The benthic foraminiferal fauna of two marine sediment records from the Kongsfjorden Trough and the inner part of Kongsfjorden were analyzed to reconstruct the paleoenvironmental development throughout the last ~ 2000 years. A generally cold period is evident in both records, lasting from ~ 700 to 1400 CE at the Kongsfjorden Trough and from ~ 350 to 1200 CE in the inner part of Kongsfjorden, with ...

On June 3rd, 2020 a major quick clay landslide occurred at Kråknes in Alta municipality, Northern Norway. The landslide event destroyed eight buildings and was estimated to be 650 meters wide and 40 meters high. Two days later, another landslide occurred, this time causing the old E6 road above the previous landslide area to slip out towards the sea. People lost cabins and other valuable possessions, ...

Reconstruction of geomagnetic field changes has a strong potential to complement geodynamo modeling and improve the understanding of Earth's core dynamics. Recent works based on geomagnetic measurements pointed out that over the last two decades the position of the north magnetic pole has been largely determined by the influence of two competing flux lobes under Canada and Siberia. In order to ...

The ~2.0 Ga Zaonega Formation (ZF) holds one of the oldest phosphorites in the geologic record, reaching >15% P₂O₅. Understanding the depositional conditions that enabled sedimentary phosphorus enrichment in this unit will thus help us to interpret the significance of the temporal distribution of phosphorites in Earth’s early history. Here we use an array of major and trace ...

Terrestrial paleoclimate archives such as lake sediments are essential for our understanding of the continental climate system and for the modeling of future climate scenarios. However, quantitative proxies for the determination of paleotemperatures are sparse. The relative abundances of certain bacterial lipids, i.e., branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs), respond to changes in ...

Large amounts of methane are trapped within gas hydrate in subseabed sediments in the Arctic Ocean, and bottom-water warming may induce the release of methane from the seafloor. Yet the effect of seasonal temperature variations on methane seepage activity remains unknown as surveys in Arctic seas are conducted mainly in summer. Here we compare the activity of cold seeps along the gas hydrate stability ...

Rare Earth Elements and Yttrium (REE+Y) distribution in authigenic phases are frequently used as proxies for reconstructing past seawater conditions. Sedimentary apatite precipitates near the sediment-water interface and is therefore capable of recording the REE+Y composition of the overlying water column. While the overprinting of primary REE+Y signal during late stage diagenesis is a widely known ...

This study sheds new light on the regional Cretaceous development of the southeastern part of the Norwegian Barents Sea. The study area is in the former disputed area between Norway and Russia, which after the agreement on the new borders in 2010 was opened to petroleum activity in 2013. Consequently, the southeastern Barents Sea is still a frontier area with less scientific knowledge, compared to ...

Unstable areas producing rock slope failures come with large consequences. The understanding of why and where they might occur is necessary to mitigate damage and prevent casualties. A total of 133 unstable rock slopes have been detected in Troms, Northern Norway, evidencing that a great focus on these geohazards is important. This study has focused on seven unstable rock slopes in Kåfjorden, Troms, ...

Sedimentkjerne NP05-11-21GC fra Kongsfjordrenna vest for Spitsbergen er analysert for å kartlegge utviklingen av paleomiljø de siste ~11 800 år. Analysene er basert på undersøkelser av bentiske foraminiferer og sedimentologiske egenskaper. Kjernen er 5,15 meter lang og 104 prøver er analysert med hensyn på fauna, droppstein og kornfordeling. Sedimentenes fysiske egenskaper er målt ved hjelp av en ...