Geochemical analysis of surface sediments from the ocean floor and from sea ice in the northern Atlantic and Arctic Oceans

Variability in the lithogenic composition has been considered by the application of regionally varying Ba/Al ratios. The biogenic Ba values are comparable with those observed in the central Arctic Ocean, they are lower than in other oceanic regions. Biogenic Ba values are correlated with other productivity proxies and with oceanographic data for a validation of the applicability in paleoceanography.

In the Iceland Sea and partly in the marginal sea–ice zone of the Greenland Sea elevated values of biogenic Ba indicate seasonal phytoplankton blooms. In both areas paleoproductivities may be reconstructed based on Ba and Al data of sediment cores.