| 1. |
- Andrén, Elinor, et al.
(författare)
-
Medieval versus recent environmental conditions in the Baltic Proper, what was different a thousand years ago?
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. - : Elsevier. - 0031-0182 .- 1872-616X. ; 555
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A sediment record from the western Gotland Basin, northwestern Baltic Proper, covering the last 1200 years, was investigated for past changes in climate and the environment using diatoms as a proxy. The aim is to compare the environmental conditions reconstructed during Medieval times with settings occurring the last century under influence of environmental stressors like eutrophication and climate change. The study core records more marine conditions in the western Gotland Basin surface waters during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA; 950–1250C.E.), with a salinity of at least 8 psu compared to the present 6.5 psu. The higher salinity together with a strong summer-autumn stratification caused by warmer climate resulted in extensive long-lasting diatom blooms of Pseudosolenia calcar-avis, effectively enhancing the vertical export of organic carbon to the sediment and contributing to benthic hypoxia. Accordingly, our data support that a warm and dry climate induced the extensive hypoxic areas in the open Baltic Sea during the MCA. During the Little ice Age (LIA; 1400–1700C.E.), the study core records oxic bottom water conditions, decreasing salinity and less primary production. This was succeeded during the 20th century, about 1940, by environmental changes caused by human-induced eutrophication. Impact of climate change is visible in the diatom composition data starting about 1975C.E. and becoming more pronounced 2000C.E., visible as an increase of taxa that thrived in stratified waters during autumn blooms typically due to climate warming.
|
|
| 2. |
- Ferraro, Mattia, et al.
(författare)
-
Multi-century reconstruction of environmental conditions in Lurefjorden, Norway.
- 2024
-
Ingår i: 24th Nordic Geological Winter Meeting, 10-12th Jan, 2024, Gothenburg, Sweden.
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Benthic foraminiferal assemblages are identified to reconstruct changes in environmental conditions over the last few centuries in Lurefjorden, a western Norwegian fjord. From ca. 1970 until present days the relative abundance of Brizalina skagerrakkensis, an efficient bio-indicator for organic matter fluxes, is enhanced relative to the preceding time interval. Hence, our results suggest that there is an increase of the organic matter within the Lurefjorden basin in the last 50 years. Over the same period, there is also an increase in the absolute abundance of agglutinated species, indicating lower oxygen concentration in the water. A lowering of the oxygen concentrations may have taken place as a response of a greater oxygen consumption caused by a higher organic matter supply in the water column. Accoridng to Aksnes (2009), Lurefjorden was subject to an increased freshening of Norwegian coastal waters (NCW), which has led to a decrease in sunlight penetration into the water column, affecting the oxygen levels and the behavior of marine life within the basin, between 1935 and 2007. Furthermore, we used diversity indices to study the ecological status of the area, showing significant growth in diversity, abundance, and richness within the benthic foraminiferal community over the past 50 years. Our observations highlight that an increase in the input of organic matter over the last century has led to a change in the benthic foraminifera community in the Lurefjorden basin.
|
|
| 3. |
- Kotilainen, Aarno T., et al.
(författare)
-
Echoes from the Past : A Healthy Baltic Sea Requires More Effort
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Ambio. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0044-7447 .- 1654-7209. ; 43:1, s. 60-68
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Integrated sediment multiproxy studies and modeling were used to reconstruct past changes in the Baltic Sea ecosystem. Results of natural changes over the past 6000 years in the Baltic Sea ecosystem suggest that forecasted climate warming might enhance environmental problems of the Baltic Sea. Integrated modeling and sediment proxy studies reveal increased sea surface temperatures and expanded seafloor anoxia (in deep basins) during earlier natural warm climate phases, such as the Medieval Climate Anomaly. Under future IPCC scenarios of global warming, there is likely no improvement of bottom water conditions in the Baltic Sea. Thus, the measures already designed to produce a healthier Baltic Sea are insufficient in the long term. The interactions between climate change and anthropogenic impacts on the Baltic Sea should be considered in management, implementation of policy strategies in the Baltic Sea environmental issues, and adaptation to future climate change.
|
|
| 4. |
- Lougheed, Bryan C., et al.
(författare)
-
Using an independent geochronology based on palaeomagnetic secular variation (PSV) and atmospheric Pb deposition to date Baltic Sea sediments and infer 14C reservoir age
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Quaternary Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-3791. ; 42, s. 43-58
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Dating of sediment cores from the Baltic Sea has proven to be difficult due to uncertainties surrounding the C-14 reservoir age and a scarcity of macrofossils suitable for dating. Here we present the results of multiple dating methods carried out on cores in the Gotland Deep area of the Baltic Sea. Particular emphasis is placed on the Littorina stage (8 ka ago to the present) of the Baltic Sea and possible changes in the C-14 reservoir age of our dated samples. Three geochronological methods are used. Firstly, palaeomagnetic secular variations (PSV) are reconstructed, whereby ages are transferred to PSV features through comparison with varved lake sediment based PSV records. Secondly, lead (Pb) content and stable isotope analysis are used to identify past peaks in anthropogenic atmospheric Pb pollution. Lastly, C-14 determinations were carried out on benthic foraminifera (Elphidium spec.) samples from the brackish Littorina stage of the Baltic Sea. Determinations carried out on smaller samples (as low as 4 mu g C) employed an experimental, state-of-the-art method involving the direct measurement of CO2 from samples by a gas ion source without the need for a graphitisation step - the first time this method has been performed on foraminifera in an applied study. The PSV chronology, based on the uppermost Littorina stage sediments, produced ten age constraints between 6.29 and 1.29 cal ka BP, and the Pb depositional analysis produced two age constraints associated with the Medieval pollution peak. Analysis of PSV data shows that adequate directional data can be derived from both the present Littorina saline phase muds and Baltic Ice Lake stage varved glacial sediments. Ferrimagnetic iron sulphides, most likely authigenic greigite (Fe3S4), present in the intermediate Ancylus Lake freshwater stage sediments acquire a gyroremanent magnetisation during static alternating field (AF) demagnetisation, preventing the identification of a primary natural remanent magnetisation for these sediments. An inferred marine reservoir age offset (Delta R) is calculated by comparing the foraminifera C-14 determinations to a PSV & Pb age model. This Delta R is found to trend towards younger values upwards in the core, possibly due to a gradual change in hydrographic conditions brought about by a reduction in marine water exchange from the open sea due to continued isostatic rebound. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
|
|
| 5. |
- Moros, Matthias, et al.
(författare)
-
Giant saltwater inflow in AD 1951 triggered Baltic Sea hypoxia
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Boreas. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0300-9483 .- 1502-3885. ; 53:2, s. 125-138
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A marked sedimentological change in subsurface sediments from the entire Baltic Proper, the Baltic Sea, has been previously noted. Our detailed work on a variety of multi-cores from basin-wide transects indicates that this sedimentological change was caused by a large shift in environmental conditions during the 1950s. Until the 1950s, the water column was rather weakly stratified and winter-time convection - although weakened during the post Little Ice Age warming - was still able to ventilate the bottom waters of the Baltic Proper. Therefore, complete sediment sequences only accumulated in calm waters deeper than 150-160 m. High-resolution benthic foraminiferal records of subsurface sediments obtained along the saline water inflow pathway in combination with historical data indicate that the depositional environment changed drastically owing to the giant saline water inflow in AD 1951. The accompanied sharpening of the halo(pycno)cline triggered a collapse in the ventilation of the basin, resulting in oxygen-deficient bottom waters. This deficiency, in turn, caused the onset of phosphate release from the sediments, which accelerated primary production. The ventilation collapse also enabled the onset of deposition of organic carbon-rich sediments also in shallower water areas as calm conditions prevailed up to the modern winter mixing depth (60-70 m). A slight return to Little Ice Age-type conditions was observed during the late 1980s when temperatures decreased and stratification weakened. These conditions gave rise to a reduction in hypoxic areas and to a bottom-water ventilation, most pronounced in the north of the so-called Baltic Sea Klint, a hydrographic and topographic barrier. However, the general environmental conditions essentially have not changed since the 1950s. Remarkably, external (temperature and stratification) in combination with internal factors (e.g. ventilation collapse and phosphate release) were able to change the redox conditions of the Baltic Proper from oxic to hypoxic within less than 10 years. A marked sedimentological change seen in sub-recent seabed sediment cores from the entire Baltic proper can be attributed to large hydrographic and environmental changes that started at the end of the Little Ice Age and were accelerated by a rapid change in stratification resulting from the massive inflow of saline water in AD 1951. The increase in stratification caused a collapse of the already weakened vertical winter-time deep water convection leading to hypoxia in the bottom waters, which in turn forced a sudden phosphate release from the sediments and increased primary production in the late 1950s.image
|
|
| 6. |
- Moros, Matthias, et al.
(författare)
-
Is 'deep-water formation' in the Baltic Sea a key to understanding seabed dynamics and ventilation changes over the past 7,000 years?
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Quaternary International. - : Elsevier BV. - 1040-6182 .- 1873-4553. ; 550, s. 55-65
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Numerous hydro-acoustic studies of the seabed of the Baltic Sea have revealed the unusual occurrence of sediment contourite drifts and re-suspension at greater water depths. In addition, radiocarbon dating of bulk sediments indicates significant age reversals. We present new geophysical, sediment proxy data (including extensive radiocarbon dating) and hydrographic measurements, which are combined with results of numerous marine geological studies performed during the last decades. These data indicate that a deep-water formation process significantly affected the seabed dynamics during regional climatically cold phases during the last c. 7,000 years. We propose that, during the colder periods (e.g. the Little Ice Age), newly formed bottom waters likely caused widespread re-suspension of organic carbon-rich laminated sediments that were deposited during the preceding warm periods in shallower areas, and this material was transported to and re-deposited in the deeper parts of the Baltic Sea sub-basins. In our scenario, a topographic feature, known as the Baltic Sea Klint, acted as a hydrographic barrier for deep-water formed in the northern Baltic. Thus, during the cold periods increased lateral matter influx from the northern Baltic led to the accumulation of much thicker macroscopically homogenous clayey sediments in sub-basins north of the Klint. Moreover, deep-water formation produced bottom currents that led to the formation of sediment contourite drifts at water depths of> 200 m in the Bothnian Sea, the Aland Deep and northern central Baltic Sea sub-basins. Bottom water ventilation in the Baltic Sea is generally assumed to be determined solely by the inflow of oxygen-rich, saline water from the North Sea, but we challenge this assumption and postulate that deep-water formation is a key process that ventilates the bottom waters of the Baltic Sea during climatically cold periods with substantial implications for its sedimentary archive.
|
|
| 7. |
- Moros, Matthias, et al.
(författare)
-
Towards an event stratigraphy for Baltic Sea sediments deposited since AD 1900 : approaches and challenges
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Boreas. - : Wiley. - 0300-9483 .- 1502-3885. ; 46:1, s. 129-142
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Reconstructions of environmental changes at sub-decadal to decadal resolution based on central Baltic Sea sediments rely on accurate and precise high-resolution sediment depth/age relationships. A model chronology for Baltic Sea sediments is presented here based on established historical records of anthropogenic radionuclides (Cs-137/Am-241/bomb(14)C), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), lead (Pb) and stable lead isotope (Pb-206/207 ratios), and radionuclide Pb-210 and C-14 decay dating methods. Marker horizons consisting of chemical precipitates formed by documented Major Baltic Inflow (MBIs) events and an extended diatom bloom period were also integrated into the model. The main time markers in Baltic Sea sediments that formed during the last 120years were the following: (i) the deepest observation of Pb-210(unsupp.) (marking the Pb-210 dating horizon) and departure of Hg from natural background levels at c.AD 1900; (ii) first detectable presence of PCBs at AD 1935; (iii) radionuclide production (i.e. Am-241) due to nuclear weapons testing between AD 1954 and AD 1975, with a peak in AD 1963; (iv) maximum heavy metal and PCB concentrations in the AD 1960s/1970s; (v) the Chernobyl nuclear accident in AD 1986 as a sharp Cs-137 increase; (vi) exceptionally strong diatom blooms with a massive diatom layer found in the Eastern Gotland Basin in AD 1988-1990; and (vii) characteristic manganese-carbonate layers in the deeper central basins formed by MBIs in AD 1993 and AD 2003. A precise and accurate sediment depth/age relationship can only be achieved in restricted areas of the Baltic Sea where continuous sedimentation has prevailed and there has been limited postdepositional disturbance. We demonstrate that parallel Hg and Cs-137 measurements can be used to assess the quality of sediment sequences for high-resolution environmental reconstructions. We show examples of sediment profiles that conform to the historical record, and examples from Western Baltic Sea areas where it appears to be impossible to establish accurate geochronologies.
|
|
| 8. |
- Norbäck Ivarsson, Lena, 1987-, et al.
(författare)
-
Baltic Sea Coastal Eutrophication in a Thousand Year Perspective
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Environmental Science. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 2296-665X. ; 7
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sediment cores from three sites along the east-coast of Sweden, north-western Baltic Proper, have been studied with respect to lithologies, geochemistry and diatom assemblages to trace and date early human impact with emphasis on nutrient discharge. The three sites Bråviken, Himmerfjärden and Ådfjärden, have been impacted to various degree during the last millennia by multiple stressors like excessive nutrient discharge and hazardous substances, leading to coastal hypoxia, eutrophication and pollution. These stressors are mainly caused by drivers in the drainage area as increased human population, changed land use and point sources as industries and a sewage treatment plant. Even though their detailed history differs, the results show similar general patterns for all three sites. We find no evidence in our data from the coastal zone supporting the hypothesis that the extensive areal distribution of hypoxia in the open Baltic Sea during the Medieval Climate Anomaly was caused by human impact. Timing of the onset of man-made eutrophication, as identified from d15N and changes in diatom composition, differs between the three sites, reflecting the site specific geography and local environmental histories of these areas. The onset of eutrophication dates to 1800 CE in Bråviken and Himmerfjärden areas, and to 1900 CE in the less urban area of Ådfjärden. We conclude that the recorded environmental changes during the last centuries are unique in a thousand year perspective.
|
|
| 9. |
- O'Regan, Matt, et al.
(författare)
-
The Holocene dynamics of Ryder Glacier and ice tongue in north Greenland
- 2021
-
Ingår i: The Cryosphere. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1994-0416 .- 1994-0424. ; 15:8, s. 4073-4097
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The northern sector of the Greenland Ice Sheet is considered to be particularly susceptible to ice mass loss arising from increased glacier discharge in the coming decades. However, the past extent and dynamics of outlet glaciers in this region, and hence their vulnerability to climate change, are poorly documented. In the summer of 2019, the Swedish icebreaker Oden entered the previously unchartered waters of Sherard Osborn Fjord, where Ryder Glacier drains approximately 2 % of Greenland's ice sheet into the Lincoln Sea. Here we reconstruct the Holocene dynamics of Ryder Glacier and its ice tongue by combining radiocarbon dating with sedimentary facies analyses along a 45 km transect of marine sediment cores collected between the modern ice tongue margin and the mouth of the fjord. The results illustrate that Ryder Glacier retreated from a grounded position at the fjord mouth during the Early Holocene (> 10.7±0.4 ka cal BP) and receded more than 120 km to the end of Sherard Osborn Fjord by the Middle Holocene (6.3±0.3 ka cal BP), likely becoming completely land-based. A re-advance of Ryder Glacier occurred in the Late Holocene, becoming marine-based around 3.9±0.4 ka cal BP. An ice tongue, similar in extent to its current position was established in the Late Holocene (between 3.6±0.4 and 2.9±0.4 ka cal BP) and extended to its maximum historical position near the fjord mouth around 0.9±0.3 ka cal BP. Laminated, clast-poor sediments were deposited during the entire retreat and regrowth phases, suggesting the persistence of an ice tongue that only collapsed when the glacier retreated behind a prominent topographic high at the landward end of the fjord. Sherard Osborn Fjord narrows inland, is constrained by steep-sided cliffs, contains a number of bathymetric pinning points that also shield the modern ice tongue and grounding zone from warm Atlantic waters, and has a shallowing inland sub-ice topography. These features are conducive to glacier stability and can explain the persistence of Ryder's ice tongue while the glacier remained marine-based. However, the physiography of the fjord did not halt the dramatic retreat of Ryder Glacier under the relatively mild changes in climate forcing during the Holocene. Presently, Ryder Glacier is grounded more than 40 km seaward of its inferred position during the Middle Holocene, highlighting the potential for substantial retreat in response to ongoing climate change.
|
|
| 10. |
- Perner, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
-
Establishment of modern circulation pattern at c. 6000 cal a BP in Disko Bugt, central West Greenland : opening of the Vaigat Strait
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Journal of Quaternary Science. - : Wiley. - 0267-8179 .- 1099-1417. ; 28:5, s. 480-489
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Variations in the Holocene circulation of the West Greenland Current (WGC) in the Disko Bugt region have been reconstructed from a suite of sediment cores. Palaeoceanographic proxies include magnetic susceptibility (MS) and X-ray fluorescence titanium counts, which document a major shift in circulation at c. 6000 cal a BP. Before this date, sediments in southern Disko Bugt were characterized by high terrigeneous and basaltic input, suggesting widespread influence of meltwater plumes. Our data show that the WGC re-circulated in the southern Disko Bugt area because a potential northern pathway, the narrow Vaigat Strait, was blocked by icebergs that calved from marine outlet glaciers in eastern Disko Bugt. Sediments in southern Disko Bugt deposited after c. 6000 cal a BP have significantly lower terrestrial and basaltic sediment input, which coincides with minimum Holocene ice sheet extent. The reduced meltwater and iceberg discharge to the embayment caused the Vaigat Strait to become free of blocking icebergs and terrigenous input was partly diverted to the outer shelf. Thus, the modern circulation pattern of the WGC was established in the Disko Bugt region through the opening of the Vaigat Strait c. 6000 cal a BP.
|
|
