Towards a Holocene northern North Atlantic Magnetic Synthesis: Developing a better understanding of Climate, Environment and the Geomagnetic Field (Invited)

The northern North Atlantic records a rich history of environmental variability that is reflected in sediment magnetic properties and the paleo-geomagnetic record. Variations in ice sheets and ocean circulation both influence and are effected by climate at a range of spatial and temporal scales. These processes also act as primary controls on regional sedimentation. Because environmentally influenced diagenetic transformations are relatively minor in this region, it is possible to interpret magnetic variability in terms of depositional environment. Furthermore, the details of most diagenetic processes remain poorly understood, and the North Atlantic represents an important opportunity to describe the onset and subsequent development of diagenetic alteration in relation to the fidelity of the paleomagnetic and environmental magnetic records. Here we present initial work on the development of a northern North Atlantic environmental magnetic synthesis with the aim of constraining the space/time variability of this extremely rich record to improve our understanding of the climate, environment and the geomagnetic dynamics of the region. The goal of this presentation is to stimulate interest toward the development of an international program to pursue this objective in a fundamental way.