Late Holocene palaeoproductivity changes: a multi‐proxy study in the Norwegian Trench and the Skagerrak,North Sea

To detect climatic linkages between the Baltic Sea, the Skagerrak and the Nordic Seas, we present multi‐proxy reconstructions covering the last 4500 years from three sediment cores taken in the Skagerrak and along the SW Norwegian margin. Foraminiferal assemblages at all three sites show a distinct change at c. 1700 years BP, associated with a transition from absence and rare occurrence of Brizalina skagerrakensis during c. 4500–2300 years BP to its subsequent abundance increase, suggesting a stronger influence of nutrient‐rich water‐masses during the last c. 1700 years. Increased nutrient availability, which probably stimulated higher primary productivity, is further supported by an increase in diatoms, total organic carbon and benthic foraminiferal species indicative of high productivity and carbon fluxes during the last c. 1700 years as compared to c. 4500–2300 years BP. The amplitude of the B. skagerrakensis signal is largest in the central Skagerrak and gradually becomes smaller towards the Norwegian Sea suggesting that the dominant source of the nutrient‐rich water was the brackish outflow from the Baltic Sea. The generally lower abundances of planktonic foraminifera since c. 1700 years BP support the hypothesis of less saline surface water conditions in the Skagerrak. These results agree with other studies, which suggest a stronger Baltic outflow over the last 1700 years coinciding with a general cooling, increased wintertime westerlies bringing more winter precipitation to northern Europe, increased river runoff and higher frequency of floods. The increase in outflow also occurs during deposition of laminated sediments in the deep Baltic Sea. Leakage of dissolved inorganic phosphorus from anoxic sediments, as well as enhanced erosion due to deforestation in combination with higher runoff from Norway, coastal upwelling and more vigorous frontal dynamics may all have contributed to higher nutrient availability within the adjacent Skagerrak during the last 1700 years BP as compared to c. 4500–2300 years BP, when low productivity prevailed in the study area.     

Configuration,history and impact of the Norwegian Channel Ice Stream

The Norwegian Channel between Skagerrak, in the southeast, and the continental margin of the northern North Sea, in the northwest, is the result of processes related to repeated ice stream activity through the last 1.1 m yr. In such periods the Skagerrak Trough (700 m deep) has acted as a confluence area for glacial ice from southeastern Norway, southern Sweden and parts of the Baltic. Possibly related to the threshold in the Norwegian Channel off Jæren (250 m deep), the ice stream, on a number of occasions over the last 400 ka, inundated the coastal lowlands and left an imprint of NW‐oriented ice directional features (drumlins, stone orientations in tills and striations). Marine interstadial sediments found up to 200 m a.s.l. on Jæren have been suggested to reflect glacial isostasy related to the Norwegian Channel Ice Stream (NCIS). In the channel itself, the ice stream activity is evidenced by mega‐scale glacial lineations on till surfaces. As a result of subsidence, the most complete sedimentary records of early phases of the NCIS are preserved close to the continental margin in the North Sea Fan region. The strongest evidence for ice stream erosion during the last glacial phase is found in the Skagerrak. On the continental slope the ice stream activity is evidenced by the large North Sea Fan, which is mainly a result of deposition of glacial‐fed debris flows. Northwards of the North Sea Fan, rapid deposition of meltwater plume deposits, possibly related to the NCIS, is detected as far north as the Vøring Plateau. The NCIS system offers a unique possibility to study ice stream related processes and the impact the ice stream development had on open ocean sedimentation and circulation.     

晚更新世江苏海岸带沉积分布模拟研究

中国边缘海大陆架在晚更新世时期曾是海岸平原,在古长江、古黄河泥沙填充下形成了陆架堆积体,并在全新世发育了南黄海辐射沙脊群、废黄河三角洲和长江三角洲。根据点状的地质钻孔分析和重建,对南黄海-江苏海岸的沉积体系的分布和变化机制尚不明了。作为动力机制探讨,基于气候-海面-沉积系统,根据气候水文学、沉积学原理以及泥沙沉积面的动态高程计算,构建了气候冰川驱动-东黄海地海系统响应-河流沉积建造的数值模式,模拟了14万年、4万年和1万年不同时间尺度江苏海岸线和长江三角洲沉积的变化过程和分布,进而对冰川气候、构造沉降、沉积压实等复杂效应下的海面特征、陆源泥沙沉积和海岸线进行分析。模拟结果与地质钻孔资料揭示的层序和埋深能够进行对比。     

Calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy of late Quaternary Arctic sediments

Calcareous nannofossil assemblages of late Quaternary age have been investigated in short sediment cores from the eastern Arctic Ocean and the Norwegian Sea. The ages estimated in these cores are mainly based on calibration with northern North Atlantic reference material, where the first appearance of Emiliania huxleyi occurs in oxygen isotope stage 8 at 264,000 years B.P., and its sharp increase in relative abundance occurs in oxygen isotope stage 4 at 61,000 years B.P. Minor amounts of reworked Cretaceous and Tertiary specimens are present throughout the cores. Intervals where nannofossils occur in abundance represent warmer interstadial or interglacial conditions, whereas barren intervals represent glacial conditions. Holocene open water conditions are recognized by high frequencies of Coccolithus pelagicus . Sediment accumulation rates show considerable variation and range between 1 and 13 cm/ka.     

天津大直沽晚第四纪沉积物红外释光测年及环境变迁年代学

对天津大直沽ZH2钻孔晚第四纪沉积物岩芯12个样品的红外释光(IRSL)测年及沉积物记录的环境变化研究结果表明:1)细颗粒(4～11μm)多测片的红外释光(IRSL)技术对水悬浮沉积物的年龄测定有着巨大的潜力,渤海湾西岸全新世环境变化的IRSL年代可与¹⁴C年代相对比;2)大直沽ZH2孔所在地未见晚更新世海侵,并在距今约30 ka至约10 ka期间处于沉积间断状态,距今9.5 ka开始发生海侵,距今5.1 ka发生海退,距今4.4 ka海水已退出ZH2孔所在地,距今2 ka左右已有人类活动.     

祁连山中段门源盆地新构造运动的阶段划分

门源盆地是祁连山中段的山间盆地, 南北边缘均为断裂控制, 发育古近系白杨河组、第四纪冰碛物和冰水堆积物。地层变形、地貌发育和断裂活动分期的差异显示新生代以来门源盆地经历了4个构造运动阶段。新生代最早的构造运动开始于渐新世中期(约30MaB.P.), Ⅰ级夷平面解体, 盆地断陷形成并接收了白杨河组砂砾石沉积。第二阶段始于渐新世末期-中新世初(约23MaB.P.), 盆地结束了沉降过程, 白杨河组褶皱变形, 这一过程持续至中更新世初期。第三阶段始于中更新世中期(约460ka B.P.), 新的边界断裂形成, 盆地再次断陷, 堆积了厚度大于400m的冰碛或冰水堆积物, 边缘断裂强烈活动, 这一过程持续到晚更新世晚期(约30ka B.P.)。最新阶段始于30ka B.P., 盆地和两侧的山地整体抬升, 盆地面由此前的加积过程转变为侵蚀切割过程, 北缘断裂的活动由含走滑分量的逆冲性质转变为走滑性质, 但走滑速率明显降低。      

Quaternary Geology and Faulting in the Damxung-Yangbajain Basin

The detailed geological mapping, conducted in the Damxung-Yangbajain basin, shows that there are many types of deposits formed since the Pliocene. The oldest sediments are formed during the Pliocene. The most prominent sediments are three sets of moraines and fluvioglacial deposits. The ESR, U-series and OSL dates indicate they are formed about 700-500 ka B.P., 250-125 ka B.P. and 75-12 ka B.P. respectively and indicate that there are three glacial periods since the mid-Pleistocene in the Nyainqentanglha Range. Along the southeast side of the Nyainqentanglha Range, the main southeast dipping fault zone which bounds the Damxung-Yangbajain Graben on its western edge was mapped. The fault zone consists of three secondary fault zones and their initiation ages that the fault zones became active gradually decrease southeastward. Prominent faulting occurred in about 700-500 ka B.P., 350-220 ka B.P., -140 ka B.P. and 70-50 ka B.P. since the mid-Pleistocene. The height of fault scarps which offset the sediments f     

The West Bornholm basin in the Baltic Sea: geological structure and Quaternary sediments

KÖgler, F.-C. & Larsen, B. 1979 03 01: The West Bornholm basin in the Baltic Sea: geological structure and Quaternary sediments. Boreas . Vol. 8, pp. 1–22. Oslo. ISSN 0300–9483.
The West Bornholm basin is an approx. 1000 km² subbasin of the Bornholm basin just north of Bornholm. The basin has been mapped by acoustic profiling and sampling of the sea floor. The basin is eroded down into Mesozoic sediments which are downfaulted between basement horsts in the Fennoscandian Border Zone. The development of the Quaternary morphology is illustrated by maps of the surface of the bedrock, the glacial landscape beneath the varved clays, the recent topography combined with isopach maps of late Glacial and Holocene formations. Quaternary formations are defined and described. The brown, very fine grained varved clay is deposited as a conformable cover on the substratum. It is probably deposited from suspensions carried in the whole water body, while turbidity currents were of minor importance. The recent sedimentary environment is an example of a restricted, but not totally anoxic basin. The recent sediment is chiefly mud rich in organic matter (ca. 4% C_org). According to a rough estimate, the long-term mean sedimentation rate of organic carbon is 6 g/m²/year.     

Holocene Refreshening and Reoxygenation of a Bothnian Sea Estuary Led to Enhanced Phosphorus Burial

Salinity variations in restricted basins like the Baltic Sea can alter their vulnerability to hypoxia (i.e., bottom water oxygen concentrations <2 mg/l) and can affect the burial of phosphorus (P), a key nutrient for marine organisms. We combine porewater and solid-phase geochemistry, micro-analysis of sieved sediments (including XRD and synchrotron-based XAS), and foraminiferal δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C analyses to reconstruct the bottom water salinity, redox conditions, and P burial in the Ångermanälven estuary, Bothnian Sea. Our sediment records were retrieved during the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Baltic Sea Paleoenvironment Expedition 347 in 2013. We demonstrate that bottom waters in the Ångermanälven estuary became anoxic upon the intrusion of seawater in the early Holocene, like in the central Bothnian Sea. The subsequent refreshening and reoxygenation, which was caused by gradual isostatic uplift, promoted P burial in the sediment in the form of Mn-rich vivianite. Vivianite authigenesis in the surface sediments of the more isolated part of the estuary ultimately ceased, likely due to continued refreshening and an associated decline in productivity and P supply to the sediment. The observed shifts in environmental conditions also created conditions for post-depositional formation of authigenic vivianite, and possibly apatite formation, at ～8 m composite depth. These salinity-related changes in redox conditions and P burial are highly relevant in light of current climate change. The results specifically highlight that increased freshwater input linked to global warming may enhance coastal P retention, thereby contributing to oligotrophication in both coastal and adjacent open waters.     

Micromorphological evidence supporting Late Weichselian glaciation of the Northern North Sea

Thirteen samples from three cores and boreholes are examined using micromorphology to test existing interpretations of Late Quaternary sedimentary sequences from the Norwegian Channel, North Sea Fan and the North Sea Plateau. Previous studies have interpreted these sediments using arbitrary parameters as reflecting Late Weichselian subglacial and glacimarine conditions associated with the Scandinavian Ice Sheet and Norwegian Channel ice stream. This study develops existing micromorphological criteria to interpret the samples as reflecting specific processes of subglacial deformation and proximal and distal glacimarine sedimentation during and subsequent to the Last Glacial Maximum. The study concludes by outlining diagnostic criteria for the identification of these sediment types from core and borehole samples of other Quaternary sediments.     

Environmental conditions in northwestern Russia during MIS 5 inferred from the pollen stratigraphy in a sediment core from Lake Ladoga

Lake Ladoga hosts preglacial sediments, although the Eurasian ice sheet overrode the area during the LGM. These sediments were first discovered by a seismic survey and are investigated using a 22.75‐m‐long core. Its upper 13.30 m comprise Holocene and Lateglacial sediments separated from the lower 11.45 m of preglacial sediments by a hiatus. They consist of highly terrigenous lacustrine sediments, which according to OSL dating, were deposited during an early stage of the last ice age (MIS 5). The palynological data allow a first reconstruction of the Early Weichselian environmental history for northwestern Russia. Birch and alder forests with broad‐leaved taxa dominated during MIS 5d (c. 118–113 ka), suggesting a climate more favourable than in the Holocene. A high content of well‐sorted sands and poorly preserved palynomorphs indicates a shallow‐water environment at least temporarily. More fine‐grained sediments and better preserved organic remains suggest deeper water environments at the core location during MIS 5c (c. 113–88 ka). Pine and spruce became dominant, while broad‐leaved taxa started to disappear, especially after c. 90 ka, pointing to a gradual climate cooling. An increase in open herb‐dominated habitats at the beginning of MIS 5b (c. 88–86 ka) reflects a colder and dryer climate. However, later (c. 86–82 ka) pine and spruce again became more common. Birch and alder forests dominated in the area c. 82–80 ka (beginning of MIS 5a). Although open treeless habitats also became more common at this time, a slight increase in hazel may point to somewhat warmer climate conditions coinciding with the beginning of MIS 5a. The studied sediments also contain numerous remains of freshwater algae and cysts of marine and brackish‐water dinoflagellates and acritarchs documenting that the present lake basin was part of a brackish‐water basin during the Early Weichselian, probably as a gulf of the Pre‐Baltic Sea.     

Lithofacial complexes of quaternary deposits in the central and southeastern baltic sea

Geological and seismic profiling data (more than 25000 km of seismic profiles and about 1000 sediment sampling stations) collected during the last 30 yr by research vessels of the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences are summarized. Seismic records are directly correlated with sediment cores. The distribution map (scale 1 : 500000) of Quaternary lithofacial complexes corresponding to certain stages of the Baltic Sea evolution is compiled. The following four complexes are distinguished (from the base to the top): (I) moraine, with maximum thicknesses 60 and 170 m in valleys and ridges respectively: (II) varved clay of periglacial basins and from the Baltic Ice Lake (BIL), up to 25 m thick in depressions; (III) lacustrinemarine homogeneous clay with a thickness up to 4–8 m in depressions; (IV) marine sediments (mud, aleurite, coarse-grained deposits) accumulated in environments with intense bottom currents activity (thickness 2–4 m in the Gotland Basin, 4–6 m in the Gdansk Basin, and 10–20 m in fans and prodeltas). The Quaternary sequence is cut through by inherited valleys, where the thickest Holocene sediments are noted. Today, these valleys serve as routes of sediment transport to slope bases and central parts of basins. Outblows of deep gas (through faults and fractures) and diagenetic gas (from sediments) to the bottom surface also occur in the valleys. Sedimentation rates are higher in the Gdansk Basin (up to 100–120 cm/ka). Thick sand, aleurite, and mud bodies are accumulated here (about 15–20 m in the Visla River prodelta). The sedimentation rate is slower in the Gotland Basin (up to 50–60 cm/ka), where thin (2–4 m) sections of more fine-grained mud occur     

Late Glacial and Holocene depositional history in the eastern part of the Szczecin Lagoon (Great Lagoon) basin—NW Poland

Analyses on 27 sediment cores taken from the bottom of the Szczecin Lagoon allowed environmental reconstruction of the postglacial main stages of basin development, based on detailed sedimentological, geochemical, diatomological and malacological studies of selected key cores. Studies revealed that during the Late Glacial and Holocene this area developed in several stages. In the Late Glacial the whole study area constituted a low alluvial plain. At the turn from Younger Dryas to Holocene the alluvial plain was cut through by the Odra river to a level of 10–11 m below sea level (b.s.l.). Along with the first phases of the Holocene marine transgression at the southern Baltic Sea's coasts the accumulation of the limnic-swampy deposits began in this lower part of the Odra valley. At ca. 6–6.5 ka BP the transgression proceeded and Littorina Sea waters flooded the area. At that time the Szczecin Lagoon constituted a marine embayment in which series of sands, partly rich in malacofauna, was deposited. The development of the Swina barrier resulted in the isolation of the embayment from the direct inflow of Baltic Sea waters.     

练江平原第四系的时代

基于钻孔柱状图将练江平原区第四系划分为9个基本层,通过对WYZK-06孔岩心的系统测年,标定了第四系的年代。第四系底部地层时代为中更新世,厚度约40 m,为陆相沉积。中更新统底部地质年龄为(325±32)ka,属中更新世中晚期;顶部为一套厚达10 cm左右的稳定花斑黏土层。上覆地层为上更新统,反映中更新世与晚更新世之间有较长时间的沉积间断。中更新统分布局限于普宁—两英之间,上更新统和全新统占据平原的大部分地区,表明练江平原是在中更新世发生局部断陷,在晚更新世以来开始接受大面积沉积。     

Toward a standard stratigraphical classification practice for the Baltic Sea sediments: the CUAL approach

The Late Pleistocene and Holocene glacial and postglacial sediments of the Baltic Sea basin are conventionally classified into units according to the so‐called Baltic Sea stages: Baltic Ice Lake, Yoldia Sea, Ancylus Lake and Litorina Sea. The Baltic Sea stages have been identified in offshore sediment cores by fundamentally different criteria, precluding detailed comparisons of the sediment units amongst different sea areas and studies. Here, long sediment cores and reflection seismic and pinger sub‐bottom profiles were studied from an offshore area in the Gulf of Finland, northern Baltic Sea. The strata are divided on the basis of sedimentological criteria into three allostratigraphical formations with subordinate allostratigraphical members and lithostratigraphical formations, following the combined allostratigraphical and lithostratigraphical (CUAL) approach. Sedimentological features are recommended as the primary stratigraphical classification criteria because they do not require the palaeoenvironmental inferences of salinity and water level that are inherent in the conventional classification practice. The presented stratigraphical division is proposed as a flexible template for future stratigraphical work on the Baltic Sea basin, whereby lower‐rank allounits and lithounits can be included and removed locally, while the alloformations will remain at the highest hierarchical level and guarantee regional correlatability. The stratigraphical division is compatible with international guidelines, facilitating communication to the wider scientific community and comparison with other similar basins.     

Biostratigraphy of Eemian sediments at Mertuanoja, Pohjanmaa (Ostrobothnia), western Finland

The till-covered clay and silt deposits at Mertuanoja, Pohjanmaa (Ostrobothnia), western Finland, have been investigated in great detail. The Eemian interglacial environment is reconstructed here on the basis of pollen, diatom and dinoflagellate analyses. The pollen stratigraphy shows an interglacial vegetational succession reflecting stable climatic conditions typical of the Eemian Stage in the Pohjanmaa area. The initial Betula forests were followed by Pinus-Betula forests with Quercus. The next successional phase was dominated by Betula, Pinus and Alnus; temperate deciduous trees and Corylus also grew in the area. Later, Picea advanced and temperate deciduous trees declined. Some Corylus was, however, still present and thermophilous Osmunda thrived in wet places. The diatom record indicates that the sediments were deposited first in a freshwater basin, then in the Eemian Baltic Sea, and finally in a freshwater basin once more. The presence of dinoflagellates demonstrates that the Eemian Baltic Sea, when at its maximum extent, was connected to the Atlantic Ocean, which brought northern cool-temperate surface waters to Finland as far north as Mertuanoja. Mertuanoja is the first interglacial site at which numerous dinoflagellate cysts were encountered in Finnish Quaternary sediments.     

Past occurrences of hypoxia in the Baltic Sea and the role of climate variability,environmental change and human impact

The hypoxic zone in the Baltic Sea has increased in area about four times since 1960 and widespread oxygen deficiency has severely reduced macro benthic communities below the halocline in the Baltic Proper and the Gulf of Finland, which in turn has affected food chain dynamics, fish habitats and fisheries in the entire Baltic Sea. The cause of increased hypoxia is believed to be enhanced eutrophication through increased anthropogenic input of nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus. However, the spatial variability of hypoxia on long time-scales is poorly known: and so are the driving mechanisms. We review the occurrence of hypoxia in modern time (last c. 50 years), modern historical time (AD 1950–1800) and during the more distant past (the last c. 10 000 years) and explore the role of climate variability, environmental change and human impact. We present a compilation of proxy records of hypoxia (laminated sediments) based on long sediment cores from the Baltic Sea. The cumulated results show that the deeper depressions of the Baltic Sea have experienced intermittent hypoxia during most of the Holocene and that regular laminations started to form c. 8500–7800 cal. yr BP ago, in association with the formation of a permanent halocline at the transition between the Early Littorina Sea and the Littorina Sea s. str. Laminated sediments were deposited during three main periods (i.e. between c. 8000–4000, 2000–800 cal. yr BP and subsequent to AD 1800) which overlap the Holocene Thermal Maximum (c. 9000–5000 cal. yr BP), the Medieval Warm Period (c. AD 750–1200) and the modern historical period (AD 1800 to present) and coincide with intervals of high surface salinity (at least during the Littorina s. str.) and high total organic carbon content. This study implies that there may be a correlation between climate variability in the past and the state of the marine environment, where milder and dryer periods with less freshwater run-off correspond to increased salinities and higher accumulation of organic carbon resulting in amplified hypoxia and enlarged distribution of laminated sediments. We suggest that hydrology changes in the drainage area on long time-scales have, as well as the inflow of saltier North Sea waters, controlled the deep oxic conditions in the Baltic Sea and that such changes have followed the general Holocene climate development in Northwest Europe. Increased hypoxia during the Medieval Warm Period also correlates with large-scale changes in land use that occurred in much of the Baltic Sea watershed during the early-medieval expansion. We suggest that hypoxia during this period in the Baltic Sea was not only caused by climate, but increased human impact was most likely an additional trigger. Large areas of the Baltic Sea have experienced intermittent hypoxic from at least AD 1900 with laminated sediments present in the Gotland Basin in the Baltic Proper since then and up to present time. This period coincides with the industrial revolution in Northwestern Europe which started around AD 1850, when population grew, cutting of drainage ditches intensified, and agricultural and forest industry expanded extensively.     

Remanence magnetic records of the recent 130 000 years from the sediments in Nansha area, South China Sea

Two hundred and eighty-one samples, collected from drilling core NS93-5 located in the Nansha area of the South China Sea, were used to study the magnetic characteristics of the sediments in the sea. Detailed rock magnetic results show that the magnetic minerals of the sediments were dominated by ferrimagnetic minerals such as magnetite, and a small contribution of hematite and maghematite also existed. The sediments recorded three negative values of remanence magnetic inclination at the depth: 191–206 cm, 232–248 cm, and 292–308 cm. The corresponding ages of these negative values were 65.87–68.7 ka B.P., 73.4–80.8 ka B.P. and 108.4–113.6 ka B.P., respectively, according to stratigraphy of oxygen isotope, ¹⁴C, and the age of a volcanic ash layer. The negative value during 108.4–113.6 ka B.P. may be the record of a Blake event in the sediments of the Nansha area. Translated from Marine Geology & Quaternary Geology, 2006, 26(1): 59–66 [译自: 海洋地质与第四纪地质]     

Late Weichselian marine stratigraphy of the southern Kattegat, Scandinavia: evidence for drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake between 12,700 and 10,300 years BP

From stratigraphic investigations of 38 piston and vibro cores, four fine-grained Late Weichselian sediment units can be defined in the southern Kattegat. A continuous stratigraphic record of the Late Weichselian sediments cannot be established from single cores due to the uneven distribution of the units, but by compilation of relative stratigraphies a composite record can be determined for sediments deposited between approximately 13,500 and 10,000 BP. The sediments contain both lithological and biostratigraphical evidence that the Baltic Ice Lake was suddenly drained through the Öresund Strait at about 12,700 BP. This drainage route appears to have been unchanged until about 10,300 BP when a passage opened in south central Sweden through which the final drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake took place. The Younger Dryas cold event appears to have had only marginal effects on the marine benthic life in the region. The data also indicate that drainage of fresh Baltic water through the Öresund Strait was the driving force for an inflow of marine water from the Skagerrak North Atlantic Ocean into the southern Kattegat, as occurring at the present. This paper is a contribution to IGCP 253, Termination of the Pleistocene .     

Late Pleistocene paleo-oceanography of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea: Benthic foraminiferal evidence

Fluctuations in benthic foraminiferal faunas over the last 130,000 yr in four piston cores from the Norwegian Sea are correlated with the standard worldwide oxygen-isotope stratigraphy. One species, Cibicides wuellerstorfi, dominates in the Holocene section of each core, but alternates downcore with Oridorsalis tener, a species dominant today only in the deepest part of the basin. O. tener is the most abundant species throughout the entire basin during periods of particularly cold climate when the Norwegian Sea presumably was ice covered year round and surface productivity lowered. Portions of isotope Stages 6, 3, and 2 are barren of benthic foraminifera; this is probably due to lowered benthic productivity, perhaps combined with dilution by ice-rafted sediment; there is no evidence that the Norwegian Sea became azoic. The Holocene and Substage 5e (the last interglacial) are similar faunally. This similarity, combined with other evidence, supports the presumption that the Norwegian Sea was a source of dense overflows into the North Atlantic during Substage 5e as it is today. Oxygen-isotope analyses of benthic foraminifera indicate that Norwegian Sea bottom waters warmer than they are today from Substage 5d to Stage 2, with the possible exception of Substage 5a. These data show that the glacial Norwegian Sea was not a sink for dense surface water, as it is now, and thus it was not a source of deep-water overflows. The benthic foraminiferal populations of the deep Norwegian Sea seem at least as responsive to near-surface conditions, such as sea-ice cover, as they are to fluctuations in the hydrography of the deep water. Benthic foraminiferal evidence from the Norwegian Sea is insufficient in itself to establish whether or not the basin was a source of overflows into the North Atlantic at any time between the Substage 5e/5d boundary at 115,000 yr B.P. and the Holocene.