Impact of Arctic shelf summer stratification on Holocene climate variability
Permanent link
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/14753Date
2018-05-21Type
Journal articleTidsskriftartikkel
Peer reviewed
Abstract
Understanding the dynamic of freshwater and sea-ice export from the Arctic is crucial to
better comprehend the potential near-future climate change consequences. Here, we report
nitrogen isotope data of a core from the Laptev Sea to shed light on the impact of the Holocene
Siberian transgression on the summer stratification of the Laptev Sea. Our data suggest that the
oceanographic setting was less favourable to sea-ice formation in the Laptev Sea during the early
to mid-Holocene. It is only after the sea level reached a standstill at around 4 ka that the water
column structure in the Laptev Sea became more stable. Modern-day conditions, often described
as “sea-ice factory”, were reached about 2 ka ago, after the development of a strong summer stratification. These results are consistent with sea-ice reconstruction along the Transpolar Drift, highlighting the potential contribution of the Laptev Sea to the export of freshwater from the Arctic
Ocean.
Description
Accepted manuscript version, licensed CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Published version available at: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.05.017