Bolshaya Imandra, the northern sub‐basin of Lake Imandra, was investigated by a hydro‐acoustic survey followed by sediment coring down to the acoustic basement. The sediment record was analysed by a combined physical, biogeochemical, sedimentological, granulometrical and micropalaeontological approach to reconstruct the regional climatic and environmental history. Chronological control was obtained by 14C dating, 137Cs, and Hg markers as well as pollen stratigraphy and revealed that the sediment succession offers the first continuous record spanning the Lateglacial and Holocene for this lake. Following the deglaciation prior to c. 13 200 cal. a BP, the lake's sub‐basin initially was occupied by a glacifluvial river system, before a proglacial lake with glaciolacustrine sedimentation established. Rather mild climate, a sparse vegetation cover and successive retreat of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet (SIS) from the lake catchment characterized the Bølling/Allerød interstadial, lasting until 12 710 cal. a BP. During the subsequent Younger Dryas chronozone, until 11 550 cal. a BP, climate cooling led to a decrease in vegetation cover and a re‐advance of the SIS. The SIS disappeared from the catchment at the Holocene transition, but small glaciers persisted in the mountains at the eastern lake shore. During the Early Holocene, until 8400 cal. a BP, sedimentation changed from glaciolacustrine to lacustrine and rising temperatures caused the spread of thermophilous vegetation. The Middle Holocene, until 3700 cal. a BP, comprises the regional Holocene Thermal Maximum (8000–4600 cal. a BP) with relatively stable temperatures, denser vegetation cover and absence of mountain glaciers. Reoccurrence of mountain glaciers during the Late Holocene, until 30 cal. a BP, presumably results from a slight cooling and increased humidity. Since c. 30 cal. a BP Lake Imandra has been strongly influenced by human impact, originating in industrial and mining activities. Our results are in overall agreement with vegetation and climate reconstructions in the Kola region.

Rethemeyer, J. 2019 (April): Holocene environmental history in high-Arctic North Greenland revealed by a combined biomarker and macrofossil approach. Boreas, Vol. 48, pp. 273-286. https://doi.org/10.1111/bor.12377. ISSN 0300-9483. In this study, we use a combined biomarker and macrofossil approach to reconstruct the Holocene climate history recorded in Trifna Sø, Skallingen area, eastern North Greenland. Chronological information is derived from comparison of lithological, biogeochemical and macrofossil characteristics with a well-dated record from nearby Lille Sneha Sø. Following local deglaciation around c. 8 cal. ka BP, the local peak warmth occurred between c. 7.4 and 6.2 cal. ka BP as indicated by maximum macrofossil abundances of warmth-demanding plants (Salix arctica and Dryas integrifolia) and invertebrates (Daphnia pulex and Chironomidae). Warm conditions were dominated by terrestrial organic matter (OM) sedimentation as implied by the alkane-based P aq ratio, but increased aquatic productivity is indicated when temperature was highest around 6.5 cal. ka BP. The n-C 29 /n-C 31 alkane ratio shows that vegetation in the catchment was dominated by shrubs after deglaciation, but shifted towards relatively more grassy/herbaceous vegetation during peak warmth. After 5.4 cal. ka BP, the disappearance of warmth-demanding plant and invertebrate macrofossils indicates cooling in the Skallingen area. This cooling was characterized by a significant shift towards dominance of aquatic OM sedimentation in Trifna Sø as implied by high P aq ratios. Cooling was also associated with a shift in vegetation type from dwarf-shrub heaths towards relatively more herbaceous vegetation in the catchment, stronger erosion and more oligotrophic conditions in the lake. Our data show that mean air temperatures inferred using branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) do not seem to accurately reflect the local climatic history. Irrespective of calibration, methylation of branched tetraethers (MBT) palaeothermometry cannot be reconciled with the macrofossil evidence and seems to be biased by either changing brGDGT sources (in situ vs. soil-derived) or changing species assemblages and/or an unknown physiological response to changing environmental conditions at high latitude. constraints on temperature changes. The closest terrestrial, non-ice-core record of absolute temperature change comes from Last Chance Lake in central East Greenland, approximately 1000 km farther south.

Abstract. This work represents the first palaeomagnetic study carried out on the sedimentary record of lake Levinson-Lessing, which is the deepest lake in northern Central Siberia. Palaeomagnetic analyses were carried out on 730 discrete samples from the upper 38 m of the 46 m-long core Co1401, which was recovered from the central part of the lake. Alternating field demagnetisation experiments were carried out to obtain the characteristic remanent magnetisation. The relative palaeointensity is determined using the magnetic susceptibility, the anhysteretic remanent magnetization and the isothermal remanent magnetization for normalization of the partial natural remanent magnetization. The chronology of Co1401 derives from accelerated mass spectrometer radiocarbon ages, optically stimulated luminescence dating, and correlation of the relative palaeointensity of 642 discrete samples with the GLOPIS-75 reference curve. This study focuses on the part >10 ka but although includes preliminary results for the upper part of the core. The record includes the geomagnetic excursions Laschamps and Mono Lake, and resolves sufficient geomagnetic features to establish a chronology that continuously covers ~62 ka. The results reveal continuous sedimentation and high sedimentation rate between 45 and 95 cm ka−1. High lock-in depths are suggested from the low variability of the magnetic record compared to data sets of reference records with lower sedimentation rate. Although the horizontal component of the characteristic remanent magnetization can only be used with caution because Co1401 was cored without core segment overlap, the magnetic record of Co1401 is the only high-resolution record of relative palaeointensity and palaeosecular variations from the Arctic tangent cylinder going back to ~62 ka.

Abstract. Extensive black shale deposits formed in the Early Cretaceous South Atlantic, supporting the notion that this emerging ocean basin was a globally important site of organic carbon burial. The magnitude of organic carbon burial in marine basins is known to be controlled by various tectonic, oceanographic, hydrological, and climatic processes acting on different temporal and spatial scales, the nature and relative importance of which are poorly understood for the young South Atlantic. Here we present new bulk and molecular geochemical data from an Aptian–Albian sediment record recovered from the deep Cape Basin at Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 361, which we combine with general circulation model results to identify driving mechanisms of organic carbon burial. A multimillion-year decrease (i.e., Early Aptian–Albian) in organic carbon burial, reflected in a lithological succession of black shale, gray shale, and red beds, was caused by increasing bottom water oxygenation due to abating hydrographic restriction via South Atlantic–Southern Ocean gateways. These results emphasize basin evolution and ocean gateway development as a decisive primary control on enhanced organic carbon preservation in the Cape Basin at geological timescales (> 1 Myr). The Early Aptian black shale sequence comprises alternations of shales with high (> 6 %) and relatively low (∼ 3.5 %) organic carbon content of marine sources, the former being deposited during the global Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE) 1a, as well as during repetitive intervals before and after OAE 1a. In all cases, these short-term intervals of enhanced organic carbon burial coincided with strong influxes of sediments derived from the proximal African continent, indicating closely coupled climate–land–ocean interactions. Supported by our model results, we show that fluctuations in weathering-derived nutrient input from the southern African continent, linked to changes in orbitally driven humidity and aridity, were the underlying drivers of repetitive episodes of enhanced organic carbon burial in the deep Cape Basin. These results suggest that deep marine environments of emerging ocean basins responded sensitively and directly to short-term fluctuations in riverine nutrient fluxes. We explain this relationship using the lack of wide and mature continental shelf seas that could have acted as a barrier or filter for nutrient transfer from the continent into the deep ocean.

Most of the Arctic lies inside the tangent cylinder of the inner core (>69.5°N) and thus dominantly records magnetic fields generated by convection in the northern magneto-hydrodynamically closed compartment of the outer core. These fields are decoupled and probably behave partly independent from the global secular variation (St-Onge & Stoner, 2011). Our understanding of the interplay between dipolar and non-dipolar components of the Earth's magnetic field (EMF) can be improved by analyzing records from sedimentary archives. Yet, most Arctic Ocean records have low temporal resolution and are also biased by diagenetic processes coupled to water depth and climatic conditions (Wiers et al., 2019(Wiers et al., , 2020. On the other hand, terrestrial records extending back beyond the Last Glacial Maximum are exceptionally rare throughout the complete Arctic Circle. Therefore, observation-based reconstructions of the evolution of features, such as the Siberian flux lobe (Figure 1a), are so far not possible in the Eurasian Arctic. Levinson-Lessing Lake in the Russian Arctic is best suited for providing a long-range high-resolution record. It is the deepest lake at the Taymyr Peninsula, following a tectonic trench that was reshaped by glacial erosion during early