Abstract The paper focuses on dispersal of airborne tephra that may have reached the marine environment north of Iceland during the last millennium, particularly the shelf off north Iceland. Many of these tephra horizons may extend into the Nordic Seas and the Arctic. The tephrochronology of Iceland after the settlement in the late ninth century AD relates to volcanic events that have been dated with documentary records as well as ice cores. The relevant eruptions for long-distance transport of tephra have been explosive or partly explosive, and mostly deposited from volcanic plumes. However, other methods of transport into the area north of Iceland are also considered. These include rafting of pumice from offshore eruptions elsewhere around Iceland, leading to instantaneous flotation of tephra, and river-rafted pumice from inland areas of heavy tephra fall, as well as potential contributions from volcanogenic glacial bursts. Airborne tephra in 25–30 explosive and partly explosive eruptions had the potential to reach the north Icelandic shelf and beyond during the time slice considered here. Four instances of ocean-rafted pumice off the north coast are known. Tephra from 15 of these eruptions has been identified in marine cores from the north Icelandic shelf and eastern Norwegian sea.

There is growing concern about the rapidity and extent of climate change in recent decades in the Arctic. The changes already evident in the Arctic, such as the cyclonic shift in the distribution of Atlantic and Pacific water masses, atmospheric pressure and winds, as well as the thinning and retreat of the sea ice, will be felt first and most dramatically around the circum-Arctic shelves, which comprise nearly 50% of the area of the Arctic Ocean. In this context, the Laptev Sea and its Siberian hinterland are of particular interest because of their distance both from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. River discharge into the Laptev Sea constitutes a key source for the Arctic freshwater input, and it generates a shallow brackish layer on top of the halocline. The shallow Laptev Sea shelf is a major area of sea-ice production that links the Siberian shelves of the Arctic Ocean with the Nordic seas. During the Last Glacial Maximum, most of these shelves were above sea level and developed thick permafrost sequences; today they are submarine, after having experienced the postglacial late Pleistocene and Holocene transgression. The history of the submarine permafrost and its modern state of decay are largely unknown.

Abstract Cooling and sinking of dense saline water in the Norwegian–Greenland Sea is essential for the formation of North Atlantic Deep Water. The convection in the Norwegian–Greenland Sea allows for a northward flow of warm surface water and southward transport of cold saline water. This circulation system is highly sensitive to climate change and has been shown to operate in different modes. In ice cores the last glacial period is characterized by millennial-scale Dansgaard–Oeschger (D–O) events of warm interstadials and cold stadials. Similar millennial-scale variability (linked to D–O events) is evident from oceanic cores, suggesting a strong coupling of the atmospheric and oceanic circulations system. Particularly long-lasting cold stadials correlate with North Atlantic Heinrich events, where icebergs released from the continents caused a spread of meltwater over the northern North Atlantic and Nordic seas. The meltwater layer is believed to have caused a stop or near-stop in the deep convection, leading to cold climate. The spreading of meltwater and changes in oceanic circulation have a large influence on the carbon exchange between atmosphere and the deep ocean and lead to profound changes in the 14 C activity of the surface ocean. Here we demonstrate marine 14 C reservoir ages (R) of up to c. 2000 years for Heinrich event H4. Our R estimates are based on a new method for age model construction using identified tephra layers and tie-points based on abrupt interstadial warmings.

Abstract Lower Eocene to Oligocene microfossil-rich hemipelagic sediments in ODP Hole 647A, southern Labrador Sea, provide a strategic section for resolving the early history of high North Atlantic climates and ocean circulation, and for correlating with carbonate-poor lower Cenozoic sediments in the Arctic and Nordic seas. Our new, integrated palaeomagneto- and multigroup biostratigraphy (63 dinoflagellate cyst, calcareous nannofossil, planktonic foraminifer and diatom datums) significantly improves Site 647 chronostratigraphy and provides a framework for future studies. This new age model, coupled with provisional δ 18 O analyses, provides greater confidence in the location of significant ocean-climate events at this site, including the Eocene–Oligocene transition and the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum. Early Eocene hyperthermals may also be present near the base of the section. Palaeomagnetic age control is significantly improved in the Eocene, but not in the Oligocene. Revised estimates of sedimentation and biogenic flux indicate changes in supply and preservation that may be climatically controlled. A Lower to Middle Eocene hiatus is more precisely constrained, with a c. 4 million year duration. Age and depth errors quantify the age uncertainties throughout the section. Our revised age model will play an important role in stratigraphic correlation between very high latitude and lower latitude sites. Supplementary material: All tables with ages and age-derived calculations based on the Gradstein et al. (2004) timescale used herein are reproduced as supplementary tables using both the Gradstein et al. (2004) and the Cande & Kent (1995) timescales (Tables DS1–DS6). Discrete sample and shipboard pass-through cryomagnetometer palaeomagnetic data, planktonic foraminifer and fine fraction (<20 µm) stable isotope data, raw and processed core GRA density data, and specifications and results of GRA density spectral analyses are also provided as supplementary tables (Tables DS7–DS11). These tables are available at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18546 .