Surface ocean circulation in the Norwegian Sea 15,000 B.P. to present

• Published in: Boreas
• Main Authors: JANSEN, EYSTEIN, BJORKLUND, KJELL R.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1985
• Subjects: Norwegian Sea
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1502-3885.1985.tb00729.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1502-3885.1985.tb00729.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1502-3885.1985.tb00729.x

Quantitative studies of foraminifera and radiolaria, semi‐quantitative analyses of diatoms and coccoliths, and the distribution of ice‐rafted sediments have been performed on cores from the southeastern Norwegian Sea. The results document large variations in sea‐surface temperatures and ocean circulation, showing a strong correlation between oceanic data and palaeoclimatic data from the neighbouring coastal areas of Norway. For the first time the Allerød – Younger Dryas climatic fluctuations and the Holocene climatic optimum are shown in records from the Norwegian Sea. Starting at about 13,000 B.P. the sea surface became seasonally ice‐free with productive seasons. During the Allerød a narrow wedge of temperate Atlantic water flowed into the southeastern Norwegian Sea. In Younger Dryas time the surface waters cooled by several degrees. Holocene surface conditions were relatively constant, with somewhat higher temperatures in a period possibly corresponding with Atlantic time.