POLARC · High Arctic Polynyas in a Changing Climate
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2019-07-15 → 2021-07-14
- EU contribution
- €207,312
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
High Arctic Polynyas in a Changing Climate
The Arctic region is experiencing the impact of varying climatic conditions more keenly and rapidly than elsewhere on the planet. Declining Arctic sea-ice extent and thickness have direct impacts along the coast of Greenland, where the Arctic Ocean connects to the wider North Atlantic circulation via the gateways of the Nares and Fram Straits. Within the largely sea-ice dominated coastal waters of Greenland, areas of open water i.e. polynyas, sustain enhanced biological production. The largest high Arctic polynya, the North Water in northernmost Baffin Bay, is highly sensitive to climate forcing; it’s viability as a hotspot of primary productivity was impacted by rapid warming and cooling trends characterising the current Holocene epoch (last 11,700 years) and its formation mediated northward transport of warmer waters from the south. One of the objectives of this project was to return to these records and apply geochemical analysis to estimate quantitative bottom water temperature changes. Unlike its western Greenland counterpart, virtually nothing is known of the history of the Sirius Water Polynya that recurrently forms at 74 degrees north on the North-East Greenland coast, although archaeological evidence implicates the polynya as a driver of human occupation in the area over the last 4,500 years. The main objective of this project was to apply different methodologies to one of the first marine sediment cores in this region to track the evolution of primary productivity as well as surface and bottom water conditions throughout the last 12000 years.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The Arctic is undergoing a profound transformation. The striking increase in observed Greenland Ice Sheet melt and sea-ice retreat are two symptoms of the multiple impacts of climate change at high latitudes. In the sea-ice covered oceans surrounding northern Greenland however, large areas of year-round open water, termed polynyas, have been present since historical times. Located at two major Arctic-Atlantic gateways, these biological productivity hotspots support not only large mammals and birds but are a vital natural and cultural resource for indigenous Arctic communities. Polynyas also act as a potentially significant carbon sink. Three large polynyas recurrently form around northern Greenland. Paleoceanographic reconstructions of the largest, the North Water Polynya, indicate that the polynya and its associated ecosystem are extremely sensitive to rapid climatic fluctuations during the Holocene. Taking advantage of new, readily available marine sediment cores, I propose to reconstruct, for the first time, ocean circulation and sea-ice dynamics at the two main polynyas in the Greenland Sea (North East Water and Sirius Water). This action will target key climatic intervals in the early (Holocene Climatic Optimum) and late (Little Ice Age, Medieval Warm Period) Holocene and provide direct input to a fully-coupled earth system model to evaluate past and, more vitally, predict future dynamics under different greenhouse gas concentration pathways defined by the IPCC. This action provides a unique opportunity for me to learn a new proxy for Arctic paleoclimate reconstructions, skills in the applicability of paleo-data to modelling and a number of essential transferable skills such as scientific writing and mentorship, coupled with an extensive new network of expert collaborators. Through this action, I believe I can contribute to bringing this field of research forward, while gaining invaluable assets for my career development as an independent Arctic researcher.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland · Kobenhavn KCoordinatorDenmark
Links
- View on CORDIS
- DOI: 10.3030/846142
- https://www.researchgate.net/project/POLARC-High-Arctic-Polynyas-in-a-Changing-Climate
Data: CORDIS, © European Union