TY - JOUR
T1 - Linking the modern distribution of biogenic proxies in High Arctic Greenland shelf sediments to sea ice, primary production, and Arctic-Atlantic inflow
AU - Limoges, Audrey
AU - Ribeiro, Sofia
AU - Weckström, Kaarina
AU - Heikkilä, Maija
AU - Zamelczyk, Katarzyna
AU - Andersen, Thorbjørn J.
AU - Tallberg, Petra
AU - Massé, Guillaume
AU - Rysgaard, Søren
AU - Nørgaard-Pedersen, Niels
AU - Seidenkrantz, Marit-Solveig
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
©2018. The Authors.
PY - 2018/3
Y1 - 2018/3
N2 - The eastern north coast of Greenland is considered to be highly sensitive to the ongoing Arctic warming, but there is a general lack of data on modern conditions and in particular on the modern distribution of climate and environmental proxies to provide a baseline and context for studies on past variability. Here we present a detailed investigation of 11 biogenic proxies preserved in surface sediments from the remote High Arctic Wandel Sea shelf, the entrance to the Independence, Hagen, and Danmark fjords. The composition of organic matter (organic carbon, C:N ratios, δ
13C, δ
15N, biogenic silica, and IP
25) and microfossil assemblages revealed an overall low primary production dominated by benthic diatoms, especially at the shallow sites. While the benthic and planktic foraminiferal assemblages underline the intrusion of chilled Atlantic waters into the deeper parts of the study area, the distribution of organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts is controlled by the local bathymetry and sea ice conditions. The distribution of the dinoflagellate cyst Polarella glacialis matches that of seasonal sea ice and the specific biomarker IP
25, highlighting the potential of this species for paleo sea ice studies. The information inferred from our multiproxy study has important implications for the interpretation of the biogenic-proxy signal preserved in sediments from circum-Arctic fjords and shelf regions and can serve as a baseline for future studies. This is the first study of its kind in this area.
AB - The eastern north coast of Greenland is considered to be highly sensitive to the ongoing Arctic warming, but there is a general lack of data on modern conditions and in particular on the modern distribution of climate and environmental proxies to provide a baseline and context for studies on past variability. Here we present a detailed investigation of 11 biogenic proxies preserved in surface sediments from the remote High Arctic Wandel Sea shelf, the entrance to the Independence, Hagen, and Danmark fjords. The composition of organic matter (organic carbon, C:N ratios, δ
13C, δ
15N, biogenic silica, and IP
25) and microfossil assemblages revealed an overall low primary production dominated by benthic diatoms, especially at the shallow sites. While the benthic and planktic foraminiferal assemblages underline the intrusion of chilled Atlantic waters into the deeper parts of the study area, the distribution of organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts is controlled by the local bathymetry and sea ice conditions. The distribution of the dinoflagellate cyst Polarella glacialis matches that of seasonal sea ice and the specific biomarker IP
25, highlighting the potential of this species for paleo sea ice studies. The information inferred from our multiproxy study has important implications for the interpretation of the biogenic-proxy signal preserved in sediments from circum-Arctic fjords and shelf regions and can serve as a baseline for future studies. This is the first study of its kind in this area.
KW - Arctic sea ice
KW - biomarkers
KW - Greenland fjords
KW - microfossils
KW - paleoclimate
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85042623819&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/2017JG003840
DO - 10.1002/2017JG003840
M3 - Article
VL - 123
SP - 760
EP - 786
JO - Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
JF - Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
SN - 2169-8953
IS - 3
ER -