Recent global warming, which has had wide impacts in the Arctic regions (IPCC
2007), has been demonstrated as the cause of significant mass loss of the Greenland
ice sheet (Chen et al. 2006), melting of the permafrost (ACIA 2005) and a progressive decrease of sea ice over the last 30 years (Comiso et al. 2008; Schiermeier
2012). Moreover, the increasing sea surface temperature may lead to migration of
the species further north (e.g., Walther et al. 2002) and extreme weather events in
mid-latitudes (Francis and Vavrus 2012). All of these rapid recent changes
emphasise the need for information about past natural climatic variability.
Palaeoceanography is the study of the history of the oceans in the geologic past
with regard to circulation, chemistry, biology, geology and patterns of sedimentation and biological productivity. Palaeoceanographic studies using environmental
models and different proxies enable the scientific community to assess the role of
oceanic processes in the global climate by the reconstruction of the past climate at
various intervals. Palaeoceanography makes use of so-called proxy methods to infer
information about the past state and evolution of the world’s oceans. Only by
understanding past climate variability we are able to determine the driving mechanisms of global climate change.
To understand recent and predicted climate fluctuations, it is essential to comprehend the natural amplitudes and rates of changes in the past, such as the extents
of Arctic glaciers, Arctic Ocean sea ice, and fluctuations in sea water temperature.
Commonly used proxy indicators in palaeoceanography include the assemblage
composition of planktic and benthic microfossils, stable oxygen and carbon isotopes, chemical tracers, composition and accumulation rates of organic matter and
the molecular composition of biomarkers. In this paper, we focus on selected
recently developed methods that are used in the reconstruction of the Arctic marine
paleoenvironments.
2 New Methods and Example Applications
2.1 Organic Geochemical Proxies
Progress in developing new techniques in analytical chemistry and applying organic
geochemical indicators to palaeoceanography has been made over the last decade
(Sachs et al. 2013). The source of organic geochemical proxies is organic matter
produced principally by photosynthetic plants, bacteria, and archaea and incorporated into the marine sediments.
2.1.1 Sea Ice Biomarker IP 25 and PIP 25 Index
One of the novel biomarker proxies that have been discovered in Arctic environment is a mono-unsaturated C 25 highly branched isoprenoid (HBI, which is a
molecule with 25 carbon atoms and one double bond at C 23–24 carbon atoms; Belt
128
M. Łącka et al.
2007), has been demonstrated as the cause of significant mass loss of the Greenland
ice sheet (Chen et al. 2006), melting of the permafrost (ACIA 2005) and a progressive decrease of sea ice over the last 30 years (Comiso et al. 2008; Schiermeier
2012). Moreover, the increasing sea surface temperature may lead to migration of
the species further north (e.g., Walther et al. 2002) and extreme weather events in
mid-latitudes (Francis and Vavrus 2012). All of these rapid recent changes
emphasise the need for information about past natural climatic variability.
Palaeoceanography is the study of the history of the oceans in the geologic past
with regard to circulation, chemistry, biology, geology and patterns of sedimentation and biological productivity. Palaeoceanographic studies using environmental
models and different proxies enable the scientific community to assess the role of
oceanic processes in the global climate by the reconstruction of the past climate at
various intervals. Palaeoceanography makes use of so-called proxy methods to infer
information about the past state and evolution of the world’s oceans. Only by
understanding past climate variability we are able to determine the driving mechanisms of global climate change.
To understand recent and predicted climate fluctuations, it is essential to comprehend the natural amplitudes and rates of changes in the past, such as the extents
of Arctic glaciers, Arctic Ocean sea ice, and fluctuations in sea water temperature.
Commonly used proxy indicators in palaeoceanography include the assemblage
composition of planktic and benthic microfossils, stable oxygen and carbon isotopes, chemical tracers, composition and accumulation rates of organic matter and
the molecular composition of biomarkers. In this paper, we focus on selected
recently developed methods that are used in the reconstruction of the Arctic marine
paleoenvironments.
2 New Methods and Example Applications
2.1 Organic Geochemical Proxies
Progress in developing new techniques in analytical chemistry and applying organic
geochemical indicators to palaeoceanography has been made over the last decade
(Sachs et al. 2013). The source of organic geochemical proxies is organic matter
produced principally by photosynthetic plants, bacteria, and archaea and incorporated into the marine sediments.
2.1.1 Sea Ice Biomarker IP 25 and PIP 25 Index
One of the novel biomarker proxies that have been discovered in Arctic environment is a mono-unsaturated C 25 highly branched isoprenoid (HBI, which is a
molecule with 25 carbon atoms and one double bond at C 23–24 carbon atoms; Belt
128
M. Łącka et al.