Recent and Late Holocene environments on the southeastern shelf of the Laptev Sea as inferred from microfossil data

Abstract

The study of diatoms and benthic foraminifers from the southeastern shelf of the Laptev Sea shows that their most diverse and abundant recent assemblages populate the peripheral underwater part of the Lena River delta representing the marginal filter of the sea. This area is characterized by an intense interaction between the fresh waters of the Siberian rivers and the basin seawater, the Atlantic one included. Local Late Holocene ( ~ last 2300 years) environments reflect the main regional and global paleoclimatic changes, the Medieval Warm Period ( ~ 600-1100 years B.P.) and the Little Ice Age ( ~ 100-600 years B.P.) inclusive. In addi- tion, the composition and distribution of planktonic foraminifers implies a strong influence of the Atlantic water during the Holocene optimum ~ 5100-6200 years B.P.