A late-Holocene multi-proxy record from the northern Norwegian margin: Temperature and salinity variability

Manuscript. Published version available at The Holocene 2016, doi 10.1177/0959683616675934To elucidate the natural variability of Atlantic and Coastal water, a late-Holocene multi-proxy analysis is performed on a marine sediment core from the northern Norwegian margin. This includes planktic foraminiferal fauna and their preservation indicators, stable isotopes (δ18Oc, δ13C), sub-surface temperature (SSTMg/Ca) and salinity (SSS) records based on paired Mg/Ca and δ18Oc measurements of Neogloboquadrina pachyderma and transfer function–derived sub-surface temperatures (SSTTransfer). The record shows a general cooling with subtle fluctuating palaeoceanographic conditions, here attributed to shifting North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) modes. Period I (ca. 3500–2900 cal. yr BP) is strongly influenced by Coastal water and stratified water masses, possibly correlating to negative NAO conditions. During period II (ca. 2900–1600 cal. yr BP), dominating warm Atlantic water might be linked to a positive NAO mode and the Roman Warm Period. A renewed influence of Coastal water is observed throughout period III (ca. 1600–900 cal. yr BP). Stable and colder SST values potentially correlate to the Dark Ages and are here attributed to negative NAO conditions. Within period IV (ca. 900–550 cal. yr BP), the core site experienced a stronger influence of Atlantic water which might be because of the positive NAO conditions correlating to the ‘Medieval Warm Period’. Additionally, an inverse correlation in Atlantic water influence between the eastern and western Atlantic Ocean is observed throughout periods II, III and IV. This Atlantic oceanographic see-saw pattern is attributed to an opposite climatic response to changing NAO conditions arguing for a coupling between ocean and atmosphere

Natural variability of benthic foraminiferal assemblages and metal concentrations during the last 150 years in the Ingøydjupet trough, SW Barents Sea.

Submitted manuscript version. Published version available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marmicro.2015.09.005While today the SW Barents Sea is a relatively un-impacted and uncontaminated area, industrial activities related to the petroleum industry are projected to increase in the coming decades. This makes the area a valuable natural laboratory to establish pre-impacted baselines as a precursor for future seabed monitoring programs. Here we present benthic foraminiferal assemblages and metal concentrations in four sediment cores from the Ingøydjupet trough, SW Barents Sea, covering approximately the last 150 years. This information supports the application of foraminiferal assemblages as a bio-monitoring tool applicable in high latitudes. At all stations, metal concentrations in the sediment correspond to no effect concentrations. The downcore metal concentrations are mainly attributed to natural variability of the clay fraction and total organic content of the sediments. Agglutinated foraminifera are poorly preserved down-core. Patterns in the calcareous foraminiferal assemblages suggest an enhanced food supply as a result of increased Atlantic Water inflow through the region during the last 150 years. At near-shore stations, the Norwegian Coastal Current additionally influences assemblages. Decadal scale climatic oscillations are indicated by increased calcareous fluxes and are attributed to variability in the food-rich Atlantic Water. This study serves as an important baseline data set prior to increasing industrial activities in the SW Barents Sea, and thereby contributes to a better understanding of natural environmental variability

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

Environmental changes in Krossfjorden, Svalbard, since 1950 : Benthic foraminiferal and stable isotope evidence

Environmental changes for the past ca. 50 years were studied in a short sediment core from inner Krossfjorden, Svalbard, investigating benthic foraminifera and stable isotopes (delta O-18, delta C-13). A depth-age model based on anthropogenic Cs-137 time markers indicates that record covers the period from 1955 to 2007 and has sediment accumulation rates of ca. 0.3 to 1 cm/year. The benthic foraminifera are arctic and/or common in glaciomarine environments. Six fauna assemblages were identified using stratigraphically constrained cluster analysis. Benthic foraminiferal fauna assemblages are mainly dominated by Cassidulina reniforme. Elphidium clavatum is dominant from 1973 to 1986 and 2002 to 2007, likely due to greater turbidity in the water column. We interpret the increased percentages of Spiroplectammina biformis over the same intervals to reflect a slightly lower salinity probably caused by meltwater. During a short time period, 1970 to 1973, Stainforthia concava dominates the benthic foraminiferal fauna interpreted to reflect increased productivity within a marginal ice zone. Other species as Islandiella norcrossi, Nonionellina labradorica, Islandiella helenae, and Melonis barleanus also indicate more nutrient-rich waters are present but not very abundant throughout the record probably due to the glacier proximal position of the study site. The stable isotope record (delta O-18) shows lighter values from 2001 to 2007, which seem to correlate well with oceanographic monitoring data showing increasing core temperatures of West Spitsbergen Current.Peer reviewe

Glacigenic landforms and sediments in Store Koldewey Trough, NE Greenland – preliminary results

The glaciation history of NE Greenland remains poorly constrained, resulting in conceptual and uncertain reconstructions of the configuration of the Greenland Ice Sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum (c. 24-19 ka BP), as well as the timing and the dynamics of the deglaciation. New studies suggests that the ice sheet in NE Greenland probably was more dynamic than previously thought, extending all the way to the shelf edge during the last glacial (Laberg et al., 2013, 2017). Swath bathymetry, high-resolution seismic data and sediment cores from Store Koldewey Trough, off NE Greenland, reveal glacigenic landforms and deposits, providing evidence of the presence and subsequent retreat of the Greenland Ice Sheet in the middle part of the continental shelf. Mega-scale glacial lineations oriented parallel to the trough axis are identified along with a complex pattern of transverse ridges. These lineations are interpreted to be products of a fast-flowing ice stream draining eastward towards the shelf break, whilst the transverse ridges are inferred to be formed subglacially as crevasse fills or at the grounded ice front. Sediment cores contain a characteristic sequence of compact clast-rich diamicton with muddy matrix, absent of shells and bioturbation. This is overlain by laminated mud and massive mud. IRD is generally observed in the upper part of the cores. The diamicton is suggested to be basal till, whereas the overlying deposits are interpreted to be of glaciomarine origin, going from an ice-proximal to a more ice-distal environment. The laminated mud supports deposition from turbid meltwater plumes with variable discharge in an ice-proximal setting, whereas the massive mud indicates deposition from more ice-distal conditions. Within the massive mud the abundance of IRD in the cores increased relative to the surrounding material, probably reflecting increasing distal conditions where deposition from icebergs dominates compared to deposition from suspension settling

Oceanic heat advection to the Arctic in the last Millennium

EGU2011-8738 At present, the Arctic is responding faster to global warming than most other areas on earth, as indicated by rising air temperatures, melting glaciers and ice sheets and a decline of the sea ice cover. As part of the meridional overturning circulation which connects all ocean basins and influences global climate, northward flowing Atlantic Water is the major means of heat and salt advection towards the Arctic where it strongly affects the sea ice distribution. Records of its natural variability are critical for the understanding of feedback mechanisms and the future of the Arctic climate system, but continuous historical records reach back only ca. 150 years. To reconstruct the history of temperature variations in the Fram Strait Branch of the Atlantic Current we analyzed a marine sediment core from the western Svalbard margin. In multidecadal resolution the Atlantic Water temperature record derived from planktic foraminifer associations and Mg/Ca measurements shows variations corresponding to the well-known climatic periods of the last millennium (Medieval Climate Anomaly, Little Ice Age, Modern/Industrial Period). We find that prior to the beginning of atmospheric CO2 rise at ca. 1850 A.D. average summer temperatures in the uppermost Atlantic Water entering the Arctic Ocean were in the range of 3-4.5°C. Within the 20th century, however, temperatures rose by ca. 2°C and eventually reached the modern level of ca. 6°C. Such values are unprecedented in the 1000 years before and are presumably linked to the Arctic Amplification of global warming. Taking into account the ongoing rise of global temperatures, further warming of inflowing Atlantic Water is expected to have a profound influence on sea ice and air temperatures in the Arctic

Revised ΔR values for the Barents Sea and its archipelagos as a pre-requisite for accurate and robust marine-based 14C chronologies

The calibration of marine 14C dates requires the incorporation of regionally specific marine reservoir offsets known as ΔR, essential for accurate and meaningful inter-archive comparisons. Revised, regional ΔR (‘ΔRR’) values for the Barents Sea are presented for molluscs and cetaceans for the two latest iterations of the marine calibration curve, based on previously published pre-bomb live-collected and radiocarbon-dated samples (‘ΔRL’; molluscs: n = 16; cetaceans: n = 18). Molluscan ΔRR, determined for four broad regional oceanographic settings, are: western Svalbard (including Bjørnøya), −61 ± 37 14C yrs (Marine20), 94 ± 38 14C yrs (Marine13); Franz Josef Land, −277 ± 57 14C yrs (Marine20), −122 ± 38 14C yrs (Marine13); Novaya Zemlya, −156 ± 73 14C yrs (Marine20), 0 ± 76 14C yrs (Marine13); northern Norway, −86 ± 39 14C yrs (Marine20), 74 ± 24 14C yrs (Marine13). Molluscan ΔRR values are considered applicable to other marine carbonate materials (e.g., foraminifera, ostracods). Cetacean ΔRR are determined for toothed (n = 10) and baleen (n = 8) whales, and a combined toothed-baleen group (n = 18): toothed, −161 ± 41 14C yrs (Marine20), 1 ± 41 14C yrs (Marine13); baleen, −158 ± 43 14C yrs (Marine20), 8 ± 41 14C yrs (Marine13); combined baleen-toothed whales, −160 ± 41 14C yrs (Marine20), 4 ± 49 14C yrs (Marine13). Where identification and separation of baleen and toothed whales is impossible the combined ΔRR term may be used. However, we explicitly discourage the application of existing cetacean ΔRR terms to other marine mammals. Our new ΔRR values are applicable for as long as those broad oceanographic conditions (circulation and ventilation) have persisted, i.e., through the Holocene. We recommend using the latest iteration of the marine calibration curve, Marine20, which seems to better capture the time-variant nature of R compared to Marine13. More ΔRL datapoints for both molluscs and cetaceans would improve the accuracy and precision of ΔRR. In the meantime, our new ΔR terms facilitate the calibration of marine 14C dates across the region, paving the way for meaningful and accurate late Quaternary histories and inter-regional comparisons.publishedVersio

Annual changes in Arctic fjord environment and modern benthic foraminiferal fauna:Evidence from Kongsfjorden, Svalbard

The relationships between modern Arctic benthic foraminifera and their ecological controls, along with their sensitivity to rapid environmental changes, is still poorly understood. This study examines how modern benthic foraminifera respond to annual environmental changes in the glaciated Arctic fjord Kongsfjorden, western Svalbard. Large environmental gradients due to the inflow of warm and saline Atlantic Water and the influence of tidewater glaciers characterise the fjord hydrography. A transect of six multi-corer stations, from the inner to the outer fjord, was sampled in the late summers of 2005 to 2008 to study the distribution of living (rose Bengal stained) benthic foraminifera. Physical properties of the water masses were measured concurrently. In general, nearly the entire Kongsfjorden region was dominated by ubiquitous N. labradorica foraminiferal assemblage that successfully exploited the local food resources and thrived particularly well in the presence of Atlantic-derived Transformed Atlantic Water (TAW). Further, the annual investigation revealed that Kongsfjorden underwent large interannual hydrological changes during the studied years related to variable inflow of warm and saline Atlantic Water. This led to a strong fauna variability particularly at the two marginal sites: the glacially influenced inner fjord and marine influenced shelf region. We also observed significant species shift from the ‘cold’ to ‘warm’ years and an expansion of widespread and sub-arctic to boreal species into the fjord