Although marine cores from the Norwegian Sea document a complex record of late glacial climate variation, little is know about the influence of North Atlantic circulation on the last deglaciation of western Spitsbergen. This project will provide a late glacial paleo-climate record for the high Arctic limb of the North Atlantic Current system through detailed stratigraphic study of raised marine sediments from west Spitsbergin, and recently retrieved cores from the adjacent shelf and slope. Biostratigraphy and stable isotope studies will be used to determine paleoenvironmental variables in a transect from near- shore to slope depths in Fram Strait. Accelerator radiocarbon dating of the cores and raised marine sediments will allow correlation of the new paleoenvironmental records to the well established emergence record which currently provides the clearest signal on the extent and timing of regional deglaciation and the possible influence of North Atlantic hydrography.
