Interaction between warm Atlantic‐sourced waters and the East Greenland Current in northern Denmark Strait (68°N) during the last 10 600 cal a BP

Abstract

Changes in the Holocene interaction of the (i) cold/fresh East Greenland Current (EGC) and (ii) warm/saline Irminger Current (IC) in northern Denmark Strait have been reconstructed from benthic and planktic foraminifera assemblages, ice‐rafted debris, grain‐size analyses and quantitative X‐ray diffraction. During the time from c . 10 600 to 8000 cal a BP, palaeoceanographic reconstructions reveal waning deglacial influence from the receding Greenland Ice Sheet and presence of a strong EGC caused low surface water productivity. From c . 8000 cal a BP, a predominant influence of Atlantic‐sourced IC waters on subsurface water conditions became established in northern Denmark Strait, which accompanied low surface water productivity. Relatively warm surface and subsurface water conditions, i.e . reduced EGC and strong IC influence, are found from c . 6500 to 4500 cal a BP, representing Holocene optimum‐like conditions. A mid‐ to late Holocene EGC strengthening caused increased stratification and formation of a distinct halocline. However, we recognize millennial‐scale periods of reduced stratification by an enhanced influence of Atlantic‐sourced IC Water on surface water conditions: (i) at c . 2500–1400 cal a BP − the time of the Roman Warm Period and (ii) at c . 300 cal a BP − the later part of the Little Ice Age. These periods of oceanic warming probably relate to changes in the Subpolar Gyre dynamics that led to enhanced entrainment of Atlantic‐sourced IC Water into northern Denmark Strait.

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