Wahlenbergfjord, eastern Svalbard: a glacier‐surrounded fjord reflecting regional hydrographic variability during the Holocene?

The deglaciation history and Holocene environmental evolution of northern Wijdefjorden, Svalbard, are reconstructed using sediment cores and acoustic data (multibeam swath bathymetry and sub‐bottom profiler data). Results reveal that the fjord mouth was deglaciated prior to 14.5±0.3 cal. ka BP and deglaciation occurred stepwise. Biomarker analyses show rapid variations in water temperature and sea ice cover during the deglaciation, and cold conditions during the Younger Dryas, followed by minimum sea ice cover throughout the Early Holocene, until c. 7 cal. ka BP. Most of the glaciers in Wijdefjorden had retreated onto land by c. 7.6±0.2 cal. ka BP. Subsequently, the sea‐ice extent increased and remained high throughout the last part of the Holocene. We interpret a high Late Holocene sediment accumulation rate in the northernmost core to reflect increased sediment flux to the site from the outlet of the adjacent lake Femmilsjøen, related to glacier growth in the Femmilsjøen catchment area. Furthermore, increased sea ice cover, lower water temperatures and the re‐occurrence of ice‐rafted debris indicate increased local glacier activity and overall cooler conditions in Wijdefjorden after c. 0.5 cal. ka BP. We summarize our findings in a conceptual model for the depositional environment in northern Wijdefjorden from the Late Weichselian until present.

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“…1B) it occurred between c. 11.3-7.7 cal. ka BP, and was associated with a reduced summer sea ice cover (Bartels et al 2018).…”

Section: Postglacial Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Quaternary glacier and sea‐ice history of northern Wijdefjorden, Svalbard

Allaart

Müller

Schomacker

et al. 2020

Boreas

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“…kyr BP, and most likely after or during deglaciation of Wahlenbergfjorden at 11.3 cal. kyr BP 15,17 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…kyr BP and peaks during the last c. 1000 years. Notably, Bartels et al 17 report a color change from brownish grey and pale brown below 450 cm to olive grey above 450 cm at 9 cal. kyr BP.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To study the Holocene glacier activity, we obtained sediment cores from a proglacial threshold isolation basin, Kløverbladvatna, located at this part of the fjord. This new sediment sequence provides an opportunity to link the terrestrial geological record to the marine record 15,17 . Flink et al 15 found increased sedimentation rates in inner Wahlenbergfjorden during the late Holocene, which may suggest surge activity of Etonbreen, or at least greater glacial activity.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is, however not known when or how many times Etonbreen advanced to this position (or positions further upglacier) prior to the 1938 surge. The Ice Rafted Debris (IRD) record from the middle part of Wahlenbergfjorden indicates increased IRD flux during the last c. 1000 years, which also suggests larger glacial activity than earlier 17 . Previous lake sediment studies from Nordaustlandet have focused on palaeoecological and palaeoclimatic reconstructions [10][11][12]19 , and have not been targeting proglacial threshold lakes that potentially contain glacial on/off signals [20][21][22] .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Postglacial Relative Sea Level Change and Glacier Activity in the Early and Late Holocene: Wahlenbergfjorden, Nordaustlandet, Svalbard

Schomacker¹,

Farnsworth²,

Inǵólfsson³

et al. 2019

Geological Society of America Abstracts With Programs

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Postglacial relative sea level change and glacier activity in the early and late holocene: Wahlenbergfjorden, nordaustlandet, svalbard. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 1-13. Sediment cores from Kløverbladvatna, a threshold lake in Wahlenbergfjorden, Nordaustlandet, Svalbard were used to reconstruct Holocene glacier fluctuations. Meltwater from Etonbreen spills over a threshold to the lake, only when the glacier is significantly larger than at present. Lithological logging, loss-on-ignition, ITRAX scanning and radiocarbon dating of the cores show that Kløverbladvatna became isolated from Wahlenbergfjorden c. 5.4 cal. kyr BP due to glacioisostatic rebound. During the Late Holocene, laminated clayey gyttja from lacustrine organic production and surface runoff from the catchment accumulated in the lake. The lacustrine sedimentary record suggests that meltwater only spilled over the threshold at the peak of the surge of Etonbreen in AD 1938. Hence, we suggest that this was the largest extent of Etonbreen in the (mid-late) Holocene. In Palanderbukta, a tributary fjord to Wahlenbergfjorden, raised beaches were surveyed and organic material collected to determine the age of the beaches and reconstruct postglacial relative sea level change. The age of the postglacial raised beaches ranges from 10.7 cal. kyr BP at 50 m a.s.l. to 3.13 cal. kyr BP at 2 m a.s.l. The reconstructed postglacial relative sea level curve adds valuable spatial and chronological data to the relative sea level record of Nordaustlandet.Nordaustlandet is a key locality for understanding the glacial history of Svalbard. Recent studies suggest that during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), ice domes in the Svalbard-Barents Sea Ice Sheet were centered over the southern opening of the Hinlopen Strait and Nordaustlandet 1-3 . This is not compatible with postglacial isostatic rebound evidence reconstructed from raised beaches around the Svalbard archipelago, which suggests a maximum LGM ice load over Kong Karls Land to the southeast of Nordaustlandet 4,5 . The location of LGM ice domes, timing, and implications for ice sheet dynamics is still debated 6,7 . Postglacial relative sea level changes on Nordaustlandet and eastern Spitsbergen are not well constrained in time and space. Blake 8 reconstructed the relative sea level history of Lady Franklinfjorden in northwest Nordaustlandet, and suggested a Late Weichselian-Holocene marine limit of at least 50 m above high tide (a.h.t.). A study 9 from Svartknausflya at the south coast of Nordaustlandet suggested a marine limit of more than 70 m a.h.t. Marine isolation ages from lakes on Nordaustlandet provide ancillary information about the postglacial relative sea level changes [10][11][12] .At present, about 80% of Nordaustlandet is glaciated, mainly by the two ice caps Austfonna (7800 km 2 ) and the smaller Vestfonna (2455 km 2 ) 1,13,14 . The location between these two ice caps makes the inner part of Wahlenbergfjorden an important site for studying Holocene glacier variations. Flink et al. 15 suggested that the Wahlenbe...

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Marine diets of anadromous Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) and pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in Svalbard, Norway

Bengtsson,

Lydersen,

Christensen

et al. 2023

Polar Biol

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During summer, native anadromous Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) and the alien species pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) now coexist in marine environments in Svalbard, following the introduction of the latter in the Barents Region. To investigate potential dietary competition between these two salmonid species, stomach contents from Arctic char (n = 301) and pink salmon (n = 28) were sampled from different areas within the archipelago. The most important prey in terms of biomass for both salmonid species were amphipods; Themisto libellula (B = 26.0%) for Arctic char and Onisimus litoralis (B = 35.0%) for pink salmon. Pianka’s niche overlap revealed that dietary overlap between the two species was moderately high (Oobs = 0.59); both species had strong associations with intertidal invertebrates in areas where direct comparisons were possible (Kongsfjorden/Krossfjorden). However, both salmonid species did also eat some fish, with Arctic char consuming more offshore pelagic fish, while the small number of fish eaten by pink salmon were primarily coastal demersal fish species. Arctic char was a more generalist feeder, while pink salmon was more of a dietary specialist. Furthermore, the diet composition of the Arctic char consisted of 32.9% Atlantic prey while the pink salmon, surprisingly, ate only Arctic species, likely due to their tightly coastal feeding habits. Even though the sample size for pink salmon was low, this study contributes new insights into salmonid diets in Svalbard and the potential for introduced species to compete with native Arctic endemics, particularly in the expected warmer Arctic of the future.

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Wahlenbergfjord, eastern Svalbard: a glacier‐surrounded fjord reflecting regional hydrographic variability during the Holocene?

Cited by 23 publications

References 125 publications

Late Quaternary glacier and sea‐ice history of northern Wijdefjorden, Svalbard

Late Quaternary glacier and sea‐ice history of northern Wijdefjorden, Svalbard

Postglacial Relative Sea Level Change and Glacier Activity in the Early and Late Holocene: Wahlenbergfjorden, Nordaustlandet, Svalbard

Marine diets of anadromous Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) and pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in Svalbard, Norway

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