LATE PLEISTOCENE AND HOLOCENE DEPOSITIONAL-ENVIRONMENTS AND PALEOCEANOGRAPHY OF THE BARENTS SEA - EVIDENCE FROM SEISMIC AND BIOSTRATIGRAPHIC DATA

On the basis of seismic, lithological and biostratigraphic data from t he Barents Sea shelf, a spatial correlation of the glacial, glaciomari ne and marine landforms and deposits is established. The stratigraphic boundaries are established on the basis of biostratigraphic and litho stratigraphic data and correspond to the boundaries of seismostratigra phic units. Thus it is possible to trace reflectors as time-lines. Dur ing the Late Pleistocene and Holocene, the Barents Sea existed as a ma rine basin in which depositional environments changed from marine (Mik ulino (Eem) interglacial) to glaciomarine (Wurm glaciation), and back to marine (Holocene). Variations in intensification of the Atlantic cu rrent seem to be the most significant paleoenvironmental factor in the Pleistocene and Holocene history of the Barents Sea. The important ev ent during the Holocene history of the sea is the period of 'hydrobiol ogical or marine optimum' characterized by high productivity and incre ase in surface and bottom water temperatures. This interval correspond s to the end of the Atlantic stage and the beginning of the Subboreal stage, whose range, in the Barents Sea, is estimated as 5.7-3.7 ka BP. There is good accordance with data obtained from other Arctic Eurasia n Seas. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.