TY - JOUR
T1 - Holocene oceanographic changes in SW Labrador Sea, off Newfoundland
AU - Sheldon, Christina M.
AU - Seidenkrantz, Marit-Solveig
AU - Pearce, Christof
AU - Kuijpers, Antoon
AU - Hansen, Mette J.
AU - Christensen, Eva Zilmer
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015, © The Author(s) 2015.
PY - 2016/2/1
Y1 - 2016/2/1
N2 - Benthic foraminiferal assemblages supported by selected geochemical data from three marine sediment cores collected in Placentia Bay, SE Newfoundland, are used to construct an ~13,000-year-long record of regional oceanographic changes in the SW Labrador Sea. The area is located in the boundary zone between the cold, ice-loaded Labrador Current (LC) in the north and the warm Gulf Stream (GS) waters to the south. After the Younger Dryas termination, the influence of GS-derived water increased and was further strengthened at 10.7 cal. kyr BP through enhanced northward flow of Atlantic water via the Slopewater Current. A short-term event of increased terrestrial input and water column stratification at 8.4 cal. kyr BP was likely linked to the distal drainage of glacial Lake Agassiz. After 7.3 cal. kyr BP, a stronger LC weakened the inflow of warmer subsurface waters from the GS. This may be explained by extensive meltwater release from ice sheets in Arctic Canada and is concurrent with a general shift in oceanographic conditions in the Labrador Sea region. Around 4.0 cal. kyr BP, conditions became more stable with a slight increase in salinity, indicating a decrease in meltwater transported via the LC. The Northern Hemisphere neoglacial cooling around 2.8 cal. kyr BP was characterized off SE Newfoundland by a further stabilization of the current system, dominated by the LC with some continued influx of GS water.
AB - Benthic foraminiferal assemblages supported by selected geochemical data from three marine sediment cores collected in Placentia Bay, SE Newfoundland, are used to construct an ~13,000-year-long record of regional oceanographic changes in the SW Labrador Sea. The area is located in the boundary zone between the cold, ice-loaded Labrador Current (LC) in the north and the warm Gulf Stream (GS) waters to the south. After the Younger Dryas termination, the influence of GS-derived water increased and was further strengthened at 10.7 cal. kyr BP through enhanced northward flow of Atlantic water via the Slopewater Current. A short-term event of increased terrestrial input and water column stratification at 8.4 cal. kyr BP was likely linked to the distal drainage of glacial Lake Agassiz. After 7.3 cal. kyr BP, a stronger LC weakened the inflow of warmer subsurface waters from the GS. This may be explained by extensive meltwater release from ice sheets in Arctic Canada and is concurrent with a general shift in oceanographic conditions in the Labrador Sea region. Around 4.0 cal. kyr BP, conditions became more stable with a slight increase in salinity, indicating a decrease in meltwater transported via the LC. The Northern Hemisphere neoglacial cooling around 2.8 cal. kyr BP was characterized off SE Newfoundland by a further stabilization of the current system, dominated by the LC with some continued influx of GS water.
KW - benthic foraminifera
KW - Gulf Stream
KW - Labrador Current variability
KW - Lake Agassiz drainage
KW - oceanic front movement
KW - Placentia Bay
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84953860274&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0959683615608690
DO - 10.1177/0959683615608690
M3 - Article
VL - 26
SP - 274
EP - 289
JO - Holocene
JF - Holocene
SN - 0959-6836
IS - 2
ER -