Preface The expedition ARK XIX/3 with the German icebreaking RV ...

station IRD archive
liner
bulk x-rays
samples
sedimentology
PS64/462-1 x
PS64/463-1 x
PS64/464-1 x x x
PS64/465-1 x x x x
PS64/467-1
PS64/468-1 x x x x
PS64/470-1 x x x x
PS64/471-1 x x
PS64/477-1 x x x x x
PS64/478-1 x x x x x
PS64/480-1 x x x x x x
PS64/481-1 x x x x x
PS64/484-1 x x x x x x
PS64/485-1 x x
magnetic TOC biomarker radio- planktic
susceptibility
CaCO 3 nuclides microfossils
Opal
benthic
microfossils
Only one box core (PS64/480-1) comprised diamictic sediments indicating that most
sections are completely of Holocene age (cf. Andersen et al., 1996). Surprisingly,
gravel make up a considerable amount in the cores from the upper continental slope
(C. 5, Pirrung et al.). The majority of gravel (>2 mm) is supplied from West
Spitsbergen but a considerable amount of gravel is derived from southern sources.
This is attributed either to reworking of glacial sediments on the shelf and subsequent
downslope transport during the Holocene or absence of Holocene sediments at the
core tops (C. 5, Pirrung et al.). A pre-Holocene age, at least of the base of cores, is
supported by relatively low sedimentation rates on the order of a few centimetres per
ka in the past 8.000 to 12.000 years (Jones & Keigwin, 1988; Andersen et al., 1996).
These low rates for a continental margin may be explained by a constant winnowing of
fines due to bottom current activity associated with an intensified exchange of deep
and bottom waters between the Nordic Seas and the Arctic Ocean in the late glacial
and Holocene. On the other side, sediment supply from Svålbard may be reduced
during the interglacial because the major fjords act as sinks for continental sediments.
Further investigations on sediment texture and structure, supplemented by dating, are
required to solve this issue.
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