%0 Journal Article %T Atlantic Water advection vs. glacier dynamics in northern Spitsbergen since early deglaciation %A Bartels %A Martin %A Fahl %A Kirsten %A Hebbeln %A Dierk %A Hillaire-Marcel %A Claude %A Seidenkrantz %A Marit-Solveig %A Stein %A R邦diger %A Titschack %A J邦rgen %J - %D 2017 %R https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-1717-2017 %X

Abstract. Atlantic Water (AW) advection plays an important role in climatic, oceanographic and environmental conditions in the eastern Arctic. Situated along the only deep connection between the Atlantic and the Arctic oceans, the Svalbard Archipelago is an ideal location to reconstruct the past AW advection history and document its linkage with local glacier dynamics, as illustrated in the present study of a 275ˋcm long sedimentary record from Woodfjorden (northern Spitsbergen; water depth: 171ˋm) spanning the last ˋ‵ˋˋ15ˋ500ˋyears. Sedimentological, micropalaeontological and geochemical analyses were used to reconstruct changes in marine environmental conditions, sea ice cover and glacier activity. Data illustrate a partial break-up of the Svalbard每Barents Sea Ice Sheet from Heinrich Stadial 1 onwards (until ˋ‵ˋˋ14.6ˋka). During the Bˋlling每Allerˋd (ˋ‵ˋˋ14.6每12.7ˋka), AW penetrated as a bottom water mass into the fjord system and contributed significantly to the destabilization of local glaciers. During the Younger Dryas (ˋ‵ˋˋ12.7每11.7ˋka), it intruded into intermediate waters while evidence for a glacier advance is lacking. A short-term deepening of the halocline occurred at the very end of this interval. During the early Holocene (ˋ‵ˋˋ11.7每7.8ˋka), mild conditions led to glacier retreat, a reduced sea ice cover and increasing sea surface temperatures, with a brief interruption during the Preboreal Oscillation (ˋ‵ˋˋ11.1每10.8ˋka). Due to a ˋ‵ˋˋ6000-year gap, the mid-Holocene is not recorded in this sediment core. During the late Holocene (ˋ‵ˋˋ1.8每0.4ˋka), a slightly reduced AW inflow and lower sea surface temperatures compared to the early Holocene are reconstructed. Glaciers, which previously retreated to the shallower inner parts of the Woodfjorden system, likely advanced during the late Holocene. In particular, topographic control in concert with the reduced summer insolation partly decoupled glacier dynamics from AW advection during this recent interval.