The holocene climatic history of the Circum-icelandic oceanic realms

One of the achievements of the IPY was to foster an unprecedented amount of research initiatives aiming at studying recent (Holocene) changes in ocean circulation and climate in the subarctic and arctic domains. Paleo-investigations offer invaluable information on natural environmental changes at decadal to millennial scale, as well as on the processes driving them. We hereby present some recent results based on proxy records from circum Icelandic areas

Northward advection of Atlantic water in the eastern Nordic Seas over the last 3000 yr

Three marine sediment cores distributed along the Norwegian (MD95-2011), Barents Sea (JM09-KA11-GC), and Svalbard (HH11-134-BC) continental margins have been investigated in order to reconstruct changes in the poleward flow of Atlantic waters (AW) and in the nature of upper surface water masses within the eastern Nordic Seas over the last 3000 yr. These reconstructions are based on a limited set of coccolith proxies: the abundance ratio between Emiliania huxleyi and Coccolithus pelagicus, an index of Atlantic vs. Polar/Arctic surface water masses; and Gephyrocapsa muellerae, a drifted coccolith species from the temperate North Atlantic, whose abundance changes are related to variations in the strength of the North Atlantic Current. The entire investigated area, from 66 to 77 N, was affected by an overall increase in AWflow from 3000 cal yr BP (before present) to the present. The long-term modulation of westerlies’ strength and location, which are essentially driven by the dominant mode of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), is thought to explain the observed dynamics of poleward AW flow. The same mechanism also reconciles the recorded opposite zonal shifts in the location of the Arctic front between the area off western Norway and the western Barents Sea–eastern Fram Strait region. The Little Ice Age (LIA) was governed by deteriorating conditions, with Arctic/Polar waters dominating in the surface off western Svalbard and western Barents Sea, possibly associated with both severe sea ice conditions and a strongly reduced AW strength. A sudden short pulse of resumed high WSC (West Spitsbergen Current) flow interrupted this cold spell in eastern Fram Strait from 330 to 410 cal yr BP. Our dataset not only confirms the high amplitude warming of surface waters at the turn of the 19th century off western Svalbard, it also shows that such a warming was primarily induced by an excess flow of AW which stands as unprecedented over the last 3000 yr

Distribution of living benthic foraminifera in the northern Chukchi Sea

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Arktos. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41063-018-0062-y.Living (Rose Bengal stained) benthic foraminifera were studied in the topmost sediments of five multi- and box cores collected on the continental shelf, upper and lower slopes, of the Chukchi Sea to provide background information on modern benthic foraminiferal distribution, useful for future studies. Sediment cores were collected during August–September 2015, when the area is seasonally ice-free. Benthic foraminiferal contents in the 63–125 µm and > 125 µm size fractions are discussed in terms of water masses distribution, and sedimentological (grain size) and organic geochemical (total organic carbon, total nitrogen, C/N ratio and δ13Corg) characteristics of the surface sediments. Marine organic carbon-rich clay sediments characterize the faunal microhabitats. Despite relatively high organic carbon contents, standing stocks of living benthic foraminifera are generally low, especially for the 63–125 µm size fraction. This low living stock seems to reflect post-bloom conditions in August and September in the area. The reduced supply of fresh organic carbon also affects faunal microhabitats in the sediment with a concentration of living fauna in the upper 2 cm of the sediment. Over the Chukchi Sea shelf, a relatively mixed upper sediment layer likely due to bioturbation or bio-structures induces a disturbed vertical distribution in the sediment. Corrosive Pacific-derived bottom water over the shelf likely explains the relative importance of agglutinated vs. calcareous fauna in this shallow setting. Our results suggest that, in a post-bloom context, the main environmental control on benthic foraminiferal assemblages in the Chukchi Sea is the nature of the bottom water masses

Impacts of Mayan land use on Laguna Tusp an watershed (Pet en, Guatemala) as seen through clay and ostracode analysis

International audienceMost of the cities built by the Mayas in the Pet en area, in the Central Yucat an Peninsula, were abandoned 1200 to 1000 years ago. The phenomenon is sometimes un-appropriately called " the collapse of the Maya civilization ". Its main causes are still debated, ranging from climatic according to the occurrence of severe or modest droughts, to societal in the form of environmental mismanagement of the environment. In both processes, it is inferred that stress triggered the formation in many Pet en lake sediments of erosional clay deposits, known as 'Maya clays'. This work presents a high resolution, multi-proxy study of 'Maya clays' in lacustrine sediments from Laguna Tusp an, near the archaeological site of La Joyanca. Micropaleontological (ostracodes), mineral-ogical (clay minerals) and geochemical (bulk elemental composition and stable isotopes in organic carbon) records reveal three different phases of soil erosion throughout the last 5300 years. The oldest phase from 5281 to 2998 cal yr BP (i.e. 3331 e 1048 BC) is characterized by successive natural and moderate soil erosion deposits which follow climatic variations recorded in the American tropical belt. The time interval between 2998 and 1281 cal yr BP (i.e. 1048 BC and AD 661) contains four distinct erosional layers which, according to clay mineralogy, are indicative of both increased erosion of the regolith and strong soil loss. The most recent, also the most massive, deposit of Maya clay ends around 1281 cal yr BP (AD 661), that is some 200 years before the so-called 'Maya collapse' in the Pet en area. Recent archeological fieldwork studies indicate that a population mobility took place into the city of La Joyanca from its hinterland by the early Late Classic Period (ca. AD 600), that is, at the end or just after this erosion episode, and well before the occurrence of the Terminal Classic-Postclassic (AD 800e1250) drastic climatic changes. Shifts in environmental management by the local society and timing of urbanization may explain environmental changes better than droughts per se

Learning from the past : Impact of the Arctic Oscillation on sea ice and marine productivity off northwest Greenland over the last 9,000 years

Climate warming is rapidly reshaping the Arctic cryosphere and ocean conditions, with consequences for sea ice and pelagic productivity patterns affecting the entire marine food web. To predict how ongoing changes will impact Arctic marine ecosystems, concerted effort from various disciplines is required. Here, we contribute multi-decadal reconstructions of changes in diatom production and sea-ice conditions in relation to Holocene climate and ocean conditions off northwest Greenland. Our multiproxy study includes diatoms, sea-ice biomarkers (IP(25)and HBI III) and geochemical tracers (TOC [total organic carbon], TOC:TN [total nitrogen], delta C-13, delta N-15) from a sediment core record spanning the last c. 9,000 years. Our results suggest that the balance between the outflow of polar water from the Arctic, and input of Atlantic water from the Irminger Current into the West Greenland Current is a key factor in controlling sea-ice conditions, and both diatom phenology and production in northeastern Baffin Bay. Our proxy record notably shows that changes in sea-surface conditions initially forced by Neoglacial cooling were dynamically amplified by the shift in the dominant phase of the Arctic Oscillation (AO) mode that occurred at c. 3,000 yr BP, and caused drastic changes in community composition and a decline in diatom production at the study site. In the future, with projected dominant-positive AO conditions favored by Arctic warming, increased water column stratification may counteract the positive effect of a longer open-water growth season and negatively impact diatom production.Peer reviewe

Vulnerability of the North Water ecosystem to climate change

High Arctic ecosystems and Indigenous livelihoods are tightly linked and exposed to climate change, yet assessing their sensitivity requires a long-term perspective. Here, we assess the vulnerability of the North Water polynya, a unique seaice ecosystem that sustains the world’s northernmost Inuit communities and several keystone Arctic species. We reconstruct mid-to-late Holocene changes in sea ice, marine primary production, and little auk colony dynamics through multi-proxy analysis of marine and lake sediment cores. Our results suggest a productive ecosystem by 4400–4200 cal yrs b2k coincident with the arrival of the first humans in Greenland. Climate forcing during the late Holocene, leading to periods of polynya instability and marine productivity decline, is strikingly coeval with the human abandonment of Greenland from c. 2200–1200 cal yrs b2k. Our long-term perspective highlights the future decline of the North Water ecosystem, due to climate warming and changing sea-ice conditions, as an important climate change risk

Quantitative estimate of the paleo-Agulhas leakage

The Indian-Atlantic water exchange south of Africa (Agulhas leakage) is a key component of the global ocean circulation. No quantitative estimation of the paleo-Agulhas leakage exists. We quantify the variability in interocean exchange over the past 640,000 years, using planktic foraminiferal assemblage data from two marine sediment records to define an Agulhas leakage efficiency index. We confirm the validity of our new approach with a numerical ocean model that realistically simulates the modern Agulhas leakage changes. Our results suggest that, during the past several glacial-interglacial cycles, the Agulhas leakage varied by ~10 sverdrup and more during major climatic transitions. This lends strong credence to the hypothesis that modifications in the leakage played a key role in changing the overturning circulation to full strength mode. Our results are instrumental for validating and quantifying the contribution of the Indian-Atlantic water leakage to the global climate changes

Les nannofossiles calcaires quaternaires de la mer des Caraiebes: Biostratigraphie - Paleoenvironnements

SIGLEINIST T 76480 / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc