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. 2017 Feb;46(Suppl 1):106-118.
doi: 10.1007/s13280-016-0894-2.

Sea ice and primary production proxies in surface sediments from a High Arctic Greenland fjord: Spatial distribution and implications for palaeoenvironmental studies

Sofia Ribeiro  1 , Mikael K Sejr  2 , Audrey Limoges  3 , Maija Heikkilä  4 , Thorbjørn Joest Andersen  5 , Petra Tallberg  6 , Kaarina Weckström  4 , Katrine Husum  7 , Matthias Forwick  8 , Tage Dalsgaard  2 , Guillaume Massé  9 , Marit-Solveig Seidenkrantz  10 , Søren Rysgaard  11
Affiliations

Sea ice and primary production proxies in surface sediments from a High Arctic Greenland fjord: Spatial distribution and implications for palaeoenvironmental studies

Sofia Ribeiro et al. Ambio. 2017 Feb.

Abstract

In order to establish a baseline for proxy-based reconstructions for the Young Sound-Tyrolerfjord system (Northeast Greenland), we analysed the spatial distribution of primary production and sea ice proxies in surface sediments from the fjord, against monitoring data from the Greenland Ecosystem Monitoring Programme. Clear spatial gradients in organic carbon and biogenic silica contents reflected marine influence, nutrient availability and river-induced turbidity, in good agreement with in situ measurements. The sea ice proxy IP25 was detected at all sites but at low concentrations, indicating that IP25 records from fjords need to be carefully considered and not directly compared to marine settings. The sea ice-associated biomarker HBI III revealed an open-water signature, with highest concentrations near the mid-July ice edge. This proxy evaluation is an important step towards reliable palaeoenvironmental reconstructions that will, ultimately, contribute to better predictions for this High Arctic ecosystem in a warming climate.

Keywords: Arctic sea ice; Greenland fjords; HBIs; Primary production; Proxies; Silica.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Location of Young Sound–Tyrolerfjord in Northeast Greenland. Surface sediment sample sites are marked as dots
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Seasonal sea ice conditions in the fjord (based on MODIS imagery) for the year 2014
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Contour plots of key hydrographical parameters along the fjord in early August (2014). CTD casts are marked as black vertical lines on the transects. a Temperature, b salinity, c blue dots show the location of the CTD stations, d fluorescence, e turbidity, f oxygen saturation
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Evolution of key parameters (temperature, salinity and fluorescence) along the fjord transect (Fig. 3c) during the ice-free period (late-July–October 2014) down to 100 m water depth. CTD casts are marked as black vertical lines. The distribution of zones A–C is highlighted on the top panels
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Grain-size distribution of the surface sediment samples
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Spatial distribution and abundance of biogenic proxies in the fjord sediments. The distribution of zones A–C is given in the top panels. The white series of triangles show the approximate position of the July sea ice edge
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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