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Holocene water mass changes in the Labrador Current
- Source :
- Lochte, A A, Repschlaeger, J, Seidenkrantz, M-S, Kienast, M, Blanz, T & Schneider, R R 2019, ' Holocene water mass changes in the Labrador Current ', Holocene, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 676-690 . https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683618824752, The Holocene, 29 (4). pp. 676-690., Lochte, A A, Repschläger, J, Seidenkrantz, M S, Kienast, M, Blanz, T & Schneider, R R 2019, ' Holocene water mass changes in the Labrador Current ' Holocene . https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683618824752
- Publication Year :
- 2019
- Publisher :
- SAGE Publications, 2019.
-
Abstract
- The Labrador Current is part of the anticlockwise subpolar gyre and plays a major role in the formation of North Atlantic Deep Water. It is influenced by the West Greenland and Baffin currents supplying warmer Atlantic and cold polar waters, respectively. During the early Holocene, at the final stage of the last deglaciation, meltwater and iceberg discharge caused highly variable conditions in the Labrador Current. In order to assess its sensitivity to such freshening, this study provides a well-resolved Holocene paleoclimatic record from the Labrador Shelf. Based on benthic foraminiferal faunal and alkenone biomarker analyses, we differentiated four distinct climatic periods in the western Labrador Sea. From 8.9 to 8.6 ka BP, the Labrador Shelf was dominated by polar water outflow from Baffin Bay and covered by perennial sea ice. Between 8.6 and 7.4 ka BP, a strong subsurface inflow of warmer Atlantic water masses is ascribed to an intensification and redirection of the West Greenland Current. At 7.4 ka BP, the decreased influence of Atlantic water masses on the Labrador Shelf marks the establishment of winter convection leading to the formation of Labrador Sea Water in the central basin. Concurrently, an intensified polar water outflow through the Canadian Gateways strengthened the inner Labrador Current, and higher primary productivity suggests longer spring blooms because of a shorter sea-ice season during the Holocene Thermal Maximum. In the late Holocene after 3 ka BP, periodic fluctuations of primary productivity may tentatively be correlated with stronger and weaker northwesterly winds.
- Subjects :
- 010506 paleontology
Archeology
Water mass
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
benthic foraminifera
Labrador Sea
01 natural sciences
primary productivity
CONTINENTAL-SHELF
Ocean gyre
OCEANOGRAPHIC CHANGES
BAFFIN-BAY
14. Life underwater
Clockwise
alkenones
West Greenland Current
Holocene
Primary productivity
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Earth-Surface Processes
Global and Planetary Change
geography
geography.geographical_feature_category
FRESH-WATER
Ecology
Labrador Current
North Atlantic Deep Water
MODERN BENTHIC FORAMINIFERA
Paleontology
NORTH-ATLANTIC
SEA-SURFACE CONDITIONS
Current (stream)
MULTI-PROXY RECONSTRUCTION
Oceanography
13. Climate action
DISKO-BUGT
HIGH-RESOLUTION
Geology
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14770911 and 09596836
- Volume :
- 29
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- The Holocene
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....4c5999e69a703246b9227b33df1a3577