Foraminiferal and dinocyst associations as indicators of the Holocene environmental changes at the Cambridge Strait, Franz Josef Land

Abstract

Herein we report the first decadal to centennial–scale resolution data on foraminiferal and dinocyst assemblages from core AMK-5454 collected in the hard-to-reach Cambridge Strait, Franz Josef Land, and on corresponding paleoenvironments over the last 9.2 ka. The dinocyst and foraminiferal assemblages from the core are rather diverse through the Holocene and represented by 24 and 33 taxa, respectively. The most active hydrodynamics and probably Atlantic Water (AW) inflow are suggested by the enhanced values of autotrophic dinocysts and epibenthic species, as well as Melonis barleeanus, from 9.2 to 6.3 cal ka BP. Specific benthic assemblages indicate high-productivity frontal conditions at site location from 6.3 to 4.1 cal ka BP. AW influx from the Franz Victoria Trough to the Cambridge Strait in subsurface to bottom layer, below the very cold Arctic Water and dense sea ice, is documented by enhanced % Cassidulina teretis over the last 4.5 ka.