Sea surface temperatures and UK37 of three sediment cores from the Arctic Ocean

Sediment proxy data from the Norwegian, Greenland, and Iceland seas (Nordic seas) are presented to evaluate surface water temperature (SST) differences between Holocene and Eemian times and to deduce from these data the particular mode of surface water circulation. Records from planktic foraminifera...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bauch, Henning A, Erlenkeuser, Helmut, Fahl, Kirsten, Spielhagen, Robert F, Weinelt, Mara, Andruleit, Harald, Henrich, Rüdiger
Format: Dataset
Language:English
Published: PANGAEA 1999
Subjects:
Arctic Ocean
ARK-II/5
GEOMAR
GIK17732-1
GIK23243-1 PS05/431
GIK23352-3
Gravity corer (Kiel type)
Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel
KAL
Kasten corer
M13/2
M7/5
Meteor (1986)
Norwegian Sea
Polarstern
PS05
PS1243-1
Quaternary Environment of the Eurasian North
QUEEN
SL
Arctic
Greenland
Foraminifera*
Fram Strait
Iceberg*
Iceland
Nordic Seas
Online Access:https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.728295
https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.728295
Description
Summary:Sediment proxy data from the Norwegian, Greenland, and Iceland seas (Nordic seas) are presented to evaluate surface water temperature (SST) differences between Holocene and Eemian times and to deduce from these data the particular mode of surface water circulation. Records from planktic foraminiferal assemblages, CaCO3 content, oxygen isotopes of foraminifera, and iceberg-rafted debris form the main basis of interpretation. All results indicate for the Eemian comparatively cooler northern Nordic seas than for the Holocene due to a reduction in the northwardly flow of Atlantic surface water towards Fram Strait and the Arctic Ocean. Therefore, the cold polar water flow from the Arctic Ocean was less influencial in the southwestern Nordic seas during this time. As can be further deduced from the Eemian data, slightly higher Eemian SSTs are interpreted for the western Iceland Sea compared to the Norwegian Sea (ca. south of 70°N). This Eemian situation is in contrast to the Holocene when the main mass of warmest Atlantic surface water flows along the Norwegian continental margin northwards and into the Arctic Ocean. Thus, a moderate northwardly decrease in SST is observed in the eastern Nordic seas for this time, causing a meridional transfer in ocean heat. Due to this distribution in SSTs the Holocene is dominated by a meridional circulation pattern. The interpretation of the Eemian data imply a dominantly zonal surface water circulation with a steep meridional gradient in SSTs.

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