Accurate estimation of relative carbon deposition (marine vs. terrestrial) is required for understanding the global carbon budget, particularly in the Arctic region, which holds disproportionate importance with respect to global carbon cycling. Although the sedimentary organic matter (SOM) concentration and its isotopic composition are important tools for such calculations, uncertainties loom over estimates provided by organic-geochemical bulk parameters. We report carbon and nitrogen concentrations and isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) of SOM at an Arctic fjord namely Kongsfjorden. We find that the bound inorganic nitrogen (ammonium attached to the clay minerals) forms a significant proportion of total nitrogen concentration (~77% in the inner fjord to ~24% in the outer part). On removing the bound nitrogen, the C/N ratio shows that the SOM in the inner fjord is made up of terrestrial carbon while the outer fjord shows mixed marine-terrestrial signal. We further show that the marine organic matter is unusually more depleted in 13C (~−24‰) than the terrestrial organic matter (~−22.5‰). This particular finding also helps explain high δ13C values of SOM as noted by earlier studies in central Arctic sediments despite a high terrestrial contribution.

Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) shows a weak correlation with solar variability in the 20th century. However, such climatological observations on solar activity-monsoon relationship are very short and hence uncertain. A few paleomonsoon records also exhibit prominent correspondence with solar activity during early Holocene and beyond. But despite the strong recent solar minima (e.g. Maunder, Spörer, Oort, Wolf), their correlation with monsoon precipitation is weak and inconclusive. Additionally, many of the earlier studies have been from the western Arabian Sea that provides records of the ISM wind intensity instead of the ISM precipitation. We present here mid-Holocene to recent sea surface temperature (SST) reconstructed from Mg/Ca measurements of planktic foraminifera (Globigerinoides ruber; white, sensu stricto) on a centennial-scale resolution from the southeastern Arabian. These measurements are used to correct the oxygen isotope ratios of G. ruber to reconstruct salinity related to monsoon runoff in this region more precisely than hitherto. The long-term trend indicates that the ISM precipitation has declined since the mid-Holocene similar to the solar activity. On shorter multi-centennial timescale, we show that the ISM precipitation declined concurrently with the recent periods of strong solar minima, but lagged by a couple of hundred years beyond 1300 yr BP toward the mid-Holocene -confirmed statistically using wavelet analysis. This nonstationary phase relationship between the ISM and the solar activity indicates the possible influence of the tropical coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon.

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The earlier studies show a contrasting long‐term trend of the South Asian Summer Monsoon (SASM) after attaining the precessional forcing induced mid‐Holocene maximum. The increasing total organic carbon (TOC) concentration of marine sediments in the Southeastern Arabian Sea (SEAS) has been interpreted to imply strengthening SASM since mid‐Holocene by a few studies. However, TOC concentration is also influenced by redox conditions, sedimentation rate, and an influx of terrigenous matter depending on the regional settings. So, it needs to be ascertained whether the TOC concentration of the sediments in the SEAS is a signal of productivity related to the SASM strength or preservation. Therefore, we studied multiple proxies (TOC, total nitrogen, atomic C/N, δ13Corg, CaCO3, and major and trace elements concentration) for determining the productivity, redox conditions, detrital supply, and provenance in a sediment core from the upper continental slope of the SEAS spanning the past ∼4700 years at centennial scale resolution. The present study shows that the observed increase in the TOC values since the mid‐Holocene is a result of better preservation caused by increased sedimentation rate and enhanced reducing conditions. We further show that the SASM has been declining since mid‐Holocene after attaining a precession‐forced maximum, which corroborates the earlier model ensemble studies.

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