A sediment core from Lake BC01 (75"10.945?N, 111"55.181?W, 225"m asl) on south-central Melville Island, NWT, Canada, provides the first continuous postglacial environmental record for the region. Fossil pollen results indicate that the postglacial landscape was dominated by Poaceae and Salix, typical of a High Arctic plant community, whereas the Arctic herb Oxyria underwent a gradual increase during the late Holocene. Pollen-based climate reconstructions suggests the presence of a cold and dry period ~12,000"cal yr BP, possibly representing the Younger Dryas, followed by warmer and wetter conditions from 11,000 to 5000"cal yr BP, likely reflective of the Holocene Thermal Maximum. The climate then underwent a gradual cooling and drying from 5000"cal yr BP to the present, suggesting a late Holocene neoglacial cooling. Diatom preservation was poor prior to 5000"cal yr BP, when conditions were warmest, suggesting that diatom dissolution may in part be climatically controlled. Diatom concentrations were highest ~4500"cal yr BP but then decreased substantially by 3500"cal yr BP and remained low before recovering slightly in the 20th century. An abrupt warming occurred during the past 70 yr at the site, although the magnitude of this warming did not exceed that of the early Holocene.

A diatom-based paleolimnological investigation was conducted on late Holocene sediments from a poorly buffered lake, informally named “Rock Basin Lake”, on Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada. The fossil diatom record is unlike any other obtained thus far from high arctic regions, exhibiting dynamic assemblage shifts over the entire ∼3300 yr sedimentary record. Multiple proxies (i.e., diatoms, pH reconstructions, biogenic silica, C/N ratios, total organic carbon) appear to sensitively track rapid limnological changes, which are associated with distinct climate intervals as inferred from other regional proxy records. The highly responsive nature of the diatom assemblages in Rock Basin Lake, relative to those recorded from nearby alkaline sites, appears to be related to this lake's limited ability to buffer changes in pH. The dynamic species responses suggest that the diatoms in Rock Basin Lake are faithfully tracking climatic changes, and that low-alkalinity lakes may provide the most sensitive diatom-based paleolimnological records from high arctic regions.

The Late Pleistocene surface paleohydrography of the New Jersey Pine Barrens consisted of a series of broad braided alluvial surfaces with meandering paleochannels. This drainage is best explained in terms of impermeable (i.e. frozen) substrate, high sediment load, variable or decreasing discharge, and eolian sedimentary dynamics. Evidence for eolian activity is provided by wind-abraded sand grains, coversand, dunes, ventifacts, deflation hollows and wind-polished boulders. In several places stream avulsion occurred due to channel infilling by locally-derived wind-blown sediment. The braided and meandering river systems that characterise the tundra and polar semi-desert lowlands of the Western Canadian Arctic are described as modern analogs.

The Canadian Arctic represents an emerging market in the rapidly evolving polar cruise sector. Since 1984 when cruises began in this region, cruise ship activity has been sporadic, but in 2006 the number of cruises to Nunavut doubled from 11 to 22. This elevated level of growth has persisted with ice strengthened cruise vessels conducting between 23 and 26 separate cruises through Arctic Canada each year from 2007 to 2010. With a warming climate some suggest this trajectory of growth will continue as sea ice diminishes and passages open up. Despite this growth little is known about this burgeoning sector from the perspectives of local residents. Through two community case studies local attitudes toward cruise tourism are positioned in a resident attitude typology. In Cambridge Bay, where cruise tourism is just emerging, resident attitudes were found to gravitate toward the passive-favourable areas of the typology. By contrast, in Pond Inlet, which is one of the most visited cruise destinations in Nunavut, attitudes were more varied with some individuals expressing degrees of resistance. The article suggests that if local people are to become engaged participants in the development of cruise tourism in Nunavut, then it is critical that resident attitudes and aspirations are articulated, respected and acted upon.