ORCID
- Simon T. Belt: 0000-0002-1570-2924
Abstract
The cryospheric response to climatic warming responsible for recent Arctic sea ice decline can be elucidated using marine geological archives which offer an important long-term perspective. The Holocene Thermal Maximum, between 10 and 6 thousand years ago, provides an opportunity to investigate sea ice during a warmer-than-present interval. Here we use organic biomarkers and benthic foraminiferal stable isotope data from two sediment cores in the northernmost Barents Sea (>80 °N) to reconstruct seasonal sea ice between 11.7 and 9.1 thousand years ago. We identify the continued persistence of sea-ice biomarkers which suggest spring sea ice concentrations as high as 55%. During the same period, high foraminiferal oxygen stable isotopes and elevated phytoplankton biomarker concentrations indicate the influence of warm Atlantic-derived bottom water and peak biological productivity, respectively. We conclude that seasonal sea ice persisted in the northern Barents Sea during the Holocene Thermal Maximum, despite warmer-than-present conditions and Atlantic Water inflow.
DOI Link
Publication Date
2021-12-01
Publication Title
Communications Earth & Environment
Volume
2
Issue
1
ISSN
2662-4435
Acceptance Date
2021-05-18
Deposit Date
2021-07-13
Embargo Period
2021-07-14
Funding
This paper is a contribution to the Nansen Legacy Project (Norwegian Research Council project 276730). We acknowledge funding from the Norwegian Research Council, the Norwegian Polar Institute, and the HOLIS project funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment through the Fram Centre (Project no. 6622/299). J.K. and D.K. acknowledge funding from the Norwegian Research Council (Project no. 223259). FARLAB is supported by RCN project 245907. Svetlana Divina is thanked for assisting with the laboratory work, Oddveig Øien Ørvoll for providing the map, and Mark Furze for helping with the figures. We are grateful to the three reviewers whose comments improved the manuscript.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Pieńkowski, A., Husum, K., Belt, S., Ninnemann, U., Köseoğlu, D., Divine, D., Smik, L., Knies, J., Hogan, K., & Noormets, R. (2021) 'Seasonal sea ice persisted through the Holocene Thermal Maximum at 80°N', Communications Earth & Environment, 2(1). Available at: 10.1038/s43247-021-00191-x
