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Late Weichselian deglaciation and early Holocene development of a cold-water coral reef along the Lopphavet shelf (Northern Norway) recorded by benthic foraminifera and ostracoda

  • Stalder, Claudio Department of Géosciences, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
  • Spezzaferri, Silvia Department of Géosciences, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
  • Rüggeberg, Andres Department of Géosciences, University of Fribourg, Switzerland - Renard Centre of Marine Geology (RCMG), Department of Geology and Soil Science, Ghent University, Belgium - GEOMAR | Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany
  • Pirkenseer, Claudius Department of Géosciences, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
  • Gennari, Giordana Istituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra (CSIC-UGR), Armilla, Granada, Spain
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    27.08.2013
Published in:
  • Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography. - 2014, vol. 99, p. 249–269
Northern Norway
Foraminifera
Pleistocene Holocene
Deglaciation
Cold water corals
Melt water influxes
Sea level changes
English Cold-water coral (CWC) settlement in northern Norway is strongly related to the outlet-glaciers of the Fennoscandian Ice-sheet, and dating of known CWC structures show clearly post-glacial ages. Two gravity cores (POS391 559/2,277 cm long and POS391 559/3,282 cm long) were recovered on a CWC reef in the area of Lopphavet, northern Norway. Detailed investigations on lithology (sediment structures and composition), micropaleontology (foraminifera and ostracoda) and AMS 14C dating on the epibenthic foraminifera Discanomalina coronata were performed on the two cores. Phosphorus analyses were performed only on core POS391 559/3. Results indicate that the whole core POS391 559/2 is representative of a CWC reef environment. The base of the core is dated at 10,600±120 cal. yr BP, thus representing one of the oldest ages of a Norwegian coral reef. Core POS391 559/3 documents the passage from a proximal glacier environment characterized by fine silty sediments with intercalation of several dropstone layers to a CWC ecosystem. The transition from the glacial to the interglacial stage is dated as old as 10,725±205 cal. yr BP, whereas the base of the core is dated to an age of 15,300±550 cal. yr BP. Diversity of benthic foraminifera is higher within the CWC, especially in the intervals containing coral framework. Five clusters are identified based on the Bray–Curtis Similarity Term Analyses and the interpretation of data shows that they are related to different ecological settings, e.g., fluctuations of the sea-ice cover; influence of the warmer and more saline Atlantic water masses; transitional to a fully interglacial environment; well oxygenated, nutrient-rich and high current setting being conducive to CWC.Ostracod assemblages show that these crustaceans may be also used to characterize sedimentary facies on CWC reefs.
Faculty
Faculté des sciences et de médecine
Department
Département de Géosciences
Language
  • English
Classification
Palaeontology
License
License undefined
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Persistent URL
https://folia.unifr.ch/unifr/documents/303437
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