Collaborative research: Exploring the role of oceanic and atmospheric forcing on Arctic marine climate from newly developed annual shell based records in coastal Norway

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Oceanographers and paleoclimatologists use various proxies to study the past history of ocean temperature and salinity. Many of these are recorded in the marine sediments, but sedimentation rates are so small that the time series that can be estimated from them only resolve changes that occur on decadal time scales or longer. When clams and other bivalves grow, they incorporate, in their shells, geochemical signatures from the water in which they live. They also lay down growth rings, like tree rings, in their shells. By studying the chemistry of adjacent rings in long-lived clam shells the principal investigators (PIs) of this project expect to be able to reconstruct the annual temperature and salinity variations of near surface waters in a region offshore of northern Norway. They will focus their efforts on the Medieval Warm Period (1000 AD to 1200 AD), the Little Ice Age (1200 AD to 1850 AD), and the modern era (1850 AD until the present). The resultant histories of temperature and salinity variation will be useful for understanding how the ocean conditions changed during these known periods of climate variation and for validating or constraining climate models.The PIs? immediate goal is to reconstruct annual hydrographic variability during key climate intervals within the last millennium along the strategically located Arctic islands of Ingoy and Rolvsoy. They will hindcast changes in annual sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface salinity (SSS). They will also establish the baseline variability in the marine radiocarbon reservoir effect. The modern near-surface oceanography along the islands is influenced by the physical properties of the Norwegian Coastal Current, while the relatively deep hydrographic conditions predominately depend on Atlantic inflow. Pilot data from the study site demonstrate a strong link between shell-based records and regional SST/SSS conditions. Hence, Ingoy and Rolvsoy seem situated in an ideal location to study marine climate change during the late Holocene. Hypotheses and objectives have been developed to test the relative influence of dominant climate modes on the regional oceanography near northern Norway during the last millennium.Objective 1: Develop near-surface annual shell-based records (master shell chronology and isotopes) to reconstruct regional hydrographic variability (SST and SSS) along the northernmost coast of Norway during intervals of the Medieval Climate Anomaly, the Little Ice Age, and for Modern Climate.Objective 2: Develop relatively deep-water (200 m) annual shell-based records (master shell chronology and isotopes) for the last 100 years to characterize the role of the North Atlantic Current on hydrography at the site.Objective 3: Establish a decadal record of the surface marine radiocarbon reservoir effect since AD 1600 to estimate changes in source water contributions at Ingoy.Objective 4: Estimate the relative influence of the winter North Atlantic Oscillation, the surface Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation on regional hydrography (at Ingoy) and shell-based records.An international partnership for studying Arctic marine climate change will be developed with colleagues from the Akvaplan-niva (Norway), Iowa State University (ISU) and Bates College (Maine). Outreach, public engagement, and dissemination of the results will be accomplished through engagement of two K-12 teachers in the field work, through classroom interactions with K-12 students, through a K-12 teacher workshop, through citizen-based science (via interactions with native Norwegians at Ingoy), and via a photo-journalist who will join the PIs for one field season. At least one female PhD student and approximately five undergraduate students will be supported by and involved with the project. The PIs will use data and ideas developed in this project for several courses at ISU and Bates College relating to climate change, paleoclimate and oceanography. PI Wanamaker will facilitate a public lecture series on climate change at the Ames Public library and continue to act as co-chair of Edwards Elementary Science Night, which has impacted 1,000 students and community members since 2012.