Wintertime extreme events recorded by lake sediments in Arctic Norway ...

• Main Authors: Røthe, Torgeir O, Bakke, Jostein, Støren, Eivind WN, Dahl, Svein O
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Figshare 2019
• Subjects: Geography; History; Arctic; Norway; Svartvatnet; North Atlantic; North Atlantic oscillation
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.25384/sage.c.4501706; https://sage.figshare.com/collections/Wintertime_extreme_events_recorded_by_lake_sediments_in_Arctic_Norway/4501706

New time series of long-term hydroclimate variability in the Arctic are urgently needed in order to better understand the response patterns to external forcing and changes in boundary conditions for global climate models. Here, we present a high-resolution record of mass-wasting events based on analyses of sediments deposited in Lake Svartvatnet. Based on novel methods such as x-ray computed tomography (CT), the volume of inorganic layers in Svartvatnet is calculated and allows us to investigate the frequency of mass-wasting events during the last 9000 years in Arctic Norway. The results show an increasing activity over the late Holocene with three main phases of an increased number of mass-wasting events at 6700–5200, 4500–2800 and 1700–500 cal. yr BP. We infer that the frequency of mass-wasting events is driven by wintertime precipitation with possible links to variations in North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index and changes in the zonal flow regime affecting the transport of moist air masses by the ...