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This was possible because the lakes keep the sediment at the bottom very cold consistently without ever freezing, and the bottom of the lake was dark with little oxygen.
“It s kind of like a natural refrigerator … we don t think it ever froze, she said.
This means fresher mud and more intact DNA than what can be found in permafrost. The researchers could even see intact grains of pollen through a microscope, Crump said.
Looking back at what the landscape looked like the last time it was that warm can help predict what’s to come, she said.
Changes in plant life in the Arctic could also speed up the rate of warming. Since the dwarf birch grows tall enough to stick up over the snow, the dark green surfaces would absorb more heat from the sun.
“I think local residents of the Arctic might in their lifetime be able to detect an increase in the existing shrubs,” said Crump, adding it could be in the form of more dwarf birch covering the ground or getting taller.
Dwarf birch wood could be used for fires, and ptarmigan feed on the buds. According to the Canadian Museum of Nature, they used to be used for cooking and for bedding in the Kivalliq and in Nunavik, and have been used to make fishing spears.
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