Polar Research (E-Journal)
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A 36 Ky record of iceberg rafting and sedimentation from north-west Iceland
No full textEvidence from north-west Iceland's shelf and fjords is used to develop a scenario for environmental change during the last 36 cal Ky. The retreat history of the Iceland Ice Cap during the last deglaciation is delineated through lithofacies studies, carbon analyses and magnetic susceptibility, and studies of ice-rafted debris (IRD) in sediment cores. Sedimentological data from lake Efstadalsvatn, Vestfirdir peninsula, trace the glacier retreat on land. In two of the high resolution shelf cores we detect near continuous IRD accumulation from 36 to 11 cal Kya. However, IRD is absent in the cores from ca. 22 to 19 cal Kya, possibly indicating more extensive landfast sea ice conditions. All cores show intensified IRD during the Younger Dryas chronozone; the fjord cores show a continuous IRD record until 10 cal Kya. Magnetic susceptibility and carbon analyses from Efstadalsvatn reveal the disappearance of local ice in the basin just before 10.5 cal Kya. No IRD was detected in the sediment cores during 10 to Ø4 cal Kya. Some indication of cooling occurs between 4 and 3 cal Kya, with a fresh input of IRD in fjord cores after 1 cal Kya
Siberian river run-off and Late Quaternary glaciation in the southern Kara Sea, Arctic Ocean: preliminary results
No full textThe extent of the Barents-Kara Ice Sheet during the eastern Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) is not yet fully known. A detailed echo-sounding survey performed during the Boris Petrov Expedition 2001 permitted the detailed mapping of part of it. Based on the profiling results, a southern connection between the LGM Barents-Kara Ice Sheet and a local ice sheet on Taymyr Peninsula appears to be unlikely. Based on sediment core data and profiling results, most of the terrigenous river-derived material accumulated in the estuaries during late Holocene times, whereas during early Holocene times of lowered sea level major amounts were transported further offshore and accumulated on the shelf. During the post-glacial sea level rise, the main depocentre migrated southward, reaching its present position no earlier than about 6 cal. Ky BP (or 5.2 Kya). Future studies of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C-dated sediment cores will allow a detailed reconstruction of the variability of fluvial sediment discharge and the history of glaciation in the Kara Sea during late Quaternary times
Sediment discharge variability in Arctic rivers: implications for a warmer future
No full textA new model for predicting the sediment flux in ungauged river basins is applied to 46 Arctic to sub-Arctic rivers. The model predicts the preanthropogenic flux of sediment to within a factor of 2, across four orders of magnitude in basin area and run-off. The model explains for the first time why Arctic rivers carry so little sediment when compared at the global scale. Sensitive to drainage basin temperature, the model is used to examine the impact of a climate warming scenario on the loads of high latitude rivers. As the Arctic warms, rivers will carry increased sediment loads, similar to more temperate rivers. For every 2°C warming, the model predicts a 22% increase in the flux of sediment carried by rivers. For every 20% increase in water discharge there will be a 10% increase in sediment load. The model also aids the interpretation of palaeoclimate records obtained from Arctic continental margins
Radiometric investigation of different snow covers in Svalbard
No full textThis paper examines the relationship between reflectance and physical characteristics of the snow cover in the Arctic. Field data were acquired for different snow and ice surfaces during a survey carried out at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, in spring 1998. In each measurement reflectance in the spectral range 350 - 2500 nm, snow data (including temperature, grain size and shape, density and water content), surface layer morphology, and vertical profile of the snow pack were recorded detailed analysis of reflectance based on the physical was performed. Field reflectance data were also re-sampled at the spectral intervals of Landsat TM to compare the ability of identifying different snow targets at discrete wavelength intervals. This analysis shows that reliable data on snow structure and thickness are necessary to understand albedo changes of the snow surfaces
Status of the common eider breeding in the municipality of Avanersuaq (Thule), north-west Greenland
No full textLate in the summers of 1997 and 1998 surveys of common eider (Somateria mollissima) colonies were conducted throughout Avanersuaq Municipality in north-west Greenland. Although old information from eider colonies was available, these surveys provided the first almost all colonies in the district, thereby improving the baseline data for assessing future population changes. The surveys were based on nest counts, and all but two colonies in the district were counted, In total, 3800 nest were counted and an educated guess for the total population in Avanersuaq Municipality, including the two inaccessible colonies, would be around 5000 pairs. Average clutch size was 3.74 similar to or higher than in other areas of Greenland and high Artic Canada suggesting favourable conditions for eiders in the survey area. Comparison with older data suggests that the breeding population in Avanersuaq is stable. This observation contrasts with the declines ocserved in other parts of Greenland. Further studies into possible population specific mirigation routs and wintering areas as well as the direct and indirect effects of the intensive winter hunting in south-west Greenland are warranted
The environmental significance of the trace fossil Rhizocorallium jenense in the Lower Triassic of western Spitsbergen
No full textThe 500 m thick Lower Triassic succession of western comprises two shale-dominated formations, which both show upward-coarsening motifs. These reflect repeated coastal basin dominated by low energy fine-clastic sediments. The track fossils Rhizocorallium jenense and Skolithos are found in the coarser part of these units and variations in size and orientation of R. jenense give important palaeoenvironmental information. Rhizocorallium jenense occurs in storm-generated siltstones and stones, whose deposition interrupted prevailing intermediate energy levels. Size variations and trace fossil abundance suggest an optimal habitat in the shoreface zone, with poorer adaptation to both offshore and shallower environments. Age-equivalent marine sediments on north-eastern Greenland also contain local abundant occurrences Rhizocorallium. These Arctic occurrences contrast with the same trace fossil's distribution in the Jurassic of Britain and France, where it characterizes shallower and higher energy environments; such sequences on Spitsbergen show an ichnofauna dominated by Skolithos and bivalve escape shafts. Orientations shown by the R. jenense U-tubes show a generally, but not solely, unimodal distribution, with the curved distal entedusually oriented toward onshore. Presumed aperture lineations show strongly unimodal trends, probably related to longshore currents. Burrows in bed at the top of individual storm lobe units show more complex ably patterns probably reflecting both current and wave reworking following lobe abandonment. All finds suggest early colonization by the burrowing organisms. These were not followed by other burrowers, either because of the nutrient-poor nature of the sediment or because of high sedimentation rates
Observed transport estimates between the North Atlantic and the Arctic Mediterranean in the Iceland–Scotland region
No full textThe Arctic Mediterranean is the ocean area north of the Greenland-Scotland Ridge. Exchanges between this region and the North Atlantic both provide the main source for production of North Atlantic Deep Water and supply heat and salt to the northern oceans. The exchange occurs through several gaps in the ridge; in terms of volume flux the Iceland-Scotland Gap is the most important one as it carries more than half the total, with approximately three quarters of the total inflow and one third of the total outflow. The Nordic WOCE observational system was initiated to monitor the exchanges through this gap and it has provided data that allow estimates of typical fluxes and their seasonal variation. The flux measurements show that most of the Atlantic inflow to the Arctic Mediterranean returns as overflow and hence the processes forming intermediate and deep waters in the Arctic Mediterranean are the main forcing mechanism for the Atlantic inflow. The inflow between Iceland and Scotland seems to be a maximum in late winter while the Faroe Bank Channel overflow is strongest in late summer. Using the results from the Nordic WOCE system it has been possible to interpret historical observations from Ocean Weather Ship Station M and conclude that the flux of the Faroe Bank Channel overflow decreased in magnitude from 1950 to 2000
Interannual variability in water masses in the Greenland Sea and adjacent areas
No full textOceanographic data covering the period 1950–1998 are used to determine interannual variations in the convection intensity and water mass structure in the Greenland Sea and adjacent areas. Extremely cold winters throughout 1965–1970 assisted intensification of the water vertical exchange in the Greenland and Norwegian seas. As a result, cold and fresh Greenland Sea Deep Water (GSDW) production was extremely high in the central Greenland Sea while in the southern Norwegian Sea warm and salty water spread downwards. The recent rapid warming in the Greenland Sea Gyre interior from 1980 originates, we argue, from an increase in the Atlantic Water (AW) temperature due to the advection of warm waters into the region with the Return Atlantic Current. The negative water temperature and salinity trends in the upper 300 m layer of the Atlantic Water in the Norwegian Sea prevailed during 1950–1990, whereas during 1980–1990 the water temperature trends are indicative of warming of that layer. Observation series obtained onboard the Ocean Weather Ship Mike confirmed the existence of layers with advectiondriven high oxygen concentrations in intermediate and deep layers. The depth of oxygen maxima and the values of oceanographic parameters at this horizon can be regarded as indicators of the convection intensity in the Arctic domain. A simultaneous rise in NAO index and GSDW temperature points to a link between atmospheric and thermohaline circulation. Weakening in water exchange with the North Atlantic could be the reason for the Polar Water recirculation increase within the Nordic seas
Brood patch temperature during provocation of incubating common eiders in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard
No full textIn this short note we describe the behaviour and body changes of three incubating female common eiders (Somateria mollissima) during provocation made by humans approaching the nest. The study site was near the settlement of Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. Temperture transmitters were implanted subcutaneously at the brood patch and data recorded using a VHF receiver. We found that the female experiment exhibited a passive defence response (“freezing”), accompanied by a significant drop in brood patch temperature (0.6 °C) during provocation; this temperature drop lasted for 5 minutes. These accord with other studies of the physiological changes which the passive defence response in birds and other animals
Harald Ulrik Sverdup (1888–1957): celebrating the return of the Maud 75 years ago
No full textI came here to pay my respects to a man and to a scientist. Harald Ulrik Sverdrup left Norway aboard the R/V Maud in July 1918 for an estimated three years to conduct a broad range of geophysical measurements in the Arctic Ocean. It was to be more than seven years before the Maud came out, to Seattle on 5 October 1925, 75 years ago. The experience gained in these difficult seven years was the basis of Sverdrup’s entire subsequent career