Spatial-temporal variations in dinoflagellate cyst records of the Chukchi margin sediments: implications for the late Pleistocene and Holocene paleoceanographic changes in the western Arctic Ocean

Abstract

The Arctic Ocean is a key component of the global climate system characterized by the perennial ice cover, the relative importance of the continental shelves and shelf processes, and the complex interaction of water masses of the Atlantic, Pacific and riverine sources. With its distinctive climatic, hydrographic, sedimentary and biological features, the Arctic region has a strong impact on the modern and past global climate system through its albedo and freshwater budget. Therefore, understanding of the long-term environmental changes in the Arctic, particularly during the Quaternary times, has been identified as a key target for future work to assess the environmental changes in the Arctic over the last several decades. Continental shelves and slopes of the Arctic Ocean have been identified as important and under-exploited paleoclimate archives for the time period since the Last Glacial Maximum. The western Arctic Ocean is a critical region for monitoring sea ice formation and its extent, which regulate the Arctic sea ice export toward the North Atlantic and consequently influence formations of deep and intermediate waters in the North Atlantic. Hydrologic and biological processes in the western Arctic are particularly important because they are strongly influenced by interaction of Arctic and subarctic waters and processes in the marginal ice zone. In this context, microfossil assemblageic, Pacific and riverine sources. With its distinctive climatic, hydrographic, sedimentary and biological features, the Arctic region has a strong impact on the modern and past global climate system through its albedo and freshwater budget. Therefore, understanding of the long-term environmental changes in the Arctic, particularly during the Quaternary times, has been identified as a key target for future work to assess the environmental changes in the Arctic over the last several decades. Continental shelves and slopes of the Arctic Ocean ha