A three-year particle flux record from the eastern Fram Strait, between Gre
enland and Svalbard, revealed a rather untypical seasonal flux pattern comp
ared to other particle flux studies from the Nordic Seas. In the eastern Fr
am Strait this pattern is characterised by a sudden four- to six-fold incre
ase of the particle flux in January, when no daylight is available to suppo
rt any biological productivity. Comparison with sea-ice distribution maps l
ed to the conclusion that the sudden increase in the flux is due to ice-raf
ted detritus released from sea ice, which originated from the Svalbard arch
ipelago and from the northern Barents Sea. Detailed grain size analyses of
the silt fraction indicated the > 10 mu m fraction of the lithogenic matter
to be clearly enriched due to IRD input. Even more important is the observ
ation that lithogenic material > 40 mu m occurs exclusively during the ice-
rafting event and, therefore, appears to be a suitable indicator for IRD tr
ansported on sea ice. Thus, in addition to coarse IRD (e.g. > 500 mu m), wh
ich is mainly derived from icebergs, the analysis of fine IRD (> 40 mu m) i
n deep-sea sediments can be used to reconstruct paleo-sea-ice extensions. (
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