Neogene to Quaternary Central Arctic Ocean dinoflagellate cyst stratigraphy and polar paleoceanography

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IODP Leg 302 (ACEX: Arctic Coring Expedition) recovered for the first time in the scientific exploration of the high northern latitudes drill cores from the perennially ice-covered Central Arctic Ocean. A dinoflagellate cyst biostratigraphy of the Neogene to Quaternary sediments will be established and calibrated versus magnetostratigraphy to provide basic age control for the holes and to date hiatuses that are probably related to the plate tectonic and/or paleoclimate development of the Eurasia Basin and the subsidence of Lomonosov Ridge. Dinoflagellate cysts and other aquatic palynomorphs will be analysed quantitatively to unravel the timing and structure of periods and events that are of global paleoclimate significance. The variability of sea-surface conditions (temperature, salinity, duration of sea-ice cover) and the discharge of freshwater from the circum-arctic land areas will be reconstructed for certain Neogene time-slices to identify the response of the Arctic Ocean to global climate change: the last two glacial/ interglacial cycles, the marine interglacial isotope stages 1, 5, 11, the mid-Pleistocene Revolution, the mid-Pliocene warm period and the subsequent inception of major glaciations in the northern hemisphere, and the mid- Miocene thermal optimum.