82 1934 210.04 1935 210.04 1936 210.03 1937 209.78 1938 209.39 1939 209.05 1940 209.07 1941 209.27 1942 209.26 1943 208.87 1944 209.17 1945 208.83 1946 208.96 1947 209.36 1948 209.45 1949 209.73 1950 209.27 1951 209.53 1952 209.41 1953 209.30 1954 209.38 1955 209.43 1956 209.86 1957 209.78 1958 210.02 1959 210.05 1960 210.02 1961 209.65 1962 209.87 1963 210.25 1964 210.16 1965 210.37 1966 210.07 1967 209.77 1968 209.91 1969 209.62 1970 209.28 1971 209.34 1972 209.58 1973 209.23 1974 209.92 1975 209.77 1976 209.77 1977 209.79 1978 209.47 1979 209.69 1980 208.95 1981 209.22 1982 208.73 1983 209.18 1984 209.30 1985 209.22 1986 209.48 1987 209.49 1988 209.57 1989 209.71 1990 209.36 1991 209.53 1992 209.38 1993 209.69 1994 209.86 1995 209.25 1996 209.46 1997 209.65 1998 209.74 1999 209.12