The marine sedimentary environments of Kongsfjorden, Svalbard: an archive of polar environmental change
Kongsfjorden, a fjord in north-western Svalbard, is characterized by large environmental gradients driven by meltwater processes along the margins of tidewater glaciers and the inflow of relatively warm Atlantic Water, the main heat source for the European Arctic. These factors make Kongsfjorden a k...
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Norwegian Polar Institute
2019
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v38.3380 https://doaj.org/article/0dc3696bd6344d3285391dc20e6c2319 |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:0dc3696bd6344d3285391dc20e6c2319 2023-05-15T14:59:13+02:00 The marine sedimentary environments of Kongsfjorden, Svalbard: an archive of polar environmental change Katrine Husum John A. Howe Agnes Baltzer Matthias Forwick Maria Jensen Patrycja Jernas Sergei Korsun Arto Miettinen Rahul Mohan Caterina Morigi Per Inge Myhre Maarten A. Prins Kari Skirbekk Beata Sternal Michel Boos Noortje Dijkstra Simon Troelstra 2019-09-01 https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v38.3380 https://doaj.org/article/0dc3696bd6344d3285391dc20e6c2319 en eng Norwegian Polar Institute 1751-8369 doi:10.33265/polar.v38.3380 https://doaj.org/article/0dc3696bd6344d3285391dc20e6c2319 undefined Polar Research, Vol 38, Iss 0, Pp 1-16 (2019) fjord environment geology climate sediments deglaciation geo envir Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2019 fttriple https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v38.3380 2023-01-22T19:12:51Z Kongsfjorden, a fjord in north-western Svalbard, is characterized by large environmental gradients driven by meltwater processes along the margins of tidewater glaciers and the inflow of relatively warm Atlantic Water, the main heat source for the European Arctic. These factors make Kongsfjorden a key area to investigate changes in the polar climate–ocean–glacier system and to examine the resulting effects on the marine environment. The aim of this paper is to synthesize knowledge about the marine sedimentary environment in Kongsfjorden since the last deglaciation. Fjords act as natural sedimentary traps, archiving information about past and present environmental conditions and changes. Geological studies of Kongsfjorden have demonstrated a good potential for reconstructing palaeoenvironments and establishing baselines values for the natural climate changes in the Arctic. Palaeoceanographic reconstructions reveal rising water temperatures similar to modern temperatures ca. 12 000 years ago. The extent of warm Atlantic Water entering the fjords influences processes at, and the stability of, the margins of the tidewater glaciers. Enhanced inflow may cause accelerated glacial melting that, in consequence, leads to an increase in the sediment flux from the glacial catchments into the fjord, as observed ca. 12 000 years ago and at present. However, responses of sediment flux to modern environmental changes remain poorly understood, hence long-term and monitoring studies are needed to quantify and model the effects of climate warming on the sedimentary environment of Kongsfjorden. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic glacier Kongsfjord* Kongsfjorden Polar Research Svalbard Tidewater Unknown Arctic Svalbard Polar Research 38 0 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Unknown |
op_collection_id |
fttriple |
language |
English |
topic |
fjord environment geology climate sediments deglaciation geo envir |
spellingShingle |
fjord environment geology climate sediments deglaciation geo envir Katrine Husum John A. Howe Agnes Baltzer Matthias Forwick Maria Jensen Patrycja Jernas Sergei Korsun Arto Miettinen Rahul Mohan Caterina Morigi Per Inge Myhre Maarten A. Prins Kari Skirbekk Beata Sternal Michel Boos Noortje Dijkstra Simon Troelstra The marine sedimentary environments of Kongsfjorden, Svalbard: an archive of polar environmental change |
topic_facet |
fjord environment geology climate sediments deglaciation geo envir |
description |
Kongsfjorden, a fjord in north-western Svalbard, is characterized by large environmental gradients driven by meltwater processes along the margins of tidewater glaciers and the inflow of relatively warm Atlantic Water, the main heat source for the European Arctic. These factors make Kongsfjorden a key area to investigate changes in the polar climate–ocean–glacier system and to examine the resulting effects on the marine environment. The aim of this paper is to synthesize knowledge about the marine sedimentary environment in Kongsfjorden since the last deglaciation. Fjords act as natural sedimentary traps, archiving information about past and present environmental conditions and changes. Geological studies of Kongsfjorden have demonstrated a good potential for reconstructing palaeoenvironments and establishing baselines values for the natural climate changes in the Arctic. Palaeoceanographic reconstructions reveal rising water temperatures similar to modern temperatures ca. 12 000 years ago. The extent of warm Atlantic Water entering the fjords influences processes at, and the stability of, the margins of the tidewater glaciers. Enhanced inflow may cause accelerated glacial melting that, in consequence, leads to an increase in the sediment flux from the glacial catchments into the fjord, as observed ca. 12 000 years ago and at present. However, responses of sediment flux to modern environmental changes remain poorly understood, hence long-term and monitoring studies are needed to quantify and model the effects of climate warming on the sedimentary environment of Kongsfjorden. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Katrine Husum John A. Howe Agnes Baltzer Matthias Forwick Maria Jensen Patrycja Jernas Sergei Korsun Arto Miettinen Rahul Mohan Caterina Morigi Per Inge Myhre Maarten A. Prins Kari Skirbekk Beata Sternal Michel Boos Noortje Dijkstra Simon Troelstra |
author_facet |
Katrine Husum John A. Howe Agnes Baltzer Matthias Forwick Maria Jensen Patrycja Jernas Sergei Korsun Arto Miettinen Rahul Mohan Caterina Morigi Per Inge Myhre Maarten A. Prins Kari Skirbekk Beata Sternal Michel Boos Noortje Dijkstra Simon Troelstra |
author_sort |
Katrine Husum |
title |
The marine sedimentary environments of Kongsfjorden, Svalbard: an archive of polar environmental change |
title_short |
The marine sedimentary environments of Kongsfjorden, Svalbard: an archive of polar environmental change |
title_full |
The marine sedimentary environments of Kongsfjorden, Svalbard: an archive of polar environmental change |
title_fullStr |
The marine sedimentary environments of Kongsfjorden, Svalbard: an archive of polar environmental change |
title_full_unstemmed |
The marine sedimentary environments of Kongsfjorden, Svalbard: an archive of polar environmental change |
title_sort |
marine sedimentary environments of kongsfjorden, svalbard: an archive of polar environmental change |
publisher |
Norwegian Polar Institute |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v38.3380 https://doaj.org/article/0dc3696bd6344d3285391dc20e6c2319 |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard |
genre |
Arctic glacier Kongsfjord* Kongsfjorden Polar Research Svalbard Tidewater |
genre_facet |
Arctic glacier Kongsfjord* Kongsfjorden Polar Research Svalbard Tidewater |
op_source |
Polar Research, Vol 38, Iss 0, Pp 1-16 (2019) |
op_relation |
1751-8369 doi:10.33265/polar.v38.3380 https://doaj.org/article/0dc3696bd6344d3285391dc20e6c2319 |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v38.3380 |
container_title |
Polar Research |
container_volume |
38 |
container_issue |
0 |
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1766331346490228736 |