Marine conditions in central Sweden during the early Preboreal as inferred from a stable oxygen isotope gradient

The marine benthic fauna and the δ¹⁸O_c of foraminifers and ostracods from six sites situated on a west–east transect through central Sweden have been analysed in order to estimate the palaeosalinity and palaeocirculation in this shallow‐marine environment. The measurements have been undertaken on material from the early Preboreal, when the Baltic Basin was in contact with the North Sea through straits in central Sweden. The δ¹⁸O_c values have a more negative value towards the east, indicating decreasing salinity. This was the result of limited possibilities for marine water to penetrate into the Baltic Basin and the mixing with freshwater from the melting Fennoscandian ice‐sheet. Four water masses existed in the area: a surface layer of freshwater, marine water from the North Sea, brackish–marine intermediate water on the Swedish west coast and brackish Yoldia Sea water in the Baltic Basin. The chronology is based on radiocarbon dates of marine fossils and, at one site, on the occurrence of the Vedde Ash (10 400–10 300 ¹⁴C yr BP). This is the first record from marine settings in Sweden. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.