Abstract
Abstract. Atlantic Water (AW) advection plays an important role in climatic, oceanographic and environmental conditions in the eastern Arctic. Situated along the only deep connection between the Atlantic and the Arctic oceans, the Svalbard Archipelago is an ideal location to reconstruct the past AW advection history and document its linkage with local glacier dynamics, as illustrated in the present study of a 275 cm long sedimentary record from Woodfjorden (northern Spitsbergen; water depth: 171 m) spanning the last ∼ 15 500 years. Sedimentological, micropalaeontological and geochemical analyses were used to reconstruct changes in marine environmental conditions, sea ice cover and glacier activity. Data illustrate a partial break-up of the Svalbard–Barents Sea Ice Sheet from Heinrich Stadial 1 onwards (until ∼ 14.6 ka). During the Bølling–Allerød ( ∼ 14.6–12.7 ka), AW penetrated as a bottom water mass into the fjord system and contributed significantly to the destabilization of local glaciers. During the Younger Dryas ( ∼ 12.7–11.7 ka), it intruded into intermediate waters while evidence for a glacier advance is lacking. A short-term deepening of the halocline occurred at the very end of this interval. During the early Holocene ( ∼ 11.7–7.8 ka), mild conditions led to glacier retreat, a reduced sea ice cover and increasing sea surface temperatures, with a brief interruption during the Preboreal Oscillation ( ∼ 11.1–10.8 ka). Due to a ∼ 6000-year gap, the mid-Holocene is not recorded in this sediment core. During the late Holocene ( ∼ 1.8–0.4 ka), a slightly reduced AW inflow and lower sea surface temperatures compared to the early Holocene are reconstructed. Glaciers, which previously retreated to the shallower inner parts of the Woodfjorden system, likely advanced during the late Holocene. In particular, topographic control in concert with the reduced summer insolation partly decoupled glacier dynamics from AW advection during this recent interval.
Highlights
In the context of the ongoing global warming, the Arctic is gaining increasing attention from the scientific community and the general public (e.g. IPCC, 2014; Masson-Delmotte et al, 2013)
The present study aims to fill this gap by compiling multi-proxy data, in particular, physical properties of the sediment, the faunal distribution and geochemical composition of benthic foraminifera, and biomarkers
Cold surface waters were covered by extensive sea ice, while early intrusions of Atlantic Water as a bottom water mass occurred (Fig. 9a)
Summary
In the context of the ongoing global warming, the Arctic is gaining increasing attention from the scientific community and the general public (e.g. IPCC, 2014; Masson-Delmotte et al, 2013). This is primarily motivated by extreme events like the 2012 sea ice minimum, the declining summer sea ice cover of recent decades (Stroeve et al, 2012) and the significant contribution of melting Arctic glaciers to the rising global sea level The Arctic is extremely sensitive to climatic changes and due to various feedback mechanisms, it is warming twice as fast as the global mean – a phenomenon commonly called the Arctic amplification (Serreze and Barry, 2011). Several studies draw a connection to climate phenomena (especially severe winters) at lower latitudes
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