Understanding patterns of colonisation is important for explaining both the distribution of single species and anticipating how ecosystems may respond to global warming. Insular flora may be especially vulnerable because oceans represent severe dispersal barriers. Here we analyse two lake sediment cores from Iceland for ancient sedimentary DNA to infer patterns of colonisation and Holocene vegetation ...

Arctic hotspots, local areas of high biodiversity, are potential key sites for conservation of Arctic biodiversity. However, there is a need for improved understanding of their long-term resilience. The Arctic hotspot of Ringhorndalen has the highest registered diversity of vascular plants in the Svalbard archipelago, including several remarkable and isolated plant populations located far north of ...

The general perception has long been that lake eutrophication is driven by anthropogenic sources of phosphorus (P) and that P is immobile in the subsurface and in aquifers. Combined investigation of the current water and P budgets of a 70 ha lake (Nørresø, Fyn, Denmark) in a clayey till-dominated landscape and of the lake’s Holocene trophic history demonstrates a potential significance of geogenic ...

Climate change is amplified in the Arctic, and establishing baseline data for its current character is important. Here we present a map of the geomorphology of the Femmilsjøen area, Spitsbergen, northern Svalbard. The regional physiography is characterised by a low-relief, high elevation mountain plateau, its high-relief steep slopes, and low-relief coastal lowlands. The results indicate that glaciers ...

In the Northern Hemisphere, an insolation driven Early to Middle Holocene Thermal Maximum was followed by a Neoglacial cooling that culminated during the Little Ice Age (LIA). Here, we review the glacier response to this Neoglacial cooling in Greenland. Changes in the ice margins of outlet glaciers from the Greenland Ice Sheet as well as local glaciers and ice caps are synthesized Greenland-wide. ...

Arctic precipitation is predicted to increase in the coming century, due to a combination of enhanced northward atmospheric moisture transport and local surface evaporation from ice-free seas. However, large model uncertainties, limited long-term observations, and high spatiotemporal variability limit our understanding of these mechanisms, emphasizing the need for paleoclimate records of precipitation ...

The deglaciation history and Holocene environmental evolution of northern Wijdefjorden, Svalbard, are reconstructed using sediment cores and acoustic data (multibeam swath bathymetry and sub‐bottom profiler data). Results reveal that the fjord mouth was deglaciated prior to 14.5±0.3 cal. ka BP and deglaciation occurred stepwise. Biomarker analyses show rapid variations in water temperature and sea ...

Distally deposited tephra from explosive volcanic eruptions can be a powerful tool for precise dating and correlation of sedimentary archives and landforms. However, the morphostratigraphic and chronological potential of ocean-rafted pumice has been under-utilized considering its long observational history and widespread distribution on modern and palaeo-shorelines around the world. Here we analyze ...

Sediment cores from Kløverbladvatna, a threshold lake in Wahlenbergfjorden, Nordaustlandet, Svalbard were used to reconstruct Holocene glacier fluctuations. Meltwater from Etonbreen spills over a threshold to the lake, only when the glacier is significantly larger than at present. Lithological logging, loss-on-ignition, ITRAX scanning and radiocarbon dating of the cores show that Kløverbladvatna ...

Air-, surface-, and subsurface temperatures were recorded by automatic weather stations in Bliss Bugt and Moore Gletscher, Johannes V. Jensen Land, North coast of Greenland from 2006-2010. The mean annual surface temperature is -12.1 ℃ in Bliss Bugt and -13.8 ℃ at Moore Gletscher. In 20 cm depth below the surface at Moore Gletscher, the mean annual temperature is -13.2 ℃ (2007-2008). High-amplitude ...