Holocene polynya dynamics and their interaction with oceanic heat transport in northernmost Baffin Bay

Baffin Bay hosts the largest and most productive of the Arctic polynyas: the North Water (NOW). Despite its significance and active role in water mass formation, the history of the NOW beyond the observational era remains poorly known. We reconcile the previously unassessed relationship between long...

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Published inScientific reports Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 10095
Main Authors Jackson, Rebecca, Kvorning, Anna Bang, Limoges, Audrey, Georgiadis, Eleanor, Olsen, Steffen M., Tallberg, Petra, Andersen, Thorbjørn J., Mikkelsen, Naja, Giraudeau, Jacques, Massé, Guillaume, Wacker, Lukas, Ribeiro, Sofia
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Nature Publishing Group UK 12.05.2021
Nature Publishing Group
Nature Portfolio
Subjects
704/106/2738
704/106/413
Archives & records
Climatology
Cold
Cores
Earth Sciences
Glaciers
Heat
Heat transport
Holocene
Humanities and Social Sciences
Marine sediments
multidisciplinary
Ocean circulation
Oceanography
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Sciences of the Universe
Sediments
Baffin Bay
Arctic region
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Summary:Baffin Bay hosts the largest and most productive of the Arctic polynyas: the North Water (NOW). Despite its significance and active role in water mass formation, the history of the NOW beyond the observational era remains poorly known. We reconcile the previously unassessed relationship between long-term NOW dynamics and ocean conditions by applying a multiproxy approach to two marine sediment cores from the region that, together, span the Holocene. Declining influence of Atlantic Water in the NOW is coeval with regional records that indicate the inception of a strong and recurrent polynya from ~ 4400 yrs BP, in line with Neoglacial cooling. During warmer Holocene intervals such as the Roman Warm Period, a weaker NOW is evident, and its reduced capacity to influence bottom ocean conditions facilitated northward penetration of Atlantic Water. Future warming in the Arctic may have negative consequences for this vital biological oasis, with the potential knock-on effect of warm water penetration further north and intensified melt of the marine-terminating glaciers that flank the coast of northwest Greenland.
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ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-88517-9