HIGH-RESOLUTION RECORD OF FORAMINIFERAL RESPONSE TO LATE QUATERNARY SEA-ICE RETREAT IN THE NORWEGIAN-GREENLAND SEA

Dramatic oceanic changes during the transition from glacial to intergl acial conditions had significant effects on pelagic and benthic enviro nments in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea. Fossil marine biota in deep-sea sediments provide the means to reconstruct past oceanographic conditi ons and climatic fluctuations. Here we present the results of an inves tigation with high temporal resolution(+/-200 yr) of four sites distri buted along a north-south transect across this high-latitude basin wit h the aim to decipher. timing and regional relocation of water-mass bo undaries. Results show that termination I in the Norwegian-Greenland S ea is characterized by a prominent maximum of benthic foraminiferal ab undance, which progressively moved northward from the eastern North At lantic Ocean to Fram Strait at a mean velocity of 0.77 km.yr(-1). Bent hic foraminiferal accumulation rates during this abundance peak increa se from south to north from 184 to 5863 specimens.cm(-2).k.y.(-1). We interpret this abundance maximum to be a result of high organic carbon fluxes under a moving high productivity area, on the basis of the pro gression of climatic amelioration and retreat of sea-ice cover during the gradual deglaciation. The benthic foraminiferal record mirrors thi s time-transgressive belt directly.