Carbonate frameworks secreted by phototrophic organisms within the Arctic Circle are not well documented. Underwater surveys of the inner‐shelf off Troms, northern Norway (70°N), reveal extended fixed algal build‐ups which are fringed by rhodolith belts affected by storms. Reefal growth by coralline algae under temperature and light regimes of extreme seasonality is made possible because of a decoupling of carbon fixation during summer and utilization of stored carbon during the period of winter darkness. Although the annual growth of the framework constructing algae is comparatively low, the annual carbonate production rate is similar to subtropical‐tropical counterparts because of a remarkably high standing stock. Early diagenetic alteration is restricted to intraparticle cementation processes which start in vivo. Bioerosional destruction is the dominant control on the preservation of high latitude build‐ups. Preservation of Holocene autochthonous coralline algal biostromes is enhanced by rapid burial during storm events. Redeposition during storms is the most important process in forming a distinct sedimentary facies zonation.

No abstract

No abstract

Sedimentological, isotopic and magnetostratigraphic investigations of Ocean Drilling Program and Deep Sea Drilling Project sites 642, 643, 644 and 610 document the oceanographic and climatic evolution of the Norwegian Sea and the northeastern Atlantic over the last 2.8 m.y.. The results show that a major expansion of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet to the coastal areas took place at about 2.56 Ma. Relatively severe glacials appeared until about 2 Ma. The period 2.6 ‐ 1.2 Ma experienced in general cold surface water conditions with only a weak influx of temperate Atlantic water as compared with late Quaternary interglacials. The Norwegian Sea was a sink of deep water through this period but deepwater ventilation was reduced and calcite dissolution was high compared with the Holocene. Deep water formed by other mechanisms than it does today. Between 2 and 1.2 Ma the glaciations in Scandinavia were small. A transition toward larger glacials took place during the period 1.2 to 0.6 Ma, corresponding to warmer interglacials and reduced calcite dissolution. Only during the last 0.6 m.y. has the oceanographic and climatic system of the Norwegian Sea varied in the manner described in previous studies of the late Quaternary. A strong thermal gradient was present between the Norwegian Sea and the northeastern Atlantic during the Matuyama (2.5–0.7 Ma). This is interpreted as a sign of a more zonal and less meridional climatic system over the region compared with the present situation.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

The record of glacier fluctuations in western Scandinavia, as reconstructed from continental data, has been correlated with records of ice-rafted detritus (IRD) from well-dated sediment cores from the Norwegian Sea covering the past 150,000 yr B.P. The input of IRD into the ocean is used as a proxy for ice sheet advances onto the shelf and, thus, for the calibration of a glaciation curve. The marine results generally support land-based reconstructions of glacier fluctuations and improve the time-control on glacial advances. The Saalian ice sheet decayed very rapidly approximately 125,000 yr B.P. In the Early Weichselian, a minor but significant IRD maximum indicates the presence of icebergs in isotope substage 5b (especially between 95,000 and 83,000 yr B.P.). Reduced amounts of calcareous nannofossils indicate that surface waters were influenced by meltwater discharges during isotope substages 5d and 5b. An extensive build-up of inland ice began again during isotope stage 4, but maximum glaciation was reached only in early stage 3 (58,000-53,000 yr B.P.). Marine sediments have minimum carbonate content, indicating strong dilution by lithogenic ice-rafted material. Generally, the IRD accumulation rate was considerably higher in stages 4-2 than in stage 5. A marked peak in IRD accumulation rates from 47,000 to 43,000 yr B.P. correlates well with a second Middle Weichselian ice sheet advance dated by the Laschamp/Olby paleomagnetic event. Minimum ice extent during the Ålesund interstade (38,500-32,500 yr B.P.) and several glacial oscillations during the Late Weichselian are also seen in the IRD record. Of several late Weichselian glacial oscillations on the shelf, at least four correspond to the North Atlantic Heinrich events. Ice sheet behavior was either coupled or linked by external forcing during these events, whereas internal ice sheet mechanisms may account for the noncoherent fluctuations.