detrital carbonate peaks on the labrador shelf a 13 7 ka template for freshwater forcing from the hudson strait outlet of the laurentide ice sheet into the subpolar gyre abstract the laurentide ice sheet lis was a large dynamic ice sheet in the early holocene the glacial events through hudson strait leading to its eventual demise are recorded in the well dated labrador shelf core md99 2236 from the cartwright saddle we develop a detailed history of the timing of ice sheet discharge events from the hudson strait outlet of the lis during the holocene using high resolution detrital carbonate ice rafted detritus ird 18o and sediment color data eight detrital carbonate peaks dcps associated with ird peaks and light oxygen isotope events punctuate the md99 2236 record between 11 5 and 8 0 ka we use the stratigraphy of the dcps developed from md99 2236 to select the appropriate r to calibrate the ages of recorded glacial events in hudson bay and hudson strait such that they match the dcps in md99 2236 we associate the eight dcps with h0 gold cove advance noble inlet advance initial retreat of the hudson strait ice stream hsis from hudson strait opening of the tyrrell sea and drainage of glacial lakes agassiz and ojibway the opening of foxe channel and retreat of glacial ice from foxe basin are represented by a shoulder in the carbonate data r of 350 years applied to the radiocarbon ages constraining glacial events h0 through the opening of the tyrell sea provided the best match with the md99 2236 dcps r values and ages from the literature are used for the younger events a very close age match was achieved between the 8 2 ka cold event in the greenland ice cores dcp7 8 15 ka bp and the drainage of glacial lakes agassiz and ojibway our stratigraphic comparison between the dcps in md99 2236 and the calibrated ages of hudson strait bay deglacial events shows that the retreat of the hsis the opening of the tyrell sea and the catastrophic drainage of glacial lakes agassiz and ojibway at 8 2 ka are separate events that have been combined in previous estimates of the timing of the 8 2 ka event from marine records sw iceland shelf core md99 2256 documents freshwater entrainment into the subpolar gyre from the hudson strait outlet via the labrador north atlantic and irminger currents the timing of freshwater release from the lis hudson strait outlet in md99 2236 matches evidence for freshwater forcing and lis icebergs carrying foreign minerals to the sw iceland shelf between 11 5 and 8 2 ka the congruency of these records supports the conclusion of the entrainment of freshwater from the retreat of the lis through hudson strait into the subpolar gyre and provides specific time periods when pulses of lis freshwater were present to influence climate

rapid circulation of warm subtropical waters in a major glacial fjord in east greenland the recent rapid increase in mass loss from the greenland ice sheet is primarily attributed to an acceleration of outlet glaciers oceanographic data obtained in summer 2008 show that subtropical waters that reside year round in the shelf ocean off greenland continuously enter a large glacial fjord in east greenland and contribute to melting at the glacier terminus the recent rapid increase in mass loss from the greenland ice sheet1 2 is primarily attributed to an acceleration of outlet glaciers3 4 5 one possible cause of this acceleration is increased melting at the ice ocean interface6 7 driven by the synchronous warming8 9 10 of subtropical waters offshore of greenland however because of the lack of observations from greenland s glacial fjords and our limited understanding of their dynamics this hypothesis is largely untested here we present oceanographic data collected in sermilik fjord east greenland by ship in summer 2008 and from moorings our data reveal the presence of subtropical waters throughout the fjord these waters are continuously replenished through a wind driven exchange with the shelf where they are present all year the temperature and renewal of these waters indicate that they currently cause enhanced submarine melting at the glacier terminus key controls on the melting rate are the volume and properties of the subtropical waters on the shelf and the patterns of along shore winds suggesting that the glaciers acceleration has been triggered by a combination of atmospheric and oceanic changes our measurements provide evidence for a rapid advective pathway for the transmission of oceanic variability to the ice sheet margins

diatom response to the holocene climatic optimum on the north icelandic shelf abstract a diatom record from core md992275 on the north icelandic shelf reveals palaeoclimatic and palaeoceanographic changes during the time interval 9000 to 5600 cal year bp the study period includes the holocene climate optimum hco as widely known in the north atlantic region a comparison with data for the last 2000 years and with the present day surface sediment diatom assemblages shows that there was considerably stronger influence of atlantic water masses in the area during the hco than in the late holocene and today the results of cluster analysis and principal component analysis divide the studied period into three intervals each characterised by a specific diatom assemblage the assemblages indicate changes in the interaction of the relatively warm irminger current ic and the cold east greenland current egc and east icelandic current eic the north icelandic shelf was strongly affected by the ic during the interval 8000 6800 cal year bp which may be the warmest period of the holocene during the intervals 9000 8000 and 6800 5600 cal year bp the influence of the ic was relatively weak and that of the egc and eic increased correspondingly the well known 8200 cal year bp cooling event shown in many records from the north atlantic is reflected by a relatively strong influence of the egc and eic between about 8300 and 8100 cal year bp in our record however the diatom assemblages show that the inferred circulation change did not bring the strength of the ic down to the levels seen at present and during the last two millennia

reinterpretation of two diatom species from the west greenland margin thalassiosira kushirensis and thalassiosira antarctica var borealis hydrological consequences abstract two representatives of the planktonic diatom genus thalassiosira commonly associated together in the moderate to high latitude north atlantic ocean are demonstrated to be significantly different in both morphology and autecology thalassiosira antarctica comber var borealis fryxell doucette et hubbard mostly resting spores is a dominant species of the early spring phytoplankton bloom around greenland and in the arctic in most paleoclimatic paleoenvironmental studies of the last decades thalassiosira kushirensis takano resting spores r s have probably been included in t antarctica var borealis the present study of phytoplankton from ctd probes and a single surface sediment sample from a multi core and comparative analyses of piston cores from the west greenland margin show these taxa to be good indicators of environmental and hydrological changes related to the distribution of water masses in the studied area t antarctica var borealis is interpreted as an indicator of northern cold water influx especially increased meltwater input during spring bloom whereas t kushirensis r s appears to be related to temperate waters of atlantic origin and probably reflects reduced meltwater influx and increased ocean forcing an abundance of t kushirensis r s during the little ice age lia is interpreted to reflect an enhanced influence of the west greenland current wgc in this region

benthonic foraminiferal distributions and quantitative transfer functions for the northwest european continental margin abstract a database of benthonic foraminiferal data from 298 sediment surface samples from the northwest european ireland to svalbard and iceland margin has been compiled samples deeper than 500 m on the continental slope and shallower than 30 m in coastal areas are not included bottom water temperatures at the sites range between 1 and 12 5 c and salinity between 33 5 and 35 5 detrended correspondence analyses of percentage values of 65 benthonic foraminifera taxa from 260 of the samples show a strong statistically significant relationship between modern foraminiferal assemblages and summer temperature and salinity utilising weighted averaging partial least square regression transfer functions for summer bottom water temperature ts and salinity ss have been developed the transfer functions have relatively low root mean square errors of prediction expressed as a percentage of the range of the modern environmental gradient sampled for ts 3 9 and for ss 9 02 compared to transfer functions developed for other proxies which commonly range from 8 to 20 the distributions of benthonic foraminifera species are dependent on other factors than salinity and temperature such as nutrients substrate turbidity current regime different biological factors different depth related factors etc the present analyses demonstrate that for this group as for most other groups there is an overall but not necessarily direct relationship with distribution and abundance and temperature and salinity conditions the transfer functions have been tested on a late glacial holocene data set and an eemian early weichselian data set from the eastern north sea region these experiments suggest that transfer functions on benthonic foraminifera can be a useful new tool in palaeoceanographic and palaeoenvironmental work along the european north atlantic seaboard

the response of the southern greenland ice sheet to the holocene thermal maximum to determine the long term sensitivity of the greenland ice sheet to a warmer climate we explored how it responded to the holocene thermal maximum 8 5 cal kyr b p calibrated to calendar years before present i e a d 1950 when lake records show that local atmospheric temperatures in greenland were 2 4 c warmer than the present records from five new threshold lakes complemented with existing geological data from south of 70 n show that the ice margin was retracted behind its present day extent in all sectors for a limited period between ca 7 and 4 cal kyr b p and in most sectors from ca 1 5 to 1 cal kyr b p in response to higher atmospheric and ocean temperatures ice sheet simulations constrained by observations show good correlation with the timing of minimum ice volume indicated by the threshold lake observations the simulated volume reduction suggests a minimum contribution of 0 16 m sea level equivalent from the entire greenland ice sheet with a centennial ice loss rate of as much as 100 gt yr for several millennia during the holocene thermal maximum our results provide an estimate of the long term rates of volume loss that can be expected in the future as regional air and ocean temperatures approach those reconstructed for the holocene thermal maximum

establishment of modern circulation pattern at c 6000 cal a bp in disko bugt central west greenland opening of the vaigat strait variations in the holocene circulation of the west greenland current wgc in the disko bugt region have been reconstructed from a suite of sediment cores palaeoceanographic proxies include magnetic susceptibility ms and x ray fluorescence titanium counts which document a major shift in circulation at c 6000 cal a bp before this date sediments in southern disko bugt were characterized by high terrigeneous and basaltic input suggesting widespread influence of meltwater plumes our data show that the wgc re circulated in the southern disko bugt area because a potential northern pathway the narrow vaigat strait was blocked by icebergs that calved from marine outlet glaciers in eastern disko bugt sediments in southern disko bugt deposited after c 6000 cal a bp have significantly lower terrestrial and basaltic sediment input which coincides with minimum holocene ice sheet extent the reduced meltwater and iceberg discharge to the embayment caused the vaigat strait to become free of blocking icebergs and terrigenous input was partly diverted to the outer shelf thus the modern circulation pattern of the wgc was established in the disko bugt region through the opening of the vaigat strait c 6000 cal a bp

nonuniform response of the major surface currents in the nordic seas to insolation forcing implications for the holocene climate variability 1 high resolution sediment cores from the voring plateau the north iceland shelf and the east greenland shelf have been studied to investigate the stability of major surface currents in the nordic seas during the holocene results from diatom assemblages and reconstructed sea surface temperatures ssts indicate a division of the holocene into three periods the holocene climate optimum 9500 6500 calendar cal years bp the holocene transition period 6500 3000 cal years bp and the cool late holocene period 3000 0 cal years bp the overall climate development is in step with the decreasing insolation on the northern hemisphere but regional differences occur regarding both timing and magnitude of sst changes sites under the direct influence of the norwegian atlantic current and the irminger current indicate sst cooling of 4 5 c from early holocene to present compared to 2 c recorded under the east greenland current superimposed on the general holocene cooling trend there is a high frequency sst variability which is in the order of 1 1 5 c for the voring plateau and the east greenland shelf and 2 5 3 c on the north iceland shelf

persistent solar influence on north atlantic climate during the holocene surface winds and surface ocean hydrography in the subpolar north atlantic appear to have been influenced by variations in solar output through the entire holocene the evidence comes from a close correlation between inferred changes in production rates of the cosmogenic nuclides carbon 14 and beryllium 10 and centennial to millennial time scale changes in proxies of drift ice measured in deep sea sediment cores a solar forcing mechanism therefore may underlie at least the holocene segment of the north atlantic9s 1500 year cycle the surface hydrographic changes may have affected production of north atlantic deep water potentially providing an additional mechanism for amplifying the solar signals and transmitting them globally

a diatom based transfer function for reconstructing sea ice concentrations in the north atlantic abstract a diatom based sea ice transfer function is developed using 99 surface sediment samples from the north atlantic and the associated modern sea ice concentrations canonical correspondence analysis cca is applied to the species assemblages of the surface sediment samples and the association of the species with two environmental parameters august sea surface temperature and may sea ice concentration is assessed the results of this analysis indicate negative correlation between sea ice and sea surface temperature and that a group of diatom species is strongly associated with sea ice especially may sea ice concentration the results of the cca legitimate the development of a diatom based sea ice transfer function the maximum likelihood method has been applied as the transfer function method as it has been proven most suitable with this particular data set the newly developed transfer function is then used to reconstruct may sea ice concentration in three cases each focusing on a different time period the last glacial maximum the younger dryas and the holocene in all three cases the transfer function produces reasonable results when compared to other paleoclimatic proxy results this suggests that the sea ice concentration reconstructed by the diatom based sea ice transfer function is a valid and reliable method which can be applied as a valid proxy for may sea ice concentration

8000 year marine record of climate variability and fjord dynamics from southern greenland abstract holocene sediment records of glacio marine environmental and climatic changes from ikersuaq fjord and narsaq sound in southern greenland have been studied the ikersuaq fjord record representing the last c 500 years is dominated by turbidite sedimentation and very high sedimentations rates of up to 1 cm yr the adjacent narsaq sound site on the other hand represents a continuous and more slowly accumulating sedimentation record of the last c 8000 years the narsaq record reveals changes in position and melting rates of glacier termini of the nearby greenland ice sheet from the holocene thermal optimum period terminating at about 5 0 ka to the neoglaciation period during the late holocene from 8 0 ka to 4 8 ka ice rafted debris ird influx progressively became reduced supporting a landward retraction of glacier termini neoglaciation of the region appears to have been initiated at about 4 8 ka with a culmination of ird rain at about 4 6 ka 3 6 ka 2 2 ka 1 0 ka 0 7 ka and 0 5 ka and onward some of these ird events appear to be associated with enhanced melting and glacier instability during warming episodes however at the transition to the little ice age at about 1450 years ad a marked increase in ird influx took place the bottom water of narsaq sound appears to have been dominated by modified irminger water atlantic during most of the holocene bottom current flow was quite sluggish before 3 2 ka whereas the late holocene period appears to have been characterised by three pronounced episodes of increased bottom current velocity and increased calcareous benthic foraminifera productivity the long term climate pattern in the narsaq sound record follows climate changes consistent with patterns of east greenland current variability which is partly related to dominant north atlantic oscillation forcing of wind and ice drift patterns

are seasonal variations in river floodplain sediment exchange in the lower amazon river basin resolvable through meteoric cosmogenic 10be to stable 9be ratios abstract the lower amazon basin contains vast floodplains that exchange sediment with the main river the exchange of sediment between the floodplain and the channel follows a seasonal cycle that is anticorrelated with the hydrological cycle at low water stages sediment that has been stored in the floodplain for potentially several thousands of years is eroded and transferred from the floodplain to the mainstem during high water stages most sediment transported in the main channel stems directly from the eroding source with little intermittent storage we apply the meteoric cosmogenic 10be to stable 9be ratio 10be 9be as a denudation and weathering proxy to investigate this seasonality in sediment transport single meteoric 10be concentrations 10be have previously been shown to record floodplain storage whereas fractions of mobilized 9be a trace metal released during weathering provide degrees of weathering the resulting 10be 9be ratio provides denudation rates of the sediment sources we compare 10be 9be measured on suspended sediment from river depth profiles at two sites obidos macapa and during two hydrological seasons high low water stage in 2013 we show that careful construction of river depth profiles in combination with rouse modeling is necessary to exclude the grain size dependence that together with hydrodynamic sorting introduces a bias into single 10be and 9be in contrast the 10be 9be is largely uniform across grain sizes and is thus unaffected by sorting our 10be 9be ratios the denudation rates derived from them and mobilized 9be fractions do not show variations outside their uncertainties across seasons or sites thus 10be 9be show that upstream sediment sources were well mixed by multiple cycles of storage and remobilization in the floodplain

diatom surface sediment assemblages around iceland and their relationships to oceanic environmental variables canonical correspondence analysis of diatoms from surface sediment samples and oceanographic environmental variables shows that summer and winter sea surface temperatures water depth and winter sea surface salinity are the main environmental factors affecting diatom distribution around iceland of these summer sea surface temperature is the most important five diatom assemblages are distinguished and the distribution of these assemblages is clearly correlated with oceanic current patterns in the region the sea ice diatom assemblage is limited to the area where the east greenland current polar water has its strongest influence and the cold diatom assemblage is basically controlled by the less cold east icelandic current modified polar water the mixing diatom assemblage results from the interaction between the cold east greenland and east icelandic currents and the warm irminger current the warm diatom assemblage is located in the area dominated by the irminger current and may be used as an indicator of warm water masses atlantic water the coastal diatom assemblage is the only one strongly influenced by both water depth and summer water temperatures

fault imaging in sparsely sampled 3d seismic data using common reflection surface processing and attribute analysis a study in the upper rhine graben abstract cost reduction in seismic reconnaissance is an issue in geothermal exploration and can principally be achieved by sparse acquisition to address the adherent decrease in signal noise ratio the common reflection surface method has been proposed we reduced the data density of an existing 3d dataset and evaluated the results of common reflection surface processing using seismic attributes the application of the common reflection surface method leads in all cases to an improvement of the signal noise ratio the most distinct improvement can be seen in the low fold regions the improvement depends strongly on the midpoint aperture and there is a tradeoff between reflector continuity and horizontal resolution if small scale targets are to be imaged a small aperture size is necessary which may be far below the fresnel zone for a specific reflector the substantial reduction of the data density leads in our case to an irrecoverable information loss

mid to late holocene hydrological and climatic variability in disko bugt central west greenland diatom and lithological analyses were carried out on two sediment cores from disko bugt and the adjacent kangersuneq fjord west greenland in order to investigate mid to late holocene 6 9 0 7 kyr bp hydrographic and climatic variability while the disko bugt record is found to reflect mainly west greenland current wgc fluctuations that can be linked to north atlantic circulation variability the fjord record appears to be more representative of local climate conditions the records demonstrate that the period of investigation was marked by a late holocene thermal maximum beginning at c 4 8 kyr and ending between 3 5 and 3 1 kyr bp encompassing a colder period between c 4 0 and 3 8 kyr bp an episode of higher surface water temperature is also indicated in disko bugt between 2 2 and 1 5 kyr bp in contrast the record from kangersuneq fjord suggests persisting cooler summer surface waters for this interval interpreted to be attributable to increased meltwater outflow the warming episode recogni

late holocene summer sea surface temperatures based on a diatom record from the north icelandic shelf diatom assemblages from a high resolution core on the north icelandic shelf reveal a general late holocene cooling trend which is interrupted by three relatively warm periods diatom data from sur

the recession of the inland ice margin during the holocene climatic optimum in the jakobshavn isfjord area of west greenland recent subsurface mapping of parts of the greenland inland ice margin in the region of jakobshavn isbrae indicates that the fjord system in the period of at least 2700 4700 calendar yr b p was more ice free than at present and that the front of the glacier was at least 15 km behind the present position the 14c datings of subfossils brought to the present ice margin fit with the climatic records from ice cores and confirm the favourable conditions for greenland s first settlers the sarqaq people who arrived in the region about 4000 yr ago to find hunting grounds 10 20 larger than the present

foraminiferal reconstruction of mid to late holocene ocean circulation and climate variability in disko bugt west greenland benthic foraminifera from two cores collected from disko bugt a large marine embayment in west greenland are used to investigate hydrographic changes during the mid to late holocene the records document fluctuations in the west greenland current wgc linked to large scale changes in north atlantic circulation and for one core impacts of local climate changes in particular changes in the cold east greenland current egc and the warm more saline irminger current ic influence the wgc and propagate into disko bugt the cores record subsurface warming associated with the holocene thermal maximum htm from c 6 to 5 ka cal bp gradual cooling of wgc from 5 ka cal bp was interrupted by an abrupt warm interval from 3 9 to 3 5 ka cal bp before cooling became more prominent from 3 5 to 2 ka cal bp this cold period corresponds to the well documented northern hemisphere cooling of the neoglacial and we interpret it as reflecting enhanced flux from the egc and reduced ic flux to the wgc in disko b

holocene thermal maximum off north iceland evidence from benthic and planktonic foraminifera in the 8600 5200 cal year bp time slice abstract a high resolution study of palaeoceanographic changes off north iceland during the time period 8600 5200 cal year bp is based on benthic and planktonic foraminiferal assemblages the core material md99 2275 was obtained from about 440 m water depth on the eastern part of the north icelandic shelf changes in the faunal composition are interpreted to be mainly caused by variations in the strength of the relatively warm high salinity irminger current and the cold east icelandic current which have been shown to be linked to the climatic changes in the north atlantic region environmental proxies at that site are particularly sensitive to palaeoceanographic changes due to its position close to the marine polar front benthic assemblages show that relatively cold conditions prevailed at the base of the record an increase in the influence of atlantic water masses at the sea floor is seen at around 8400 cal year bp whereas the surface waters were relatively warm already at 8600 cal year bp the warming was interrupted by a cold event at around 8100 8000 cal year bp registered both in the bottom and surface waters and correlated with the so called 8 2 kyr cooling event both the benthic and the planktonic faunal compositions indicate that the irminger current had maximum influence in the area between 8000 and about 7300 cal year bp followed by a gradually decreasing influence through the remaining part of the studied time interval it is suggested that the contribution of atlantic water masses from the east and north east to the arctic surface waters off north iceland increased after around 7000 cal year bp and that this was further intensified after 6200 cal year bp at present the arctic surface water north of iceland consists of polar waters intermittently with direct influence from the east greenland current mixed with atlantic waters derived from the eastern part of the nordic seas a comparison of the mean values of selected environmental proxies in the interval 8600 5200 cal year bp with the upper part of the same core shows that the water masses north of iceland were considerably warmer during the holocene thermal maximum than during the last 2000 cal year in general results from core md99 2275 are in accordance with other marine records from the north icelandic shelf and the northern north atlantic region although a detailed comparison on a centennial time scale is hampered by problems with spatial as well as temporal changes in the marine reservoir ages in the region

centennial scale benthic foraminiferal record of late holocene oceanographic variability in disko bugt west greenland a new centennial scale benthic foraminiferal record of late holocene climate variability and oceanographic changes off west greenland disko bugt highlights substantial subsurface water mass changes e g temperature and salinity of the west greenland current wgc over the past 3 6 ka bp benthic foraminifera reveal a long term late holocene cooling trend which may be attributed to increased advection of cold low salinity water masses derived from the east greenland current egc cooling becomes most pronounced from c 1 7 ka bp onwards at this point the calcareous atlantic benthic foraminiferal fauna decrease significantly and is replaced by an agglutinated arctic fauna superimposed on this cooling trend centennial scale variability in the wgc reveals a marked cold phase at c 2 5 ka bp which may correspond to the 2 7 ka bp cooling event recorded in marine and terrestrial archives elsewhere in the north atlantic region a warm phase recognized at c 1 8 ka bp is likely to correspond to the roman warm period and represents the warmest bottom water conditions during the time period of the medieval climate anomaly we observe only a slight warming of the wgc a progressively more dominant cold water contribution from the egc on the wgc is documented by the prominent rise in abundance of agglutinated arctic water species from 0 9 ka bp onwards this cooling event culminates at c 0 3 ka bp and represents the coldest episode of the little ice age gradually increased influence of cold low salinity water masses derived from the egc may be linked to enhanced advection of polar and arctic water by the egc these changes are possibly associated with a reported shift in the large scale north atlantic oscillation atmospheric circulation pattern towards a more frequent negative north atlantic oscillation mode during the late holocene

holocene thinning of the greenland ice sheet the nature of the response of the greenland ice sheet gis to climate change is a fundamental question in climate science but the details remain unclear during the holocene climate optimum 6 000 to 9 000 years ago for example many locations in the northern hemisphere showed unusual warmth yet changes in greenland appeared inconsistent vinther et al now standardize the previously disparate seeming ice core records of climate history on the gis during the holocene and find consistent evidence for a stronger climate optimum than was previously recognized together with elevation reduction and marginal ice sheet thinning the response of the greenland ice sheet gis to changes in climate remains uncertain during the holocene climatic optimum an unusually warm period from about 9 000 to 6 000 years ago changes in greenland appear inconsistent with the rest of the northern hemisphere here the greenland holocene temperature history and the evolution of gis surface elevation are extracted from four gis locations the results may resolve this disparity on entering an era of global warming the stability of the greenland ice sheet gis is an important concern1 especially in the light of new evidence of rapidly changing flow and melt conditions at the gis margins2 studying the response of the gis to past climatic change may help to advance our understanding of gis dynamics the previous interpretation of evidence from stable isotopes 18o in water from gis ice cores was that holocene climate variability on the gis differed spatially3 and that a consistent holocene climate optimum the unusually warm period from about 9 000 to 6 000 years ago found in many northern latitude palaeoclimate records4 did not exist here we extract both the greenland holocene temperature history and the evolution of gis surface elevation at four gis locations we achieve this by comparing 18o from gis ice cores3 5 with 18o from ice cores from small marginal icecaps contrary to the earlier interpretation of 18o evidence from ice cores3 6 our new temperature history reveals a pronounced holocene climatic optimum in greenland coinciding with maximum thinning near the gis margins our 18o based results are corroborated by the air content of ice cores a proxy for surface elevation7 state of the art ice sheet models are generally found to be underestimating the extent and changes in gis elevation and area our findings may help to improve the ability of models to reproduce the gis response to holocene climate

water column structure and circulation under the north water during spring transition april july 1998 abstract the north water is a large recurring polynya in northern baffin bay over 400 hydrographic ctd profiles taken over a grid of stations between april and july 1998 were analysed to understand the water column structures underlying the polynya during spring transition in the north water imported and dissimilar water masses converge over a complex bathymetry northern assembly na waters are derived from inflows through nares strait and jones sound southern assembly sa waters are derived from a northern moving branch of the west greenland current wgc na and sa waters mix primarily over the north south smith sound canyon between 76 5 n and 77 n latitude to form a distinct relatively thick halocline layer termed north water assembly nwa characterised by density compensating thermohaline intrusions in the southern portion of the north water a sharp front between nwa waters and sa waters roughly aligns with the 500 m isobath flow patterns deduced from potential temperature vs salinity s diagrams and from minima in stability frequency n profiles indicate that this front results from the convergence of nwa waters and a branch of the wgc that is cyclonically re directed as it approaches smith sound canyon not all sa waters are immediately re directed south towards the front as a second branch follows the greenland coast toward smith sound while s signatures show some evidence of upwelling along the greenland coast e g outcropping of isopycnal surfaces no surfacing of warm atlantic derived water was observed during the sampling period 1998 suggesting that mechanical removal of ice by winds and currents is the primary mechanism by which the north water forms some sensible heat exchange associated with brine rejection and penetrative convection may occur but only during periods of active ice formation

dinocyst based reconstructions of sea ice cover concentration during the holocene in the arctic ocean the northern north atlantic ocean and its adjacent seas abstract sea ice cover extent expressed in terms of mean annual concentration was reconstructed from the application of the modern analogue technique to dinocyst assemblages the use of an updated database which includes 1492 sites and 66 taxa yields sea ice concentration estimates with an accuracy of 1 1 10 holocene reconstructions of sea ice cover were made from dinocyst counts in 35 cores of the northern north atlantic and arctic seas in the canadian arctic the results show high sea ice concentration 7 10 with little variations throughout the interval in contrast in arctic areas such as the chukchi sea and the barents sea the reconstructions show large amplitude variations of sea ice cover suggesting millennial type oscillations with a pacing almost opposite in western vs eastern arctic other records show tenuous changes with some regionalism either in trends or sea ice cover variability during the mid holocene and notably at 6 0 5 ka minimum sea ice concentration is recorded in the eastern fram strait northern baffin bay and labrador sea however this minimum cannot be extrapolated at the scale of the arctic and circum arctic the comparison of recent observations and reconstructions suggests larger variations in the arctic sea ice cover during the last decades than throughout the holocene

foraminiferal distribution on the continental margin off nova scotia abstract q mode factor analysis of total foraminiferal abundance data living plus dead from 250 grab samples taken from the continental margin off nova scotia allows the determination of eight factor assemblages on the northeastern shelf an exclusively agglutinated assemblage dominated byadercotryma glomerata occupies both banks and basins central shelf basins contain a predominantly calcareous assemblage dominated byglobobulimina auriculata andnonionellina labradorica transitional between these two factor assemblages is an agglutinated assemblage dominated bysaccammina atlantica consistently present along the shelf edge is atrifarina angulosa assemblage in northeastern bays and a few samples near sable island an agglutinatedeggerella advena assemblage is found a relict and transport affected assemblage dominated byelphidium excavatum occurs in the southwestern approaches to emerald basin sandy gravelly areas of the inner shelf and outer bank regions are characterized by acibicides lobatulus assemblage the statistical relationships of these defined assemblages to various aspects of the marine environment depth temperature salinity percent gravel sand and mud were investigated through multiple regression techniques results indicate that the present foraminiferal distribution patterns off nova scotia are influenced by the prevailing watermass characters and substrate theadercotryma glomerata assemblage is influenced by the presence of cold 0 4 c low salinity waters 32 33 of arctic labrador current origin the central basin assemblage g auriculata is related to warmer 8 12 c more saline waters 35 of slope origin the transition between these two bottom waters is marked by the opportunisticsaccammina atlantica assemblage preferred substrate character possibly determines the occurrence of thecibicides lobatulus islandiella islandica andeggerella advena assemblages trifarina angulosa shows a significant relationship to salinity and depth although the surficial sediments on the nova scotian shelf are largely the product of reworking of glacial deposits during late glacial and early holocene times all but thee excavatum factor assemblage appear to be in equilibrium with the modern oceanographic regime

characteristics of alkenones synthesized by a bloom of emiliania huxleyi in the bering sea abstract we investigated the characteristics of the alkenones produced by a bloom of emiliania huxleyi in the eastern bering sea in 2000 alkenones were detected in surface waters between 57 n and 63 n where phosphate concentrations were low and the ammonium nitrate ratio was high the total alkenone content c37 2 c37 3 and c37 4 ranged from 22 0 to 349 g g 1 in suspended particles and from 0 109 to 1 42 g g 1 in surface sediments this suggests that a large proportion of the particulate alkenones synthesized in the surface water rapidly degraded within the water column and or at the water sediment interface of the bering shelf the change in the stable carbon isotopic composition 13c of c37 3 alkenone could not be explained only by variation in co2 aq in the surface water but also depended on the growth rate of e huxleyi the alkenone unsaturation index uk 37 was converted into an alkenone temperature with three equations prahl et al 1988 sikes et al 1997 muller et al 1998 sikes et al s 1997 equation gave the best correlation with the observed sea surface temperature sst in the eastern bering sea however some temperatures estimated by sikes et al s 1997 equation from the uk 37 varied from the observed sst possibly because of the rapidly changing rate of alkenone synthesis in the logarithmic growth stage or the low rate of alkenone synthesis when nutrients were limiting temperatures estimated from uk 37 in the surface sediments 6 8 8 2 c matched the observed sst in september 7 8 c but differed from the annual average sst of 4 to 5 c suggesting that most of the alkenone in the eastern bering sea was synthesized during limited periods for instance in september the relative amounts of c37 4 alkenone as proportions of the total alkenones referred to as c37 4 were high ranging from 18 3 to 41 4 low salinity water

abrupt holocene climate change as an important factor for human migration in west greenland west greenland has had multiple episodes of human colonization and cultural transitions over the past 4 500 y however the explanations for these large scale human migrations are varied including climatic factors resistance to adaptation economic marginalization mercantile exploration and hostile neighborhood interactions evaluating the potential role of climate change is complicated by the lack of quantitative paleoclimate reconstructions near settlement areas and by the relative stability of holocene temperature derived from ice cores atop the greenland ice sheet here we present high resolution records of temperature over the past 5 600 y based on alkenone unsaturation in sediments of two lakes in west greenland we find that major temperature changes in the past 4 500 y occurred abruptly within decades and were coeval in timing with the archaeological records of settlement and abandonment of the saqqaq dorset and norse cultures which suggests that abrupt temperature changes profoundly impacted human civilization in the region temperature variations in west greenland display an antiphased relationship to temperature changes in ireland over centennial to millennial timescales resembling the interannual to multidecadal temperature seesaw associated with the north atlantic oscillation

oceanographic regimes in the northwest labrador sea since marine isotope stage 3 based on dinocyst and stable isotope proxy records abstract sea surface temperature sst salinity and density gradients in the upper water column of the northwest labrador sea have been reconstructed based on high resolution analysis of a core hu2008 029 004pc spanning the last 36 ka raised off hudson strait the modern analogue technique was applied to dinocyst assemblages and combined with stable isotope data from neogloboquadrina pachyderma left coiled npl for this purpose three oceanographic regimes were identified broadly corresponding to the glacial deglacial and postglacial intervals the site remained under the direct influence of the laurentide ice sheet lis margin until the postglacial and did not record the bolling allerod warming and weakly recorded the younger dryas event the glacial regime lasted until 12 2 cal ka bp it was characterized by generally low concentrations of dinocysts within an assemblage indicative of quasi perennial sea ice the deglacial regime ca 12 2 8 3 cal ka bp was marked by increased biogenic fluxes and more diversified dinocyst assemblages and possibly an enhanced subsurface inflow of north east atlantic deep water warm summer 11 c but low winter 0 c sea surface temperatures sea ice cover during about 3 months per year and low summer salinity 28 suggest strong stratification in the upper water layer in relation to meltwater supply from the lis following the final drainage of glacial lake agassiz through hudson strait which is dated here at 8 3 cal ka bp and the subsequent lis collapse increased summer salinity up to 35 was accompanied by a reduced seasonal gradient of sea surface temperature from winter 3 8 c to summer 8 6 c suggesting enhanced penetration of north atlantic water weakened stratification of the surface water layer then allowed for winter convection and labrador sea water formation which is consistent with increased npl 13c values in response to higher ventilation of the subsurface water layer

jakobshavns glacier drainage basin a balance assessment maximum and minimum estimates are made of the drainage basin feeding the jakobshavns glacier by using surface elevation maps derived from seasat altimetry benson s 1962 net balance measurements are used to calculate the balance flow within the basin comparisons of the balance flux at the terminus with estimates of actual flux suggest the basin is in overall equilibrium or slightly thickening this agrees with measurements along the nearby egig traverse balance velocities accelerate rapidly within 100 km of the coast farther upstream balance velocities are consistent with both measured velocities along the egig traverse and calculated deformation velocities it is estimated that jakobshavns glacier discharges between 4 8 and 7 6 of the annual net balance over greenland and drains between 3 7 and 5 8 of the ice sheet area

surface sediment diatom distribution and holocene paleotemperature variations in the greenland iceland and norwegian sea one hundred and four surface sediment samples and two piston cores from the greenland iceland and the norwegian gin sea hopkins 1988 were analyzed diatoms were common to abundant in most surface sediment samples and throughout the holocene q mode factor analysis allowed the definition of six significantly different floral assemblages which explained 91 7 of the total variance mapping of the six factors showed their close affinity to hydrographic regimes these are the norwegian atlantic current assemblage thalassionema nitzschioides paralia sulcata proboscia alata arctic water assemblage thalassiosira gravidaspores sea ice assemblage nitzschia grunowii nitzschia cylindra thalassiosira hyalina arctic norwegian waters mixing assemblage rhizosolenia hebetata f semispina rhizosolenia borealis atlantic assemblage thalassiosira oestrupii and norwegian arctic waters mixing assemblage thalassiosira gravida vegetative cells transfer functions gint2 relating factor distributions to winter february and summer august surface water temperatures were generated the transfer functions have a standard error of estimate of 1 5 c august and 1 0 c february downcore studies of core 52 43 from the norwegian basin and core 57 5 from the iceland plateau revealed diatom abundance and sea surface paleotemperature trends in the area during the holocene the first appearance of diatoms in cores 52 43 and 57 5 occurs within the vedde ash layer 10 600 years b p and the saksunarvatn ash layer 9100 years b p respectively diatom abundances increase steadily throughout the pre boreal atlantic time to 25 and 35 million valves per gram dry sediment in the norwegian basin and iceland plateau cores respectively application of the temperature transfer functions gint2 to the two holocene records revealed higher than present sea surface temperatures during the boreal atlantic chronozones for the iceland plateau and during the middle younger dryas sub boreal chronozones for the norwegian basin core temperatures decreased steadily since then with a slight increase to the present values both the iceland and the norwegian seas experienced a strong influx of temperate atlantic surface waters in the beginning of the holocene sea surface temperatures dropped steadily in the latter part of the holocene as the influx of the atlantic surface waters diminished

temporal changes in holocene δ18o records from the northwest and central north iceland shelf the region of north iceland is highly sensitive climatically owing to its location with respect to atmospheric and oceanographic fronts in this study we present total carbonate and 18o records of benthic and planktic foraminifera from nine sediment cores from the north iceland shelf the results of this work indicate that the deglaciation of the vestfirdir peninsula was completed by 10 200 cal yr bp the 8200 cal yr bp cold event is present only as a minor isotopic event and seems not to have had much of a cooling effect on the bottom waters of the northwest iceland shelf the holocene maximum warmth attributed to a stronger north icelandic irminger current occurred between ca 7800 and 6200 cal yr bp over the past 4500 cal yr bp a general cooling trend has occurred on the north iceland shelf and superimposed on this overall cooling trend are a number of oscillations between periods when relatively warmer and cooler waters occupied the shelf relatively cooler waters were present at 4200 4000 cal yr bp 3200 2900 cal yr bp 2500 2350 cal yr bp and 600 200 cal yr bp whereas relatively warmer waters were present on the shelf at 3750 3450 cal yr bp 2800 2600 cal yr bp and 1700 1000 cal yr bp copyright 2004 john wiley sons ltd

common reflection surface stack image and attributes the common reflection surface stack provides a zero offset simulation from seismic multicoverage reflection data whereas conventional reflection imaging methods e g the nmo dip moveout stack or prestack migration require a sufficiently accurate macrovelocity model to yield appropriate results the common reflection surface crs stack does not depend on a macrovelocity model we apply the crs stack to a 2 d synthetic seismic multicoverage dataset we show that it not only provides a high quality simulated zero offset section but also three important kinematic wavefield attribute sections which can be used to derive the 2 d macrovelocity model we compare the multicoverage data derived attributes with the model derived attributes computed by forward modeling we thus confirm the validity of the theory and of the data derived attributes for 2 d acquisition the crs stack leads to a stacking surface depending on three search parameters the optimum stacking surface needs to be determined for each point

reconstructing past sea ice cover of the northern hemisphere from dinocyst assemblages status of the approach abstract dinocysts occur in a wide range of environmental conditions including polar areas we review here their use for the reconstruction of paleo sea ice cover in such environments in the arctic ocean and subarctic seas characterized by dense sea ice cover islandinium minutum islandinium cezare echinidinium karaense polykrikos sp var arctic spiniferites elongatus frigidus and impagidinium pallidum are common and often occur with more cosmopolitan taxa such as operculodinium centrocarpum sensu wall dale cyst of pentapharsodinium dalei and brigantedinium spp canonical correspondence analyses conducted on dinocyst assemblages illustrate relationships with sea surface parameters such as salinity temperature and sea ice cover the application of the modern analogue technique permits quantitative reconstruction of past sea ice cover which is expressed in terms of seasonal extent of sea ice cover months per year with more than 50 of sea ice concentration or mean annual sea ice concentration in tenths the accuracy of reconstructions or root mean square error of prediction rmsep is 1 1 over 10 which corresponds to perennial sea ice such an error is close to the interannual variability standard deviation of observed sea ice cover mismatch between the time interval of instrumental data used as reference 1953 2000 and the time interval represented by dinocyst populations in surface sediment samples which may cover decades if not centuries is another source of error despite uncertainties dinocyst assemblages are useful for making quantitative reconstruction of seasonal sea ice cover

holocene evolution of the western greenland ice sheet assessing geophysical ice sheet models with geological reconstructions of ice margin change abstract geophysical ice sheet models are used to predict future ice sheet dimensions and in turn these projections help estimate the magnitude of eustatic sea level rise before models can confidently predict ice sheet behavior they must be validated by being able to duplicate the geological record of ice sheet change here we review geological records of greenland ice sheet gris change with emphasis on the warmer than present middle holocene and compare these records to published studies that numerically simulate gris behavior through the holocene geological records are concentrated in west and southwest greenland which are also the regions where the gris margin likely experienced the greatest distance of inland retreat during the middle holocene several records spanning from melville bugt to jakobshavn isfjord in western greenland indicate the gris achieved its minimum extent between 5 and 3 ka and farther south in the kangerlussuaq region new data presented here indicate the ice margin reached its minimum extent between 4 2 and 1 8 ka in the narsarsuaq region in southern greenland the gris likely achieved its minimum configuration between 7 and 4 ka we highlight key similarities and discrepancies between these reconstructions and model results and finally we suggest that despite some degree of inland retreat the west and southwest gris margin remained relatively stable and close to its current position through the holocene thermal maximum

holocene variability of the north atlantic irminger current on the south and northwest shelf of iceland abstract the irminger current ic transports heat and nutrients to the icelandic shelf and its fluctuations are strongly linked to variations in the strength of the north atlantic surface flow from the south by using benthic foraminiferal assemblages and their stable isotopic composition in two marine sediment cores located in the pathway of the ic on the west iceland shelf we were able to derive bottom water temperature estimates at a 100 year resolution and define the temperature difference between the core sites throughout the holocene these are the first transfer function bottom water temperatures presented from the icelandic shelf based on benthic foraminiferal assemblages our findings demonstrate a delayed holocene thermal maximum in the marine current system around iceland compared to the northern hemisphere summer insolation receipts the maximum heat transport in the ic occurred between 8 and 4 ka years later than some previous records report a reconstruction of the ambient seawater 18o based on paired samples of c2 transfer function temperature estimates and oxygen isotopic composition indicates repeated freshwater input to the n atlantic inflow in the early holocene impacting the current system before 8 ka two fundamental regime shifts are evident in the paleoceanography and foraminiferal properties during the holocene occurring around 8 ka towards more stable conditions and again around 4 ka towards more unstable conditions increasing fluctuation with similarities to the great salinity anomaly in the 1970s occur after 4 ka

a 100 yr record of ocean temperature control on the stability of jakobshavn isbrae west greenland an understanding of the interaction between ice sheet dynamics and forcing mechanisms such as oceanic and atmospheric circulation is important because of the potential contribution of these processes to constraining models that seek to predict future rates of sea level change here we report new benthic foraminiferal data from disko bugt west greenland showing a close correlation between subsurface ocean temperature changes and the ice margin position of the glacier jakobshavn isbrae over the past 100 yr in particular our faunal data show that warm ocean currents entered a bay disko bugt during the retreat phases of jakobshavn isbrae from a d 1920 to 1950 and since 1998 we also show a link between west greenland ocean temperature and the atlantic multidecadal oscillation a key climate indicator in the north atlantic ocean the close coupling between the oceans and the cryosphere identified here should be assessed in future projections of sea level change

controls on alkenone unsaturation ratios along the salinity gradient between the open ocean and the baltic sea abstract alkenone unsaturation ratios of sedimentary lipids are used as a geochemical proxy for sea surface temperatures and interest is growing in their potential as indicators of different water masses and possibly of salinity we analyzed the abundance of unsaturated c37 to c38 ketones in lipid extracts of 57 surface sediment 0 1 cm samples along a salinity gradient from 8 to 33 psu in the transition from the skagerrak to the baltic sea nw europe in addition to surface sediments we analyzed alkenones in suspended particulate matter at 13 stations over a gradient in salinity from 25 to 33 psu during a bloom of the coccolithophore emiliania huxleyi alkenones were detected in all samples suspended matter and sediment with variable contributions of the tetra unsaturated c37 alkenone compound c37 4 range from 2 to 10 of total c37 alkenone content comparing the alkenone unsaturation index u37k and c37 4 data to climatological sea surface temperature and sea surface salinity data sets revealed that sst estimated from u37k of saline end members samples from the skagerrak is in the general range of modern sst during bloom periods of haptophytes at salinities below 30 psu c37 4 increases to above 5 and the unsaturation ratios cease to be related to climatological annual or seasonal sea surface temperatures on the other hand the c37 4 appears to be inversely and significantly correlated to salinity highest c37 4 proportions in the inner baltic sea are caused by an unidentified organism but in the transition area at salinities down to 10 psu the producer apparently is e huxleyi the suspended matter data together with those from the water column support the hypothesis of changing biosynthesis of alkenones under salt stress by the coccolithophore e huxleyi but constrain the maximum of c37 4 attributable to salt stress to 10 of all c37 alkenones

a mid holocene shift in arctic sea ice variability on the east greenland shelf records of iceberg rafting and palaeohydrography from two east greenland shelf cores jm96 1206 1 gc and jm96 1207 1 gc are reported benthic foraminifera stable isotopes and ird e uxes indicate a shift toward colder lower salinity polar conditions c 5 cal ka a new proxy of iceberg rafting on the east greenland shelf is the e ux of calcium carbonate tic thought to be derived from glacial erosion of cretaceous calcareous mudstones a change in the regularity and spacing of carbonate e ux peaks at c 4 7 cal ka in jm96 1207 coincides with the onset of neoglacial cooling in the renland ice core d 18 o record we propose that the carbonate e ux peaks between 4 7 and 0 4 cal ka are related to sea surface coolings associated with increased e ux of polar water and sea ice in the east greenland current these peaks are synchronous with sea surface coolings interpreted from north atlantic deep sea cores but additional peaks centred around 2 4 and 3 8 cal ka in jm96 1207 suggest that the shelf site captures higher frequency events the data indicate that severe arctic sea ice events began in the neoglacial interval and that earlier holocene cool events in deep sea records are associated with other processes such as release of meltwater from residual glacier ice and glacial lakes

varve and radiocarbon dating support the rapid advance of jakobshavn isbrae during the little ice age abstract large outlet glaciers draining the greenland ice sheet significantly influence overall ice sheet mass balance considerable short term years to decades retreat and fluctuations in velocity of jakobshavn isbrae western greenland illustrate the complex nature by which large outlet glaciers respond to climate change making predictions of future ice sheet change challenging to provide a longer term view centuries we investigate the geological record of jakobshavn isbrae change we use continuous sediment records from lakes that were influenced by the recent advance of jakobshavn isbrae which took place during the little ice age in particular we explore the use of annually laminated lake sediments varves to precisely constrain the advance of the ice margin as it approached its late holocene maximum extent we find that the ice margin advanced recently at least after 1650 to 1700 ad and more likely 1800 ad we suggest that during this period jakobshavn isbrae advanced at a rate that was similar to its historically documented average retreat since 1850 ad our results indicate that jakobshavn isbrae and presumably other large marine calving glaciers have the ability to advance quickly in response to climate forcing

reconstruction of the late holocene changes in the sub arctic front position at the reykjanes ridge north atlantic changes in the dynamics of the north atlantic subpolar gyre are involved in the modulation of the northward salinity and heat transport in the northern north atlantic via the north atlantic current nac variations in the strength of the east greenland current egc can influence the gyre dynamics by impacting deep convection in the labrador sea oxygen isotope data of three planktonic foraminiferal species surface water neogloboquadrina pachyderma dextral coiling and globigerina bulloides thermocline recorder globorotalia inflata from a site located close to the present sub arctic front at the reykjanes ridge suggest significant strengthening or shifting of the sub arctic front throughout the late holocene the oxygen isotope based inferences are supported by mg ca derived temperature reconstructions from neogloboquadrina pachyderma dextral coiling alkenone derived sea surface temperature and other paleoclimatic proxy data the late holocene strengthening shift of the sub arctic front appears caused

surface and sub surface multi proxy reconstruction of middle to late holocene palaeoceanographic changes in disko bugt west greenland we present new surface water proxy records of meltwater production alkenone derived relative sea surface temperature diatom alkenones and sea ice diatoms changes from the disko bugt area off central west greenland we combine these new surface water reconstructions with published proxy records benthic foraminifera bottom water proxy dinocyst assemblages surface water proxy along with atmospheric temperature from greenland ice core and greenland lake records this multi proxy approach allows us to reconstruct centennial scale middle to late holocene palaeoenvironmental evolution of disko bugt and the western greenland coastal region with more detail than previously available combining surface and bottom water proxies identifies the coupling between ocean circulation west greenland current conditions the atmosphere and the greenland ice sheet centennial to millennial scale changes in the wider north atlantic region were accompanied by variations in the west greenland current wgc during periods of relatively warm wgc increased surface air temperature over western greenland led to ice sheet retreat and significant meltwater flux in contrast during periods of cold wgc atmospheric cooling resulted in glacier advances we also identify potential linkages between the palaeoceanography of the disko bugt region and key changes in the history of human occupation cooler oceanographic conditions at 3 5 ka bp support the view that the saqqaq culture left disko bugt due to deteriorating climatic conditions the cause of the disappearance of the dorset culture is unclear but the new data presented here indicate that it may be linked to a significant increase in meltwater flux which caused cold and unstable coastal conditions at ca 2 ka bp the subsequent settlement of the norse occurred at the same time as climatic amelioration during the medieval climate anomaly and their disappearance may be related to harsher conditions at the beginning of the little ice age

variability of unusual distributions of alkenones in the surface waters of the nordic seas 1 samples of filtered particulate organic matter pom were obtained during the summers of 1999 and 2000 from the surface waters of the nordic seas to monitor the spatial distribution of long chain alkenones the aim of the study was to appraise existing alkenone based climatic proxies in northern high latitudes unusually high percentages of the tetraunsaturated alkenone were measured in the polar waters of the east greenland current with c37 4 of up to 77 in 80 of sea ice cover values of percent c37 4 across the nordic seas showed a strong association with water mass type analysis of coccoliths in filters indicated that calcified emiliania huxleyi could not be discounted as the biological precursor of alkenones in all the water masses a combined data set of 69 samples of pom revealed a stronger correlation of percent c37 4 to sea surface salinity sss r2 0 72 than to sea surface temperature sst r2 0 50 values of percent c37 4 in sea surface pom were much higher than those in surficial sediments of the northern north atlantic to explain the discrepancy in sedimentary and surface water column percent c37 4 we propose that the alkenone contents in surface sediments underlying arctic and polar waters are a combination of autochthonous and allochthonous inputs of alkenones our results show that percent c37 4 can be used to reconstruct the relative extension of arctic polar water masses in the north atlantic however the results prevent confirmation of percent c37 4 as a paleo sss proxy in the nordic seas given its multivariate nature in our data set and the decoupling between its range of values in surface waters and sediments

surface melt induced acceleration of greenland ice sheet flow ice flow at a location in the equilibrium zone of the west central greenland ice sheet accelerates above the midwinter average rate during periods of summer melting the near coincidence of the ice acceleration with the duration of surface melting followed by deceleration after the melting ceases indicates that glacial sliding is enhanced by rapid migration of surface meltwater to the ice bedrock interface interannual variations in the ice acceleration are correlated with variations in the intensity of the surface melting with larger increases accompanying higher amounts of summer melting the indicated coupling between surface melting and ice sheet flow provides a mechanism for rapid large scale dynamic responses of ice sheets to climate warming

a tree ring based reconstruction of the atlantic multidecadal oscillation since 1567 a d 1 we present a tree ring based reconstruction of the atlantic multidecadal oscillation amo which demonstrates that strong low frequency 60 100 yr variability in basin wide 0 70 n sea surface temperatures ssts has been a consistent feature of north atlantic climate for the past five centuries intervention analysis of reconstructed amo indicates that 20th century modes were similar to those in the preceding 350 yr and wavelet spectra show robust multidecadal oscillations throughout the reconstruction though the exact relationships between low frequency sst modes higher frequency 7 25 yr atmospheric modes e g north atlantic oscillation arctic oscillation and terrestrial climates must still be resolved our results confirm that the amo should be considered in assessments of past and future northern hemisphere climates

synchronous retreat and acceleration of southeast greenland outlet glaciers 2000 06 ice dynamics and coupling to climate a large portion of the recent increase in the rate of mass loss from the greenland ice sheet is from increased outlet glacier discharge along its southeastern margin while previous investigations of the region s two largest glaciers suggest that acceleration is a dynamic response to thinning and retreat of the calving front it is unknown whether this mechanism can explain regional acceleration and what forcing is responsible for initiating rapid thinning and retreat we examine seasonal and interannual changes in ice front position surface elevation and flow speed for 32 glaciers along the southeastern coast between 2000 and 2006 while substantial seasonality in front position and speed is apparent nearly all the observed glaciers show net retreat thinning and acceleration with speed up corresponding to retreat the ratio of retreat to the along flow stress coupling length is proportional to the relative increase in speed consistent with typical ice flow and sliding laws this affirms that speed up results from loss of resistive stress at the front during retreat which leads to along flow stress transfer large retreats were often preceded by the formation of a flat or reverse sloped surface near the front indicating that subsequent retreats were influenced by the reversed bed slope many retreats began with an increase in thinning rates near the front in the summer of 2003 a year of record high coastal air and sea surface temperatures this anomaly was driven in part by recent warming suggesting that episodes of speed up and retreat may become more common in a warmer climate

structure and origin of holocene cold events abstract the present interglacial the holocene spans the period of the last 11 700 years it has sustained the growth and development of modern society the millennial scale decreasing solar insolation in the northern hemisphere summer lead to northern hemisphere cooling a southern shift of the intertropical convergence zone itcz and a weakening of the northern hemisphere summer monsoon systems on the multidecadal to multicentury scale periods of more stable and warmer climate were interrupted by several cold relapses at least in the northern hemisphere extra tropical area based on carefully selected 10 000 year long time series of temperature and humidity precipitation as well as reconstructions of glacier advances the spatiotemporal pattern of six cold relapses during the last 10 000 years was analysed and presented in form of a holocene climate atlas hoclat see http www oeschger unibe ch research projects holocene atlas a clear cyclicity was not found and the spatiotemporal variability of temperature and humidity precipitation during the six specific cold events 8200 6300 4700 2700 1550 and 550 years bp was very high different dynamical processes such as meltwater flux into the north atlantic low solar activity explosive volcanic eruptions and fluctuations of the thermohaline circulation likely played a major role in addition internal dynamics in the north atlantic and pacific area including their complex interaction were likely involved

age of the fjord stade moraines in the disko bugt region western greenland and the 9 3 and 8 2 ka cooling events abstract retreat of the western greenland ice sheet during the early holocene was interrupted by deposition of the fjord stade moraine system the fjord stade moraine system spans several hundred kilometers of western greenland s ice free fringe and represents an important period in the western greenland ice sheet s deglaciation history but the origin and timing of moraine deposition remain uncertain here we combine new and previously published 10 be and 14 c ages from disko bugt western greenland to constrain the timing of fjord stade moraine deposition at two locations 60 km apart at jakobshavn isfjord the northern of two study sites we show that jakobshavn isbrae advanced to deposit moraines ca 9 2 and 8 2 8 0 ka in southeastern disko bugt the ice sheet deposited moraines ca 9 4 9 0 and 8 5 8 1 ka our ice margin chronology indicates that the greenland ice sheet in two distant regions responded in unison to early holocene abrupt cooling 9 3 and 8 2 ka as recorded in central greenland ice cores although the timing of fjord stade moraine deposition was synchronous in jakobshavn isfjord and southeastern disko bugt within uncertainties we suggest that jakobshavn isbrae advanced while the southeastern disko bugt ice margin experienced stillstands during the 9 3 and 8 2 ka events based on regional geomorphology and the distribution of 10 be ages at each location the contrasting style of ice margin response was likely regulated by site specific ice flow characteristics jakobshavn isbrae s high ice flux results in an amplified ice margin response to a climate perturbation both warming and cooling whereas the comparatively low flux sector of the ice sheet in southeastern disko bugt experiences a more subdued response to climate perturbations our chronology indicates that the western greenland ice sheet advanced and retreated in concert with early holocene temperature variations and the 9 3 and 8 2 ka events although brief were of sufficient duration to elicit a significant response of the western greenland ice sheet

distributions of uk37 and uk37 in the surface waters and sediments of the nordic seas implications for paleoceanography in this paper we revise the application of the u and u indices as sea surface temperature sst proxies in the nordic seas in the summer of 1999 and 2000 we obtained samples of filtered particulate organic matter pom from surface waters 6 m depth of the nordic seas a number of samples were collected from polar waters with up to 80 of sea ice cover alkenones were detected in all of the major water masses of the nordic seas across a spectrum of sst values from 0 5 to 13 c and sss values from 29 6 to 35 6 psu concentrations of alkenones were similar in magnitude to those reported previously for the north atlantic and the southern ocean values of u from the new nordic seas pom data show no correlation with sst below 8 c in contrast below this temperature a linear correlation exists between u and regional sst supporting previous suggestions that overall u may be a more appropriate sst index for the region it must be noted however that u is calculated using the tetraunsaturated alkenone and the dominant control on this compound is not yet fully understood the new data highlight major differences between distributions of u and u in the water column pom and surficial sediments of the nordic seas we also examine the geographical dependence of the u versus sst relationship in the region s surficial sediments some areas are associated with unreliable sst estimates whereas in others the u versus sst relationship falls within the range of a global core top calibration it is suggested that the breakdown of the u sst relationship in some regions is due to ecological and sedimentological factors the latter relates to the extension of the habitats of alkenone producers in polar waters the former to the resuspension of sediments and laterally transported alkenone inputs this suggests that accurate alkenone derived sst estimates in the nordic seas are geographically constrained

early holocene palaeoceanography and deglacial chronology of disko bugt west greenland two new cores from disko bugt a large marine embayment in west greenland are used to assess the deglacial chronology and palaeoceanography of the area during the early holocene deglaciation of the main part of disko bugt is directly dated for the first time to a minimum of ca 10 2 ka cal bp by this time the jakobshavn isbrae ice stream had retreated to the eastern margins of disko bugt initial deglaciation took place before the relatively warm west greenland current wgc was initiated a strengthening in the wgc is identified from ca 9 2 ka cal bp accompanied by retreat of the ice stream to a shallow bank immediately west of the present day jakobshavn isfjord while in this position the calving and melting ice stream produced large volumes of sediment and meltwater the large volumes of meltwater prevented the relatively warm waters of the wgc reaching the eastern margins of disko bugt the ice stream remained grounded on this bank for over a thousand years until ca 7 9 ka cal bp when reduced sedimentation rates and an increase in boreal fauna point to its retreat inside the present day fjord system

spatial and temporal variability of holocene temperature in the north atlantic region the early holocene climate of the north atlantic region was influenced by two boundary conditions that were fundamentally different from the present the presence of the decaying laurentide ice sheet lis and higher than present summer solar insolation in order to assess spatial and temporal patterns of holocene climate evolution across this region we collated quantitative paleotemperature records at sub millennial resolution and synthesized their temporal variability using principal components analysis pca the analysis reveals considerable spatial variability most notably in the time transgressive expression of the holocene thermal maximum htm most of the region but especially areas peripheral to the labrador sea and hence closest to the locus of lis disintegration experienced maximum holocene temperatures that lagged peak summer insolation by 1000 3000 years many sites from the northeastern north atlantic sector including the nordic seas and scandinavia either warmed in phase with maximum summer insolation 11 000 9000 years ago or were less strongly lagged than the baffin bay labrador sea region these spatially complex patterns of holocene climate development which are defined by the pca resulted from the interplay between final decay of the lis and solar insolation forcing

late holocene diatom derived seasonal variability in hydrological conditions off disko bay west greenland abstract a decadally resolved diatom record from a sediment core collected from disko bay central west greenland reveals variations in hydrological conditions for the late holocene the diatom flora record two clear trends in surface water temperatures a pronounced cooling of surface waters during the medieval climate anomaly mca and a progressive warming in surface waters during the little ice age lia previously identified in north atlantic studies our data support the existence of a previously identified anti phase relationship between surface water temperatures off west greenland and climate events recorded in the north east atlantic the diatom assemblages show relatively cool surface water conditions during warmer climatic intervals e g 3 6 2 7 cal ka bp the mca while relatively warm surface water conditions during colder climatic periods e g the dark ages da and the lia the exception to this is the roman warm period rwp which in west greenland shows warmer surface waters and climatic conditions our data also show the existence of anti phase relationship between surface and sub surface water temperatures in disko bay during the interval 3 6 2 7 cal ka bp cooler surface with warmer subsurface waters and towards the end of the lia warmer surface and cooler sub surface waters these anti phases patterns are possibly linked to 1 the local spring summer hydrological conditions e g warmer climatic intervals such as meltwater flux from sea ice continental ice and water stratification and 2 large scale ocean climate interactions e g cooler climatic intervals within the north atlantic oscillation nao type climate see saw between west greenland and north west europe associated with variability in the atlantic meridional overturning circulation amoc

alkenone distributions in the north atlantic and nordic sea surface waters 1 the c37 c39 alkenones were quantified in suspended particulate matter obtained from the surface waters of the north atlantic including the nordic seas over a temperature range of 4 20 c u37k values were linearly correlated to temperature over the entire range covered by our data set i e 4 20 c u37k 0 027t 0 036 r2 0 97 the compilation of water column data from the atlantic pacific and southern ocean and mediterranean sea suggests that the linear model may not be the best function for fitting u37k and in situ temperature values it also shows that suspended matter data from warm waters t 20 c are still needed to constrain the equation of the global curve high abundances of c37 4 were found in the coldest polar waters around 4 c c37 4 represented up to 35 a value that dropped to zero at temperatures above 10 c values of c37 4 were linearly correlated to temperature c37 4 3 7t 43 7 r2 0 50 and salinity c37 4 48 1s 1691 r2 0 78 further investigations from other oceanic basins are necessary to confirm these findings

multivariate analysis and quantitative paleoecology of benthic foraminifera in surface and late quaternary shelf sediments northern canada abstract benthic foraminifera in surface sediments from northeastern canada and the beaufort shelf were studied to determine the quantitative relationship between recent assemblage distributions and modern water depth temperature and salinity factor analysis shows that 7 factor assemblages account for 92 of the variance between samples multiple linear regression shows that different factors are significantly related to water depth august bottom water temperature or salinity multiple correlation coefficients for depth temperature and salinity are 0 94 0 72 and 0 92 respectively labrador fjords contain arenaceous faunas dominated by eithersaccammina atlantica andreophax fusiformis or byeggerella advena regression analysis shows that thesaccammina reophax factor is most strongly related to salinity theeggerella factor is related to depth and temperature a fauna dominated bytrochammina nana andbuliminella elegantissima is correlated with warm deep water in davis strait calcareous assemblages dominated byelphidium excavatum orcassidulina reniforme are found in arctic bays and shelf areas these factor assemblages are strongly related to temperature and depth cassidulina is also related to salinity anislandiella helenae fauna on the inner labrador shelf is strongly correlated with depth and salinity anonionellina labradorica fauna in deep shelf basins is closely related to salinity the multiple regression model for the sea bed data estimates water depth august bottom water temperature and salinity within confidence limits of 67 m 1 3 c and 1 0 paleoecological transfer functions were used to quantify environmental changes recorded by the foraminifera in two piston cores on a transect across the labrador shelf paleo depth estimates obtained from the core data produce relative sea level curves which are similar in shape to theoretical curves for this region paleo salinity and temperature estimates for offshore core 12 show that the change from a postglacialnonionellina fauna to a late glaciale excavatum fauna is accompanied by a decrease of about 2 in salinity and 4 c in temperature paleoecological estimates for fjord core 111 show that the change from a modernsaccammina reophax fauna to a mid holocenei helenae fauna corresponds to a salinity increase of 3 5 and temperature increase of 1 2 c

seismic depth imaging of a geothermal system in southern tuscany this work represents a case study concerning the application of reflection seismic imaging methods in the context of geothermal exploration our goal is to obtain accurate structural images of a geothermal active area in southern tuscany these images will be required in subsequent studies as the input for geological model building and numerical simulation of the heat transport and fluid flow the target region exhibits great geologic complexity including strong velocity contrasts lateral nearsurface inhomogeneities fracture zones and significant topography those features are typical for a volcanic hard rock environment and pose significant challenges to conventional seismic imaging methodology therefore we apply a sophisticated and robust depth imaging workflow to previously acquired surface seismic data within our workflow we focus on estimating the seismic velocities of the predominant rock units and subsequently carry out kirchhoff pre stack depth migration and fresnel volume migration to obtain high resolution images of the subsurface our results demonstrate that the applied methodology provides a valueable tool for imaging in a complex environment such as a volcano geothermal area in detail the resulting reflector images show the main horizons that delineate the tuscan sedimentary rocks in the target region the images from standard kirchhoff migration can be significantly enhanced by utilizing fresnel volume migration which eliminates migration artefacts and provides a better result moreover we obtain the migration velocities and depths for an important regional reflector known as the k horizon which is of major interest for geothermal characterization

data stacking beyond cmp stacking has been used in seismic data processing for a long time in fact stacked sections or volumes in 3d are standard deliverables in the industry and the concepts of common midpoint cmp gathers and normal moveout nmo correction are mentioned in almost every textbook on seismic processing although the general trend is toward prestack imaging either in time or in depth the construction of stacked sections remains an important step within the seismic processing flow since they are almost always the first available interpretable images of the subsurface

paired bedrock and boulder 10be concentrations resulting from early holocene ice retreat near jakobshavn isfjord western greenland we measured in situ cosmogenic 10 be in 16 bedrock and 14 boulder samples collected along a 40 km transect outside of and normal to the modern ice margin near sikuijuitsoq fjord in central west

amino acid ratios in reworked marine bivalve shells constrain greenland ice sheet history during the holocene reconstructions of ice sheet fluctuations during the holocene which encompassed cooler and warmer conditions than those that are captured in the historic record help to elucidate ice margin sensitivity to climate change we used amino acid geochronology to constrain the history of the western greenland ice sheet margin during intervals of relative warmth in the middle holocene we measured the extent of amino acid racemization in 251 ice sheet reworked marine bivalve shells from three locations spanning western greenland a significant relationship between shell age and the ratio of aspartic acid asp isomers asp d l was revealed using bayesian model fitting on 20 radiocarbon dated shell fragments the range of asp inferred bivalve ages at each site corresponds well with independent records of early holocene ice retreat and late holocene ice advance furthermore the frequency of asp inferred bivalve ages from the three widely separated locations is nearly identical with most ages between 5 and 3 ka coinciding with optimum oceanic conditions because ice margin changes in western greenland are tightly linked with oceanographic conditions the distribution of reworked bivalve ages provides important information about relative ice margin position during smaller than present ice sheet configurations this approach adds a new chronometer to our toolkit for constraining smaller than present ice sheet configurations and may have wide applicability around greenland

late holocene environment and climatic changes in ameralik fjord southwest greenland evidence from the sedimentary record sedimentological and geochemical xrf data together with information from diatom and benthic foraminiferal records of a 3 5 m long gravity core from ameralik fjord southern west greenland is used for reconstructing late holocene environmental changes in this area the changes are linked to large scale north atlantic ocean and climate variability ams 14c dating of benthic foraminifera indicates that the sediment core records the last 4400 years and covers the termination of the holocene thermal maximum htm the late htm 4 4 3 2 ka bp is characterized by high accumulation rates of fine silty sediments related to strong meltwater discharge from the inland ice the htm benthic foraminiferal fauna demonstrates the presence of well ventilated saline bottom water originating from inflow of subsurface west greenland current water of atlantic irminger sea origin the hydrographic conditions were further characterized by limited sea ice probably related to a mild and relatively windy winter climate af

variable north atlantic climate seesaw patterns documented by a late holocene marine record from disko bugt west greenland abstract the reconstruction of past sea surface conditions in the labrador sea is essential for understanding climate fluctuations in the north atlantic region we here study late holocene sea surface conditions off west greenland in order to elucidate the possible relationship between a north atlantic seesaw and centennial to millennial scale climate fluctuations in the labrador sea region for that purpose we have studied the particulate organic matter especially dinoflagellate cysts and acritarchs from two marine sediment cores from disko bugt central west greenland our data show significant variations in sea surface temperature and sea ice cover during the last ca 3200 years after a cooling at ca 2 9 ka cal bp presumably related to the neoglacial cooling seen in large parts of the northern hemisphere the area was subjected to significant variability both in the entrainment of atlantic water west greenland current water and in atmospheric temperatures from 2 0 1 5 ka cal bp corresponding to the later part of the roman warm period the area experienced a return to a stronger influx of atlantic water and an increased fresh water influx from land probably related to increased precipitation or to melt water outflow from the nearby inland ice the dark ages 1 5 1 3 ka cal bp were characterised by an only minor cooling of the surface waters however as seen in other records from the labrador sea region the beginning of the medieval warm period 1 3 0 9 ka cal bp signified a severe cooling presumably due to a significant reduction in atlantic water entrainment the cold conditions continued through the little ice age after 0 9 ka cal bp although the area seems to have experienced a minor decrease in sea ice cover until 0 5 ka cal b p after which sea ice cover may again have increased the period of modern warming is not represented in our data our study shows that a north atlantic oscillation type pattern played a significant role in the late holocene centennial to millennial scale climate fluctuations in the labrador sea region however this cannot explain the full complexity of the climate signal the fact that a simple pattern of cold versus warm climate scenario does not exist demonstrates that it will hardly be feasible to select the correct baseline data set when modelling future climate development

changes in ice front position on greenland s outlet glaciers from 1992 to 2007 1 previous studies in greenland show that retreat of tidewater glaciers may be linked to recent increases in ice loss raising greenland s contribution to sea level rise we examined ice front changes of 203 tidewater glaciers land terminating glaciers and glaciers terminating with ice shelves to understand greenland glacier behavior over three periods 1992 2000 2000 2006 and 2006 2007 we observed synchronous ice sheet wide increases in tidewater retreat during 2000 2006 relative to 1992 2000 coinciding with a 1 1 c increase in mean summer temperature at coastal weather stations rates of retreat for the southeast and east slowed during 2006 2007 when temperatures were slightly cooler than the 2000 2006 average our work suggests that regional greenland tidewater retreat responds strongly to climate change with higher temperatures corresponding to increasing retreat and helps confirm a link between ice thickness velocity and ice front position

molecular stratigraphy a new tool for climatic assessment variations in sea surface temperatures over the past 500 000 years are inferred from the relative abundance behaviour of two organic compounds c37 alkenones over the upper 8 metres of a sediment core from the eastern equatorial atlantic this molecular record ascribed to contributions from prymnesiophyte algae correlates well with the variations in the 18 signal for the calcareous skeletons of certain planktonic foraminifera thus providing the first demonstration of a new stratigraphical technique which may be especially valuable where methods based on carbonate 18 fail

intensification of the walker and hadley atmospheric circulations during the pliocene pleistocene climate transition when comparing new sea surface temperature sst records between the western and eastern equatorial pacific spanning the last 3 2 ma we found that the zonal temperature gradient over the entire tropical pacific irreversibly increased by 3 to 4 degrees c from 2 2 to 2 0 ma here we suggest a pronounced increase in atmospheric circulation from a weak to a strong zonal walker circulation wc during the early pleistocene evidence from other oceanic areas also suggests a strengthening in the meridional hadley circulation hc during the same time period therefore we also suggest that the invigoration of both atmospheric circulation patterns was intimately coupled during the plio pleistocene transition and likely linked to a shrinkage in the zonal extension of the tropical to subtropical warm sphere associated with a prominent increase in the pole to equator temperature gradient our conclusion refutes assumptions that the intensification of atmospheric circulation in the tropics and subtropics significantly contributed to the initiation of continental ice sheet formation at high latitudes since the onset of extensive northern hemisphere glaciation nhg occurred similar to 2 75 ma ago in the late pliocene instead the development of a stronger atmospheric circulation similar to 2 2 2 0 ma ago could have significantly contributed to the plio pleistocene climate cooling c 2010 elsevier b v all rights reserved

were glacial iceberg surges in the north atlantic triggered by climatic warming high resolution physical mineralogical sedimentological and micropalaeontological studies were carried out on north atlantic cores from the reykjanes ridge at 59degreesn and from the region southwest of the faeroe islands all core sites are situated along the pathway of iceland scotland overflow water isow and the various parameters measured display similar features previously identified carbonate oscillations keigwin and jones 1994 j geophys res 99 12397 12410 in the time span back to the marine isotope stage 5 4 transition and late glacial lithic events bond and lotti 1995 science 267 1005 1010 such as the heinrich ice rafting events are all represented in the core records long term trends and higher frequency changes in isow intensity were reconstructed on the basis of various independent proxy records the long term trends in circulation match theoretical orbitally forced insolation changes our observed links between ice rafted detritus ird input variations in sea surface temperature sst and circulation at greater depth point to the need to re examine the origin of ird events we suggest that these events may have been triggered by enhanced partly sub surface heat transport to the north enhanced northward heat transport may have caused bottom melting of floating outlet glaciers and ice shelves leading to increased iceberg discharge and ice sheet destabilization this discharge resulted in lower sst s and a lower temperature over greenland thus as shown by our records this scenario implies a temporary de coupling of surface processes and circulation at greater depth a key feature is the occurrence of a saw tooth pattern in the marine data which is similar to the greenland ice core records moreover the warming theory of ird events would explain the observed out of phase relationship between the greenland and antarctic ice core records and also the rapid establishment of higher temperatures over greenland immediately after the cold phases stadials of the dansgaard oeschger cycles less

sea surface temperatures and ice rafting in the holocene north atlantic climate influences on northern europe and greenland abstract the oceanographic conditions in the high latitude north atlantic ocean during the holocene were reconstructed through analyses of sea surface temperature sst alkenone unsaturation ratios and ice rafting mineralogy and grain size from two sediment sequences one recovered from the reykjanes ridge at 59 n and the other from the norwegian sea at 68 n comparison of our records to published ice core and terrestrial proxy climate data sets suggests that atmospheric temperature changes over northern europe and greenland were coupled to sst variability and ice rafting the records outline four major climatic phases i an early holocene thermal maximum that lasted until approximately 6 7 kyr bp ii a distinctly cooler phase associated with increased ice rafting between 6 5 and 3 7 kyr bp iii a transition to generally warmer but relatively unstable climate conditions between 3 7 and 2 kyr bp and iv a second distinct sst decline that took place between 2 and 0 5 kyr bp in contrast to the dominant control of northern hemisphere summer insolation on early holocene climate development via strong seasonality the trigger for the onset of relatively unstable climatic conditions in the north atlantic at 3 7 kyr bp is not straightforward however it is possible that this change was triggered by late holocene winter insolation increase at high northern latitude and or by inter hemispheric changes in orbital forcing the late holocene neoglaciation trend which is characteristic of numerous terrestrial archives in northern europe may not only be attributed to a gradual decrease in orbitally forced summer temperature but also to increase snow precipitation at high northern latitudes during generally milder winters

the circulation water masses and sea ice of baffin bay abstract the oceanographic meteorological and sea ice conditions in baffin bay are studied using historical hydrographic satellite and meteorological data and a set of current meter data from a mooring program of the bedford institute of oceanography baffin bay is partially covered by sea ice all year except august and september the interannual variation of the ice extent is shown to be correlated with winter air temperature available hydrographic data were used to study the water masses and the horizontal and vertical distribution of temperature salinity three water masses can be identified arctic water in the upper 100 300 m of all regions except the southeast west greenland intermediate water at 300 800 m in most of the interior of baffin bay and deep baffin bay water in all regions below 1200 m the temperature and salinity in baffin bay have limited seasonal variability except in the upper 300 m of eastern davis strait northern baffin bay and the mouth of lancaster sound summer data have a temperature minimum at 100 m which suggests winter convection does not penetrate deeper than this depth current meter data and results of a circulation model indicate that the mean circulation is cyclonic the seasonal variation of the currents is complex overall summer and fall tend to have stronger currents than winter and spring at all depths among the different regions the largest seasonal variation occurs at the mouth of lancaster sound and the baffin island slope model generated velocity fields show a basic agreement with the observed currents and indicate strong topographic control in the vicinity of davis strait and on the greenland shelves the model also produces a southward counter current on the greenland slope which may explain the observed high horizontal shears over the greenland slope estimates of the volume and fresh water transports through lancaster jones and smith sounds are reviewed transports through davis strait are computed from the current meter data the balance of freshwater budget and sensitivity of the thermohaline circulation to freshwater transport are discussed

palaeo oceanography deepwater variability in the holocene epoch the conversion of surface water to deep water in the north atlantic results in the release of heat from the ocean to the atmosphere which may have amplified millennial scale climate variability during glacial times1 and could even have contributed to the past 11 700 years of relatively mild climate known as the holocene epoch 2 3 4 here we investigate changes in the carbon isotope composition of benthic foraminifera throughout the holocene and find that deep water production varied on a centennial millennial timescale these variations may be linked to surface and atmospheric events that hint at a contribution to climate change over this period

interhemispheric appraisal of the value of alkenone indices as temperature and salinity proxies in high latitude locations alkenone sediment data from the nordic seas and north atlantic are compared to those from sikes et al 1997 for the southern ocean to evaluate further uk37 and uk37 as proxies to estimate cold temperatures 10 c and the effect of salinity and temperature in the relative abundance of 37 4 to the total abundance of c37 alkenones 37 4 uk37 and uk37 are found to be equally viable as proxies but there are significant regional differences in their cold temperature dependence the measurement of 37 4 in cores from the north atlantic region can be used to identify situations when uk37 is not a reliable paleothermometer variations in salinity are probably responsible for changes in the sedimentary record of 37 4 and a preliminary calibration has been obtained for 37 4 f salinity this new relationship should be further confirmed through field or laboratory experiments but it paves the way to derive a molecular proxy to reconstruct paleosalinity in surface waters

sea surface temperatures in disko bay during the little ice age caution needs to be exercised before assigning thalassiosira kushirensis resting spore as a warm water indicator in palaeoceanographic studies