Late Weichselian and Holocene environmental conditions in Sassenfjorden and Tempelfjorden, Spitsbergen, inferred from multi-proxy analyses

Multi-proxy analyses including hydrographical, geochemical, foraminferal, lithological and geophysical data from the two fjords Sassenfjorden and Tempelfjorden provide information about modern sedimentary environments and help to understand the development of environmental conditions in central Spitsbergen (European Arctic) during the Late Weichselian and the Holocene. Our data reveal that grounded ice covered the study area during the last glacial. The glacier fronts retreated stepwise during the latest Weichselian / earliest Holocene, and the glaciers were probably small during the early Holocene. Glacier growth occurred between 6000 and 4000 cal. BP (calendar years before the present). Reduced input from glaciers from c. 3700 cal. BP was probably a result of suppressed iceberg rafting related to the enhanced formation of sea ice and/or reduced meltwater runoff. The glacier fronts experienced several advances and retreats during the past two millennia and reached their maximum Holocene extents at the end of a surge in AD 1870. Surges interrupted the general retreat of the glacier fronts towards the present. The modern glacimarine environment is characterised by: (1) different colours and bulk-mineral assemblages of the turbid waters emanating from the main sediment sources (2) variable locations of the turbid-water plumes as a consequence of wind forcing and the Coriolis effect; (3) stratified water masses during summers with interannual variations; (4) increasing productivity with increasing distance from the glacier fronts; (5) foraminifera-faunal assemblages typical for glacier-proximal settings; (6) periodical mass-transport activity.