Paleoceanographic history of the Seymour-Belize Inlet complex, British Columbia, Canada, through the last 1100 years based on foraminiferal data

Foraminiferal and thecamoebian faunas from the Seymour-Belize Inlet Complex (SBIC), a fjord network situated in the mainland coast of British Columbia, were studied to asses climatic cycles and trends impacting the area through the ∼ AD 900--AD 2002 interval. Through cluster analysis, ordination methods, and the use of foraminiferal-based transfer functions, a period of weak estuarine circulation due to diminished precipitation, with feeble, infrequent incursions of ocean water into the basin was recognized to have impacted the area during the Medieval Warm Episode (MWE), which occurred here between ∼ AD 900 and 1495. Conversely, in the years between AD 1574 and 1943, a very strong estuarine circulation developed, with frequent renewals of the bottom waters by cold, oxygenated ocean currents enhanced by a strong precipitation pattern. This period is concomitant with the onset of the Little Ice Age (LIA) in western Canada. A reversal towards weaker estuarine flow has happened since AD 1943. A detailed taxonomy of the foraminiferal fauna of the area is also presented, which includes the description of Eggerella belizensis n. sp.