Holocene climate history of the Femmilsjøen area, NE Spitsbergen - combining marine and terrestrial archives

The project aims to reconstruct Holocene (the past ca. 11.700 years) glacier and climate oscillations in the north-eastern part of Spitsbergen, Svalbard. Sampling of marine and lacustrine sediment cores, mapping of seafloor/lakefloor and terrestrial areas by remote sensing will be basis for the analyses. The key-site is the area around Femmilsjøen and the adjacent northern part of Wijdefjorden. Collection of data series from two archives in immediate vicinity, will give the most reliable and comprehensive information and reflect the feedback mechanisms of the different elements in the climate system in that particular area. This can help solving questions as whether the fjord temperatures increased first and the glaciers subsequently retreated or if the opposite was the case. Such knowledge is of great importance in order to improve the understanding of the current climate situation and how the ice caps and glaciers will respond to future warming. Marine sediment cores were collected in 2017, and this application concerns collection of lacustrine sediment cores in 2018 to complete the project.