Glacier extent in a Novaya Zemlya fjord during the “Little Ice Age” inferred from glaciomarine sediment records

Glacier activity at Russkaya Gavan', north-west Novaya Zemlya (Arctic Russia), is reconstructed by particle size analysis of three fjord sediment cores in combination with 14C and 210Pb dating. Down-core logging of particle size variation reveals at least two intervals with sediment coarsening...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar Research
Main Authors: Zeeberg, Jaap Jan, Forman, Steven L., Polyak, Leonid
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Norwegian Polar Institute 2003
Subjects:
Online Access:https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2120
https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v22i2.6467
Description
Summary:Glacier activity at Russkaya Gavan', north-west Novaya Zemlya (Arctic Russia), is reconstructed by particle size analysis of three fjord sediment cores in combination with 14C and 210Pb dating. Down-core logging of particle size variation reveals at least two intervals with sediment coarsening during the past eight centuries. By comparing them with reconstructions of summer temperature and atmospheric circulation, these intervals are interpreted to represent two cycles of glacier advance and retreat sometime during ca. AD 1400–1700 and AD 1700–present. Sediment accumulation thus appears to be sensitive to century-scale fluctuations of the Barents Sea climate. The identification of two glacier cycles in the glaciomarine record from Russkaya Gavan’ demonstrates that during the “Little Ice Age” major glacier fluctuations on Novaya Zemlya occurred in broad synchrony with those in other areas around the Barents Sea.