Geochemical biomarker analyses on sediment cores MSM05/03_343310-5-1 and MSM05/03_343310-2-2 from Disko Bugt, West Greenland

• Main Authors: Kolling, Henriette Marie, Stein, Ruediger, Fahl, Kirsten, Perner, Kerstin, Moros, Matthias
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science 2018
• Subjects: Paleoenvironmental Reconstructions from Marine Sediments @ AWI AWI_Paleo; Greenland; Disko bugt; Ice Sheet; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.885107; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.885107

Past sea ice conditions and open water phytoplankton production were reconstructed from a sediment core taken in Disko Bugt, West Greenland, using the sea ice biomarker IP~25~ and other specific phytoplankton biomarker (i.e., brassicasterol, dinosterol, HBI III) records. Our biomarker record indicates that Disko Bugt experienced a gradual expansion of seasonal sea ice during the last 2.2 kyr. Maximum sea ice extent was reached during the Little Ice Age around 0.2 kyr BP. Superimposed on this longer term trend, we find short-term oscillations in open water primary production and terrigenous input, which may be related to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and solar activity changes as potential climatic trigger mechanisms. A direct sample-to-sample multiproxy comparison of our new biomarker record with microfossil (i.e., benthic foraminifera, dinocysts, and diatoms) and other geochemical records (i.e., alkenone biomarkers) indicates that different proxies are influenced by the complex environmental system with pronounced seasonal changes and strong oceanographic gradients, e.g., freshwater inflow from the Greenland Ice Sheet. Differences in sea ice reconstructions may indicate that the IP~25~ record reflects only the relatively short sea ice season (spring), whereas other microfossil reconstructions may reflect a longer (spring–autumn) interval.