Ground surface temperature histories in northern Ontario and Québec for the past 500 years

We have used 19 temperature-depth profiles measured in boreholes from eastern Canada to reconstruct the ground surface temperature histories of the region. The boreholes are located north of 51oN, and west and east of James Bay in northern Ontario and Québec. The 8 boreholes in northern Ontario come from 3 sites in a region of extensive discontinuous permafrost, while the 11 holes from Québec come from 6 sites in a region of sporadic discontinuous permafrost. The depths of the holes range between 400 and 800 m, allowing a reconstruction of the ground surface temperature histories for the past 500 years. Present ground surface temperatures are higher in Québec, perhaps because the region receives more snowfall as shown by meteorological records and proxy data. The ground surface temperature histories indicate a present-day warming of ∼2-2.5oC in Ontario and ∼1-1.5oC in Québec relative to the reference surface temperature 500 years BP. These results are in agreement with available proxy data for the recent warming in eastern North America. Furthermore, they suggest that the higher snowfall and strong cooling during the Little Ice Age could have muted the borehole temperature record of climate change in Québec.