Back to search

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Workshop on Past marine sedimentary environments in the Kongsfjorden system, Svalbard: atmosphere, ocean and glacier linkages

Awarded: NOK 82,205

The proposed workshop will focus on past marine sedimentary environments in the Kongsfjorden system. The main heat source for the European Arctic comes from the extension of the northbound flow of the Atlantic Water to the Arctic Ocean via the North Atlantic Current. This current is a major regulator of environmental changes in the Arctic. Warm water from this flow routinely enters Kongsfjorden on western Svalbard. Hence, the sedimentary archive in Kongsfjorden is expected to record past and current fluctuations of this important heat source. Previous studies show an increase in heat transport to the Arctic Ocean and a warming of the Atlantic Water along Svalbard during the past decades. These changes have been recorded in marine geological records in the Kongsfjorden system in addition to other known climate anomalies found in the North Atlantic region, e.g. the Little Ice Age and Medieval Warm Period. The reconstructions of ocean temperatures and sea-ice distribution for the Arctic and northeastern Atlantic region during the Early Holocene show rising temperatures and waning sea-ice distribution similar to recent conditions and may serve as an analogue for the current changes. The inflow of warm Atlantic water to the Kongsfjorden system also greatly influences the tidewater glaciers in the fjord system. A direct result of the accelerated glacial melting is an increase in the sediment flux from the glacial catchments into the Arctic fjord systems. How this process affects the pelagic and benthic ecosystems remains, however, still largely unknown. With the proposed workshop we wish to review previous work from the Kongsfjorden system and identify future scientific questions, e.g., explore the linkages between atmosphere, ocean and glacier changes, and the implications for ecosystem functioning.

Publications from Cristin

No publications found

No publications found

No publications found

No publications found

Funding scheme:

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum