Search

On the remote Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, there is increasing evidence of environmental impacts from climate change. The analysis of lake sedimentary records can be used to assess how strongly these recent changes have altered lake ecosystems. Sediments deposited during the last millennium from Lake Blokkvatnet, Prins Karls Forland, were analysed using a multiproxy approach, including stable isotope and X-ray fluorescence analysis. The results were interpreted as reflecting variability of (1) soil organic matter inwash, and potentially catchment and lake primary production, and (2) catchment weathering and erosion. Organic content began increasing after 1920 AD to the present, likely in response to warming. Earlier peaks of a similar magnitude occurred on three occasions since 1300 AD, with evidence indicating that these may have coincided with multidecadal-scale periods with higher temperatures, reduced sea ice and negative phases of the North Atlantic Oscillation. Catchment weathering and fluvial erosion began to increase around 1800 AD and peaked during the early twentieth century, potentially due to rising temperatures in autumn and winter causing increased liquid water availability. The records suggest that similar levels of erosion and weathering occurred between approximately 1300 and 1600 AD, spanning the transition from the Medieval Climate Anomaly to the Little Ice Age.

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 ice cover during the deglaciation, and cold conditions during the Younger Dryas, followed by minimum sea ice cover throughout the Early Holocene, until c. 7 cal. ka BP. Most of the glaciers in Wijdefjorden had retreated onto land by c. 7.6±0.2 cal. ka BP. Subsequently, the sea-ice extent increased and remained high throughout the last part of the Holocene. We interpret a high Late Holocene sediment accumulation rate in the northernmost core to reflect increased sediment flux to the site from the outlet of the adjacent lake Femmilsjøen, related to glacier growth in the Femmilsjøen catchment area. Furthermore, increased sea ice cover, lower water temperatures and the re-occurrence of ice-rafted debris indicate increased local glacier activity and overall cooler conditions in Wijdefjorden after c. 0.5 cal. ka BP. We summarize our findings in a conceptual model for the depositional environment in northern Wijdefjorden from the Late Weichselian until present.

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 became isolated from Wahlenbergfjorden c. 5.4 cal. kyr BP due to glacioisostatic rebound. During the Late Holocene, laminated clayey gyttja from lacustrine organic production and surface runoff from the catchment accumulated in the lake. The lacustrine sedimentary record suggests that meltwater only spilled over the threshold at the peak of the surge of Etonbreen in AD 1938. Hence, we suggest that this was the largest extent of Etonbreen in the (mid-late) Holocene. In Palanderbukta, a tributary fjord to Wahlenbergfjorden, raised beaches were surveyed and organic material collected to determine the age of the beaches and reconstruct postglacial relative sea level change. The age of the postglacial raised beaches ranges from 10.7 cal. kyr BP at 50 m a.s.l. to 3.13 cal. kyr BP at 2 m a.s.l. The reconstructed postglacial relative sea level curve adds valuable spatial and chronological data to the relative sea level record of Nordaustlandet.

Subarctic permafrost peatlands are important soil organic carbon pools, and improved knowledge about peat properties and peatland sensitivity to past climate change is essential when predicting future response to a warmer climate and associated feedback mechanisms. In this study, Holocene peatland development and permafrost dynamics of four subarctic peat plateaus in Finnmark, northern Norway have been investigated through detailed analyses of plant macrofossils and geochemical properties. Peatland inception occurred around 9800 cal. yr BP and 9200 cal. yr BP at the two continental sites Suossjavri and Iskoras. Younger basal peat ages were found at the two coastal locations Lakselv and Karlebotn, at least partly caused by the time lag between deglaciation and emergence of land by isostatic uplift. Here, peatland development started around 6150 cal. yr BP and 5150 cal. yr BP, respectively. All four peatlands developed as wet fens throughout most of the Holocene. Permafrost aggradation, causing frost heave and a shift in the vegetation assemblage from wet fen to dry bog species, probably did not occur until during the last millennium, ca. 950 cal. yr BP in Karlebotn and ca. 800 cal. yr BP in Iskoras, and before ca. 150 cal. yr BP in Lakselv and ca. 100 cal. yr BP in Suossjavri. In Karlebotn, there are indications of a possible earlier permafrost phase around 2200 cal. yr BP due to climatic cooling at the late Subboreal to early Subatlantic transition. The mean long-term Holocene carbon accumulation rate at all four sites was 12.3 +/- 4.1 gC m(-2) yr(-1) (+/- SD) and the mean soil organic carbon storage was 97 +/- 46 kgC m(-2).