Biogenic sedimentation on the northern Norwegian continental shelf

Decadal-scale to century-scale oscillations in biogenic sedimentation and surface ocean productivity recorded in the Andfjorden sediments are synchronous with abrupt climate changes in open oceanic and atmospheric regimes of the high northern latitudes.

Following several fluctuations during the Bølling-Allerød interstadial, the most dramatic drop in marine organic carbon and biogenic carbonate proportions occurred during the Younger Dryas. However, many short-term and low-amplitude events during the Preboreal and the Holocene have also affected biogenic sedimentation in the outer Andfjorden. Apparently, these abrupt changes in biogenic sedimentation were caused by the suppression of a potential upwelling center in the outer Andfjorden by variable Atlantic Water inflow over the past 14,000 years.