The onset of Pleistocene glaciation in the Barents Sea: implications for glacial isostatic adjustment

In this paper the effect of a delayed onset of glaciation in the Barents Sea on glacial isostatic adjustment is investigated. The model calculations solve the sea-level equation governing the total mass redistributions associated with the last glaciation cycle on a spherically symmetric, linear, Maxwell viscoelastic earth for two different scenarios for the growth phase of the Barents Sea ice sheet. In the first ice model a linear growing history is used for the Barents Sea ice sheet, which closely relates its development to the build-up of other major Late Pleistocene ice sheets. In the second ice model the accumulation of the Barents Sea ice sheet is restricted to the last 6 ka prior to the last glacial maximum.
The calculations predict relative sea levels, present-day radial velocities, and gravity anomalies for the area formerly covered by the Weichselian ice sheet. The results show that observed relative sea levels in the Barents Sea are appropriate for distinguishing between the different glaciation histories. In particular, present-day observables such as the free-air gravity anomaly over the Barents Sea, and the present-day radial velocities are sensitive to changes in the glaciation history on this scale.
A palaeobathymetry derived from relative sea-level predictions before the last glacial maximum based on the second ice model essentially agrees with a palaeobathymetry derived by Lambeck (1995). The additional emerged areas provide centres for the build-up of an ice sheet and thus support the theory of Hald, Danielsen & Lorentzen (1990) and Mangerud et al. (1992) that the Barents Sea was an essentially marine environment shortly before the last glacial maximum.     

Insights into the lithospheric structure and tectonic setting of the Barents Sea region from isostatic considerations

We study the tectonic setting and lithospheric structure of the greater Barents Sea region by investigating its isostatic state and its gravity field. 3-D forward density modelling utilizing available information from seismic data and boreholes shows an apparent shift between the level of observed and modelled gravity anomalies. This difference cannot be solely explained by changes in crustal density. Furthermore, isostatic calculations show that the present crustal thickness of 35–37 km in the Eastern Barents Sea is greater than required to isostatically balance the deep basins of the area (>19 km). To isostatically compensate the missing masses from the thick crust and deep basins and to adequately explain the gravity field, high-density material (3300–3350 kg m⁻³) in the lithospheric mantle below the Eastern Barents Sea is needed. The distribution of mantle densities shows a regional division between the Western and Eastern Barents and Kara Seas. In addition, a band of high-densities is observed in the lower crust along the transition zone from the Eastern to Western Barents Sea. The distribution of high-density material in the crust and mantle suggests a connection to the Neoproterozoic Timanide orogen and argues against the presence of a Caledonian suture in the Eastern Barents Sea. Furthermore, the results indicate that the basins of the Western Barents Sea are mainly affected by rifting, while the Eastern Barents Sea basins are located on a stable continental platform.     

Lithological description of subcropping Lower and Middle Triasic rocks from the Svalis Dome, Barents Sea

Eleven shallow cores display 315 m of the >700 m thick Lower and Middle Triasic successional of the Svalis Dome, a Salt diapir in the central south-western Barents Sea. The Svalis Dome was uplifted in the late Mesozoic. and Trisassic rocks suherop below Quaternary till around the Upper Palaeozoic core of the dome. Deposition of the Triassic succession took place in deep shelf to basinal environments below storm wave base. The succession is dated by macrofossils and palynomorphs and can be assigned to four formations. The basal beds of the shaly greenish grey Havert Formation (Griesbachian) occur above Permian bioclastic carbonate. The Klappmyss Formation (Smithian) in the lower part contains gravity flow sands deposited as submarine fans pussible triggered by tectonic movements along the adjacent ault zones overlian by silty claystones. An organic-rich dark shale unit is here formally defined as the Steinkobbe overlain by silty claystones. An organic-rich dark shale unit is here formally defined as the Steinkobbe Formation, and was deposited in a large bight by restricted water circulation. The Snadd Formation. on top, representes a marine shelf unit deposited in front of an emerging land area in the north-east. A minimum of six higher order transgressive-regressive sequences are recognized at the Svalis Dome and these are correlated with other Arctic areas.     

Upper Carboniferous cyclic shelf deposits, Kapp Kåre Formation, Bjørnøya, Svalbard: response to high frequency, high amplitude sea level fluctuations and local tectonism

The upper Bashkirian-Moscovian Kapp KIre Formation is well-exposed in coastal cliff sections along the west coast of Bjørnøya, Svalbard. It is composed of stacked cycles of nixed siliciclastics and carbonates in the lower Bogevika Member and of cyclic shelf carbonates in the overlying Efuglvika Member. The uppermost Kobbebukta Member consists of shelf carbonates and syntectonic conglomerates and sandy turbidites. The shift in cycle types reflects an overall transgression of the region during the Moscovian combined with renewed tectonic activity and uplift of eastern Bjørnøya during the late Moscovian. Twelve carbonate facies and 6 siliciclastic facies are distinguished. The carbonate facies range from intertidal dolomitic mudstones with pseudomorphs after gypsum to subwavebase, intensely bioturbated wackestones. Most carbonates are deeper subtidal facies and shallow marine carbonate facies are only common in the transgressive part of mixed siliciclastic-carbonate cycles of the Bogevika Member. Incorporating the effects of high amplitude, high frequency glacioeustacy and active extensional tectonism, a dynamic model is developed to explain the spatial variability of facies observed within the Kapp Kke Formation. Observations from Bjørnøya are placed within the context of the regional structural and stratigraphic framework so that significance of the study to ongoing exploration efforts in the Barents Sea can be evaluated. Most important, our observations suggest that dolomitized, porous carbonate buildups are most likely to be found in the upper Moscovian succession in areas where accommodation space increased temporarily due to local tectonism.     

Surface temperatures of the Barents Sea

Temperature conditions in the Barents Sea are determined by the quality and quantity of the inflowing Atlantic water from the west and by processes taking part in the Barents Sea itself, in particular as a consequence of winter cooling and ice formation. The field of inflow to the Barents Sea during the period 1977-1987 has been studied. The surface winter temperatures within the Barents Sea vary in parallel with variations in the deeper layers of the inflowing water masses, whereas the surface temperatures in summer have a different variation pattern which is most likely dependent on the summer heating process.     

Dynamics of the last glaciation in eastern Svalbard as inferred from glacier-movement indicators

Glacial striae and other ice movement indicators such as roche moutonées, glacial erratics, till fabric and glaciotectonic deformation have been used to reconstruct the Late Weichselian ice movements in the region of eastern Svalbard and the northern Barents Sea. The ice movement pattern may be divided into three main phases: (1) a maximum phase when ice flowed out of a centre east or southeast of Kong Karls Land. At this time the southern part of Spitsbergen was overrun by glacial ice from the Barents Sea; (2) the phase of deglaciation of the Barents Sea Ice Sheet, when an ice cap was centred between Kong Karls Land and Nordaustlandet. At the same time ice flowed southwards along Storfjorden; and (3) the last phase of the Late Weichselian glaciation in eastern Svalbard is represented by local ice caps on Spitsbergen, Nordaustlandet, Barentsoya and Edgeøya.
The reconstructed ice flow pattern during maximum glaciation is compatible with a centre of uplift in the northern Barents Sea as shown by isobase reconstructions and suggested by isostatic modelling.     

辽宁区域海洋经济布局机理与可持续发展研究

通过对辽宁海洋资源的评价,海洋经济发展、海洋产业部门结构和海洋产业布局特点等的分析,并根据海域资源差异、区域海洋经济结构差异、海洋产业分布状况等,划分出辽宁渤海海洋经济区和黄海海洋经济区。探讨了区域海洋经济区的形成与区域海洋经济布局机理。采用定性与定量相结合、从定性到定量的研究方法,应用层次分析法确定辽宁海洋经济区的发展方向与重点海洋产业部门,提出了辽宁区域海洋经济可持续发展的对策和措施     

The Quaternary record of eastern Svalbard - an overview

The eastern part Svalbard archipelago and the adjacent areas of the Barents Sea were subject to extensive erosion during the Late Weichselian glaciation. Small remnants of older sediment successions have been preserved on Edgeeya, whereas a more complete succession on Kongsøya contains sediments from two different ice-free periods, both probably older than the Early Weichselian. Ice movement indicators in the region suggest that the Late Weichselian ice radiated from a centre east of Kong Karls Land. On Bjørnøya, on the edge of the Barents Shelf, the lack of raised shorelines or glacial striae from the east indicates that the western parts of the ice sheet were thin during the Late Weichselian. The deglaciation of Edgeøya and Barentsøya occurred ca 10,300 bp as a response to calving of the marine-based portion of the ice sheet. Atlantic water, which does not much influence the coasts of eastern Svalbard today, penetrated the northwestern Barents Sea shortly after the deglaciation. At that time, the coastal environment was characterised by extensive longshore sediment transport and deposition of spits at the mouths of shallow palaeo-fjords.     

Meridional zonation of the Barents Sea ecosystem inferred from satellite remote sensing and in situ bio-optical observations

The Barents Sea is a productive, shallow, high-latitude marine ecosystem with complex hydrographic conditions. Zonal hydrographic bands defined by a coastal current. North Atlantic Water, the Polar Front, and the seasonally variable marginal ice edge zone create a meridional zonation of the ecosystem during the spring-summer transition. The features reveal themselves in satellite imagery and by high-resolution (vertical and horizontal) physical-optical-biological sampling.
Surprisingly, the long-term (7-year) mean of Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) imagery reveals the Barents Sea as an anomalous "blue-water" regime at high latitudes that are otherwise dominated by satellite-observed surface blooms. A combination of satellite imagery and in situ bio-optical analyses indicate that this pattern is caused by strong stratification in summer with surface nutrient depletion. The onset of stratification of the entire region is linked to the extent of the winter ice edge: cold years with extensive sea ice apparently stratify early due to ice melt; warm years stratify later, perhaps due to weaker thermal stratification of the Atlantic waters (e.g. Skjoldal et al. 1987). The apparent "low chlorophyll" indicated by the CZCS 7-year mean is partly due to sampling error whereby the mean is dominated by images taken later in the summer. In fact, massive blooms of subsurface phytoplankton embedded in the pycnocline persist throughout the summer and maintain substantial rates of primary production. Further, these subsurface blooms that are not observed by satellite are responsible for dramatic gradients in the beam (c₁) and spectral diffuse (k) attenuation coefficients. The Barents Sea exemplifies the need to couple satellite observations with spatially and temporally resolved biogeographic ecosystem models in order to estimate the integrated water column primary production, mass flux or spectral light attenuation coefficients.     

Primary production of the northern Barents Sea

The majority of the arctic waters are only seasonally ice covered; the northern Barents Sea, where freezing starts at 80 to 81°N in September, is one such area. In March, the ice cover reaches its greatest extension (74-75°N). Melting is particularly rapid in June and July, and by August the Barents Sea may be ice free. The pelagic productive season is rather short, 3 to 3.5 months in the northern part of the Barents Sea (north of the Polar Front, 75°N), and is able to sustain an open water production during only half of this time when a substantial part of the area is free of ice. Ice algal production starts in March and terminates during the rapid melting season in June and July, thus equalling the pelagic production season in duration.
This paper presents the first in situ measurements of both pelagic and ice-related production in the northern Barents Sea: pelagic production in summer after melting has started and more open water has become accessible, and ice production in spring before the ice cover melts. Judged by the developmental stage of the plankton populations, the northern Barents Sea consists of several sub-areas with different phytoplankton situations. Estimates of both daily and annual carbon production have been based on in situ measurements. Although there are few sampling stations (6 phytoplankton stations and 8 ice-algae stations), the measurements represent both pelagic bloom and non-bloom conditions and ice algal day and night production. The annual production in ice was estimated to 5.3 g Cm^-2, compared to the pelagic production of 25 to 30 g Cm^-2 south of Kvitøya and 12 to 15 g Cm^-2 further north. According to these estimates ice production thus constitutes 16% to 22% of the total primary production of the northern Barents Sea, depending on the extent of ice-free areas.     

Simulation of currents, ice melting, and vertical mixing in the Barents Sea using a 3-D baroclinic model

A baroclinic. 3-D model is described. It is adapted to the Barents Sea and includes thermodynamics and atmospheric input. The freezing and melting of ice is allowed for in the model. The main task of the study is to look at the development of the ice cover, the vertical mixing, and the vertical and horizontal density gradients.
Despite simple approximations in the air temperature input, realistic ice-cover is produced in the model area during simulation of a "freezing period" (winter). This intermediate result is briefly discussed and also forms the start of a "melting period" simulation (spring/summer). Atmospheric input data (wind, air pressure, and heat flux) from the spring and summer 1983 is used, and details about vertical mixing, temperature, and salinity are discussed. The simulation results demonstrate the temporal variation of the thermocline depth, the variation of the ice cover, and the horizontal changes of density. The conclusion is that despite often simplified input, the model seems to produce a physical picture characteristic of the Barents Sea.     

Sea ice algae in the White and Barents seas: composition and origin

To examine algae populations, three expeditions (in March 2001, April 2002 and February 2003) were conducted in the Guba Chupa (Chupa Estuary; north-western White Sea), and one cruise was carried out in the open part of the White Sea in April 2003 and in the northern part of the Barents Sea in July 2001. Sea ice algae and phytoplankton composition and abundance and the content of sediment traps under the land-fast ice in the White Sea and annual and multi-year pack ice in the Barents Sea were investigated. The community in land-fast sea ice was dominated by pennate diatoms and its composition was more closely related to that of the underlying sediments than was the community of the pack ice, which was dominated by flagellates, dinoflagellates and centric diatoms. Algae were far more abundant in land-fast ice: motile benthic and ice-benthic species found favourable conditions in the ice. The pack ice community was more closely related to that of the surrounding water. It originated from plankton incorporation during sea ice formation and during seawater flood events. An additional source for ice colonization may be multi-year ice. Algae may be released from the ice during brine drainage or sea ice melting. Many sea ice algae developed spores before the ice melt. These algae were observed in the above-bottom sediment traps all year around. Three possible fates of ice algae can be distinguished: 1) suspension in the water column, 2) sinking to the bottom and 3) ingestion by herbivores in the ice, at the ice-water interface or in the water column.     

Effects of environmental change on scree slope development throughout the postglacial period in the Chic-Choc Mountains in the northern Gaspé Peninsula, Québec

The combined study of present-day processes and stratigraphic data, has permitted the reconstruction of the dynamics of scree slopes of the northern Gaspé Peninsula throughout the postglacial period. In this region, liberated progressively from beneath an ice cover between 13,500 and 10,000 years BP, the scree slopes have to be seen as an integral part of a regional geosystem. Evolution of these slopes has been rapid, influenced by local paraglacial conditions (glacio-isostatic rebound, glacio-eustatic fluctuations, and re-equilibration of glacially over-steepened rockwalls) which operated against a backdrop of Late Glacial and Holocene climatic fluctuations. During the Younger Dryas and part of the Early Holocene period, as the foot slopes emerged from beneath the Goldthwait Sea, the basal part of several scree slopes advanced onto marine terraces as lobate rock glaciers, under the influence of a periglacial climate, characterised by permafrost. Many scree slopes continued to transfer debris downslope after regional establishment of a closed forest cover at ca. 7250 years BP. Forest colonisation in the early pre-emergent phase of the postglacial period was retarded, due to constant replenishment of the debris removed from the foot slopes by marine processes. In the later post-emergent phase, development of a complete forest cover has only been possible on slopes where the summit rockwall segment has been completely eliminated, a condition not yet fulfilled for many geomorphologically active scree slopes of the region. In fact, both of these paraglacial influences have been diachronous on a regional scale. Advance upslope of the forest front on the scree slopes appears to have been slow, difficult and subject to periodic regressions of possible climatic origin, as indicated by numerous buried soils in colluvial stratigraphic sequences, and for the past 150 years by dendro-ecological studies. Stratigraphic exposures, along with direct observation of slope events, have revealed the operation of a large variety of debris transfer processes, including niveo-aeolian sedimentation and frost-coated clast flows, the latter representing an important process first recognised on the scree slopes of Gaspésie.     

A pockmark field in the Central Barents Sea; gas from a petrogenic source?

A pockmark field has been encountered in the northwestern Barents Sea, SO km southeast of Hopen island. High resolution seismic records and side scan sonographs show that the features are small (10–20 m diameter), shallow (<1 m deep) structures that may cover up to 25% of the sea floor in local areas. Pockmark existence seem to be dependent on the presence of soft, Holocene mud. In more firm sea-floor they seem to concentrate in the partly infilled troughs of iceberg plough marks. The pockmark distribution, characteristics of the underlying sedimentary bedrock and thin cover of glacigenic sediments in the area, indicate they are formed by ascending gas from a deeper, probably petrogenic source. It is inferred that pockmarks may be found in larger parts of the Barents Sea.     

Anomalous propagation of surface waves in the Barents Sea as inferred from NORSAR recordings

Summary. NORSAR recordings of Rayleigh waves generated by presumed nuclear explosions on central and southern Novaya Zemlya and in northwestern Siberia have been studied. Using a frequency time analysing technique and correcting for presumed known dispersion effects across the Baltic Shield, dispersion curves for two different paths across the southern part of the Barents Sea were obtained. The curves are very unusual in that they give extremely low velocities even for periods up to 20 s. For the path to the middle part of the island, the inversion of the data gives a model with sediments and consolidated sediments down to 25 km, followed by a 15-km thick basaltic layer and an upper mantle with a P velocity as low as 7.9 km/s. For the path to the southern part of Novaya Zemlya the data inversion gives a somewhat different model with sediments and consolidated sediments down to 8 km, followed by a 17-km thick zone with velocities close to granitic and a 15-km thick layer with basaltic velocities. Again the upper-mantle P velocity is only 7.9 km/s. Other indications of lateral inhomogeneities in the Barents Sea are obtained by utilizing the array's capability to determine the angle of approach of seismic waves. It is demonstrated that reflections both from inhomogeneities in the Barents Sea and the continental margin off Norway can be detected. For waves from the southern end of the island, a reflection from a strong discontinuity close to the direct path to the middle part of the island is found, whereas signals from this area include a reflected wave possibly coming from the edge of the Svalbard platform.     

The diets of common and Brünnich's guillemots Uria aalge and U. lomvia in the Barents Sea region

Guillemots Uria spp. account for ca. 70% of the total harvest of prey taken by seabirds breeding in the Barents Sea region. This paper presents guillemot chick diet data collected recently at four localities (Finnmark, Murman, Bjørnøya and Spitsbergen) and collates all the data found by the authors in the literature and in the archives of Tromsø Museum, the Norwegian Polar Institute and Kandalaksha State Nature Reserve. Guillemots consume a wide variety of prey and, in comparison to the harvest by predatory fish and marine mammals, their impact on the Barents Sea ecosystem is considered to be minimal. We point out the need for more systematic collection of data from different regions and at different times of the year before a final impact assessment can be made.     

North Atlantic Water in the Barents Sea Opening, 1997 to 1999

North Atlantic Water (NAW) is an important source of heat and salt to the Nordic seas and the Arctic Ocean. To measure the transport and variability of one branch of NAW entering the Arctic, a transect across the entrance to the Barents Sea was occupied 13 times between July 1997 and November 1999, and hydrography and currents were measured. There is large variability between the cruises, but the mean currents and the hydrography show that the main inflow takes place in Bjørnøyrenna, with a transport of 1.6 Sv of NAW into the Barents Sea. Combining the flow field with measurements of temperature and salinity, this results in mean heat and salt transports by NAW into the Barents Sea of 3.9×10¹³ W and 5.7×10⁷ kg s⁻¹, respectively. The NAW core increased in temperature and salinity by 0.7 °C yr⁻¹ and 0.04 yr⁻¹, respectively, over the observation period. Variations in the transports of heat and salt are, however, dominated by the flow field, which did not exhibit a significant change.     

A history of aquatic plants in the Coorong,a Ramsar-listed coastal wetland,South Australia

The Coorong in South Australia is an internationally recognised ecologically significant coastal lagoon that extends 140 km south-east from the mouth of the River Murray. The Coorong has increasingly been impacted by a variety of human activities. Declining migratory bird abundance has been linked to the loss of Ruppia tuberosa, an aquatic plant that is the main feedstock for a wide variety of water birds. Analysis of Ruppia remains from a radiometrically dated core in the southern lagoon of The Coorong shows that the salt-tolerant annual Ruppia tuberosa has only been present at this site in recent times. By contrast, the perennial Ruppia megacarpa, which has limited tolerance to elevated salinity, appears to have been present at the site for several millennia, although it had never been observed in ecological surveys of this part of The Coorong. Diatom analysis from the same core reveals a shift from estuarine/marine assemblages to an assemblage reflective of elevated salinity levels. Charophyte, ostracod and foraminifera remains also indicate that the change in the aquatic plant community is associated with increased salinity at the study site since European settlement. Elevated salinity is the result of catchment modifications which have reduced freshwater inflows at the northern and southern extremities of The Coorong, and marine input via the Murray Mouth. This study demonstrates the utility of multiproxy palaeoecological data in addressing complex management questions. In the absence of such information, managers must ultimately rely on data sourced only from the historical record which, more often than not, is already skewed by the impact of European settlement.