Variability in temperature and geometry of the Norwegian Current over the past 600 yr; stable isotope and grain size evidence from the Norwegian margin

Core P1‐003MC was retrieved from 851 m water depth on the southern Norwegian continental margin, close to the boundary between the Norwegian Current (NC) and the underlying cold Norwegian Sea Deep Water. The core chronology was established by using ²¹⁰Pb measurements and ¹⁴C dates, suggesting a sampling resolution of between 2 and 9 yr. Sea‐surface temperature (SST) variations in the NC are reconstructed from stable oxygen isotope measurements in two planktonic Foraminifera species, Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (d.) and Globigerina bulloides. The high temporal resolution of the SST proxy records allows direct comparison with instrumental ocean temperature measurements from Ocean Weather Ship (OWS) Mike in the Norwegian Sea and an air temperature record from the coastal island Ona, western Norway. The comparison of the instrumental and the proxy SST data suggests that N. pachyderma (d.) calcify during summer, whereas G. bulloides calcify during spring. The δ¹⁸O records of both species suggest that the past 70 yr have been the warmest throughout the past 600 yr. The spring and summer proxy temperature data suggest differences in the duration of the cold period of the Little Ice Age. The spring temperature was 1–3°C colder throughout most of the period between ca. AD 1400 and 1700, and the summer temperature was 1–2°C colder throughout most of the period between ca. AD 1400 and 1920. Fluctuations in the depth of the lower boundary of the NC have been investigated by examining grain size data and benthic foraminiferal assemblages. The data show that the transition depth of the lower boundary of the NC was deeper between ca. AD 1400 and 1650 than after ca. AD 1750 until present. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.