Interglacial conditions of the Iceland Sea (ICIS)

• Applicant: Dr. Nicolas van Nieuwenhove
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: from 2009 to 2012
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 111123891

Previous investigations based on planktic foraminiferal assemblages in the North Atlantic and Nordic seas have suggested the existence of a more pronounced south-north temperature gradient across the northern North Atlantic, with a zonal, rather than meridional, alignment of the oceanographic fronts in the Nordic seas during the last interglacial (MIS 5e), compared to the Holocene. The implied weaker inflow of warm Atlantic water into the Nordic seas should have caused a weakening of the East Greenland Current, which carries cold water out of the Arctic Ocean/Nordic seas along the coast of Greenland. The reduced southward transport of cold water masses during MIS 5e resulted in warmer surface waters at the western Iceland Plateau, a smaller South Greenland ice cap with warmer floral and faunal components on southern Greenland, and the shutdown of deep-water formation in the Labrador Sea. The present project aims to evaluate these indications for a weaker East Greenland Current, by directly comparing Holocene and MIS 5e upper ocean properties on the Iceland Plateau. This will be achieved by profound paleoceanographic reconstructions of the upper water column for both periods, based on qualitative and quantitative analysis of dinoflagellate cyst assemblages, supported by planktic foraminiferal, geochemical (multispecies stable O/C isotopes) and sedimentary proxy records.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Canada
• Participating Persons: Dr. Henning A. Bauch; Professorin Dr. Anne de Vernal