Abrupt climate changes for Iceland during the last millennium: evidence from high resolution sea ice reconstructions

• Published in: Earth and Planetary Science Letters
• Main Authors: Massé, Guillaume, Rowland, Steven J., Sicre, Marie Alexandrine, Jacob, Jérémy, Jansen, Eystein, Belt, Simon T.
• Other Authors: Petroleum and Environmental Geochemistry Group, Plymouth University, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), Paléocéanographie (PALEOCEAN), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans (ISTO), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research (BCCR), Department of Biological Sciences Bergen (BIO / UiB), University of Bergen (UiB)-University of Bergen (UiB), UK Natural Environment Research Council (NE/D013216/1; NE/E00752X/1). This is a contribution to the European Union 5th Framework project PACLIVA (Contract No. ECK2-CT-2002-00143).
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2008
• Subjects: highly branched isoprenoid alkenes; sea ice; Iceland; sediments; [SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; ice algae; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://insu.hal.science/insu-00311656; https://insu.hal.science/insu-00311656/document; https://insu.hal.science/insu-00311656/file/Masse_et_al_-_2008_-_EPSL.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2008.03.017

International audience A high resolution account of Icelandic sea ice over the last millennium has been constructed using a novel proxy based on the presence in sediments of a biomarker (IP25) produced by sea ice algae. Comparison with historical sea ice records demonstrates a strong correlation between documented sea ice occurrences and the IP25 proxy. An excellent agreement is also observed between the IP25 record and a diatom-based sea surface temperature reconstruction obtained from the same core and the Crowley and Lowery Northern Hemisphere temperature reconstruction. Using this approach, we provide new historical sea ice data for periods where records are scarce or absent and evidence for abrupt changes to sea ice and/or climate conditions around Iceland during the Little Ice Age.