Investigations on two sediment cores from the Arctic Ocean

• Main Author: Knies, Jochen
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 1994
• Subjects: ARK-VIII/2; AWI_Paleo; Giant box corer; GKG; Gravity corer (Kiel type); Paleoenvironmental Reconstructions from Marine Sediments @ AWI; Polarstern; PS19/084; PS19/086; PS19 EPOS II; PS2122-1; PS2122-2; PS2123-2; PS2123-3; Quaternary Environment of the Eurasian North; QUEEN; SL; Yermak Plateau; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Svalbard; Whalers Bay; Berichte zur Polarforschung; Foraminifera*; glacier; Ice Sheet; Planktonic foraminifera; Polar Research; Polarforschung; Reports on polar research; Yermak plateau; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.727527; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.727527

During the "RV Polarstem"-Expedition ARK VIII/2 sediment samples were obtained at the continental slope of NW-Spitsbergen. Detailed sedimentological and geochemical analysis were carried out at two undisturbed box cores (PS2122-1GKG, PS2123-2GKG) as well as two gravity cores (PS2122-1SL, PS2123-2SL). The following parameters were deterrnined: Organic carbon, nitrogen and carbonate contents, hydrogen index, stable isotopes, ice rafted debris, grain-size distribution and biogenic opal. The main objective of this study was the reconstruction of paleoenvironmental changes off the northwest coast of Spitsbergen during the last glacial/interglacial-cycle, i.e., during the last about 128.000 years. The results of the investigations can be summarized as follows: - During isotope stage 1 (Holocene) and 5.5 (Eemian Interglacial), light stable isotopes (d180: 3.4-2 %o; d13C: 0.26-0.5 %o), increased bioturbation, high content of planktonic foraminifera and biogenic opal and low quantity of ice-rafted material, indicate seasonally ice-free conditions along the northwest coast due to the intfluence of the Westspitsbergen Current. - Additionally, the sediment characteristics of the middle of isotope stage 2 (Last Glacial Maximum) and at the end of stage 3 confirms an inflow of warmer Atlantic water. The highest production of planktonic and benthic foraminifera (N. pachyderma sin., Cassidulina teretis) (CaC03: 10 %) may reflect the expansion of the 'Whalers Bay'-Polynya as a result of the influence of the Westspitsbergen Current. Presumably, occasionally open-ice conditions provide sufficient precipitation to buildup the Svalbard/Barents Ice Sheet. - The time intervals for the glacier advances on Svalbard given by Mangerud et al. (1992), can be correlated with increased accumulation of ice-rafted material in the sediments at the northwest coast of Spitsbergen. Especially during isotope stage 4 and at the beginning of the Last Glacial Maximum (isotope stage 2), a drastically increased supply of coarse terrigenous material ...