“…Meanwhile, rising air temperatures resulted in intensified surface melt of the GIS (MacGregor et al, 2016), while regional records show a strengthened West Spitsbergen Current at this time (Jennings et al, 2011), potentially increasing the flux of recirculating AW onto the NEG continental shelf within the Return Atlantic Current (RAC) (Bauch et al, 2001; Evans et al, 2009; Schaffer et al, 2020; Zehnich et al, 2020). Indeed, this is supported by the dominance of the benthic foraminifera, Cassidulina neoteretis (Figures 7 and 8), typically indicating presence of AW (e.g., Hald & Korsun, 1997) , within the lower section of the laminated unit immediately after the transition from the subglacial till.…”