Deglacial to Mid Holocene environmental conditions on the Northeastern Greenland Shelf, Western Fram Strait

• Published in: Quaternary Science Reviews
• Main Authors: Hansen, Katrine Elnegaard, Lorenzen, Jesper, Davies, Joanna, Wacker, Lukas, Pearce, C.hristof, Seidenkrantz, Marit-Solveig
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Zenodo 2022
• Subjects: Westwind Trough; Holocene; Greenland; Deglacial; Micropaleontology; Foraminifera; X-ray fluorescence; Grain size; Palaeoceanography; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; East Greenland; east greenland current; Foraminifera*; Fram Strait; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107704

The western Fram Strait is the only deep-water gateway connecting the Arctic Ocean and North Atlantic.Consequently, today, the western Fram Strait and the Northeast Greenland shelf receive cold, low salinePolar and Arctic Atlantic waters from the Arctic Ocean incorporated in the East Greenland Current.together with warmer, saline recirculated Atlantic Water masses derived from the West SpitsbergenCurrent. We present a multiproxy study (grain size distribution, XRF core scans, and benthic foraminiferalassemblages) based on the lower part of the radiocarbon dated marine sediment core DA17-NGST03-039G, covering the period from 13.3 to 3.9 cal ka BP. We reconstruct the deglacial conditions of theNortheast Greenland shelf together with Early to Mid Holocene fluctuations in subsurface Atlantic Waterand Polar Water advection. The results show that the outer Northeast Greenland shelf was deglaciatedand marine conditions were established prior to c. 13.3 cal ka BP. At this time, our data show AtlanticWater masses flowing beneath an extensive sea-ice cover in a glaciomarine setting, potentially related tothe B0lling-Allernd warm period. Around 12.9 cal ka BP, the onset of high surface and bottom waterproductivity may be associated with the Younger Dryas onset. This was followed by a transition towardswarmer bottom and subsurface water conditions from c. 11.7 until 10.2 cal ka BP caused by enhancedadvection of Atlantic-derived water masses. A cold period with marginal ice zone conditions andenhanced East Greenland Current incursion is evident from 10.2 to 9.4 cal ka BP, succeeded by harshersea-ice conditions and Atlantic Water inflow, prevailing until c. 7.5 cal ka BP. Holocene ThermalMaximum conditions, characterized by high surface and subsurface water productivity, were promotedby enhanced Atlantic Water flow to the shelf from c. 7.5 to 6.7 cal ka BP. In contrast, the transition towardsa cold period with increased drift-ice transport via a strong East Greenland Current is recordedfrom c. 6.2 cal ka BP and to the end of ...