Variability in transport of terrigenous material on the shelves and the deep Arctic Ocean during the Holocene

Abstract

Arctic coastal zones serve as a sensitive filter for terrigenous matter input onto the shelves via river discharge and coastal erosion. This material is further distributed across the Arctic by ocean currents and sea ice. The coastal regions are particularly vulnerable to changes related to recent climate change. We compiled a pan-Arctic review that looks into the changing Holocene sources, transport processes and sinks of terrigenous sediment in the Arctic Ocean. Existing palaeoceanographic studies demonstrate how climate warming and the disappearance of ice sheets during the early Holocene initiated eustatic sea-level rise that greatly modified the physiography of the Arctic Ocean. Sedimentation rates over the shelves and slopes were much greater during periods of rapid sea-level rise in the early and middle Holocene, as a result of the relative distance to the terrestrial sediment sources. However, estimates of suspended sediment delivery through major Arctic rivers do not indicate enhanced delivery during this time, which suggests enhanced rates of coastal erosion. The increased supply of terrigenous material to the outer shelves and deep Arctic Ocean in the early and middle Holocene might serve as analogous to forecast changes in the future Arctic.

• Arctic
• riverine input
• coastal erosion
• land–ocean interaction
• Holocene

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Acknowledgements

For discussions that shaped this paper, we thank the participants—in particular Gesine Mollenhauer—of the workshop Overcoming Challenges of Observation to Model Integration in Marine Ecosystem Response to Sea Ice Transitions, arranged jointly in Sopot, Poland, in October 2012 by the Arctic in Rapid Transition network and the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for their stimulating reviews of this manuscript and Henning Bauch for making us reflect more on Holocene sea-level rise.

Notes

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