Description: Multi-proxy analyses of six sediment cores and analyses of swath bathymetry and chirp data were integrated to elucidate the Holocene sedimentary processes and palaeoenvironments in Smeerenburgfjorden, northwest Spits- bergen. Three basins separated by two sills define the present-day large-scale bathymetry. A transverse ridge in the innermost part of the fjord represents the Little Ice Age (LIA) maximum position of Smeerenburgbreen. Slide scars along the fjord sides and mass transport deposits in the basins indicate repeated mass wasting. Recessional moraines deposited during the last deglaciation suggest a mean annual retreat rate of 140 m/year. Another set of recessional moraines deposited between the maximum LIA position of Smeerenburgbreen and its present day ter- minus indicate a mean retreat rate of the ice front of ∼87 m/year. Strong out-fjord decreasing trends in magnetic susceptibility and Fe-content indicate that these properties are related to material originating from the Horneman- toppen granite in the catchment of Smeerenburgbreen and are, thus, useful proxies for the reconstruction of the activity of the glacier. Relatively little ice rafting, most likely related to warmer surface water conditions, occurred between 8650 and 7350 cal. years BP. Ice rafting from both sea-ice and icebergs increased around 6200 cal. years BP and peaked at ∼5200 cal. years BP, associated with a regional cooling. Smeerenburgbreen became more active around 2000 cal. years BP. It probably retreated during the Roman Warm Period (50 BC – AD 400) and advanced during the Dark Ages Cold Period (AD 400 – 800). From AD 1300 – 1500 (late Medieval Warm Period), ice rafting, sedimentation rates and productivity increased in the inner fjord. The Little Ice Age was characterised by reduced ice rafting, possibly linked to an increased sea-ice cover suppressing iceberg drift. An increase in Ice Rafted Debris (IRD) commencing around AD 1880 is suggested to represent the beginning of Smeerenburgbreen’s retreat from its LIA maximum towards its present position.

Description: Swath-bathymetry, high-resolution seismics and lithological data from the Wijdefjorden-Austfjorden fjord system, the largest fjord system on northern Spitsbergen, have been analysed. The data indicate that multiple halts and/or readvances during the deglaciation of the study area at the end of the last glacial occurred. However, even though the study area and several west Spitsbergen fjords are fed by the same glacier source (the ice field Lomonosovfonna), the final deglaciation of Wijdefjorden-Austfjorden took place after 9300 cal. years BP, i.e. at least approx. 2000 years later than in the west. It is suggested that the retarded deglaciation of the study area is mainly related to the fjord bathymetry, i.e. a more than 35 km wide and up to 60 m high plateau in the central parts of the study area (approx. 45 km beyond the present fjord head). Multiple, relatively large and partly stacked moraine ridges and sediment wedges are suggested to reflect that the ice front retreated slowly across this shallow area and that repeated readvances occurred. The absence of larger sediment wedges in the deeper parts between the shallow area and the fjord head may indicate that the final retreat occurred rapidly.

Description: Swath bathymetry and seismic data reveal two slide scars providing evidence for large-scale mass-wasting on the continental slope off northwest Spitsbergen. The largest scar is approx. 35 km long, at least 16 km wide and located between 1300 and 3000 m water depth. The failure is assumed to be of a retrogressive nature, because it affected multiple stratigraphic levels up to at least 200 ms two-way-travel time (approx. 150 m) below the present seafloor. The second largest slope failure affected an area of at least 35 km length, up to 7 km width and 70 ms (approx. 55 m) thickness below 1400 m water depth. It cuts into the south-eastern sidewall of the largest scar between 2700 and 2800 m water depth and deposition of sediment lobes within the largest scar occurred. The bathymetry within this slide scar is relatively smooth compared to the largest scar, but single blocks are visible. These observations suggest a retrogressive configuration of this slide, too. Minor failures along the side walls occur. Both slide scars are filled in with approx. 15 m of acoustically stratified sediments, suggesting that the slope failures occurred almost synchronously. However, the sediment lobes beyond the lower limit of the second largest slide scar suggest that this slide occurred after the largest slide. The slides were most probably triggered by seismic activity leading to failure within contouritic sediments.

Description: The study aims to elucidate the processes that caused the deposition of a unique fine-grained sediment layer at the onset of the last deglacial basically along the western Svalbard margin and the western Yermak Plateau. Grain-size analyses of 11 sediment cores west and north off Svalbard and the Yermak Plateau reveal an exceptionally fine-grained sediment layer that was deposited within a relatively short period of ~300 years during the Bølling interstadial. The layer was found in cores located below the West Spitsbergen Current (WSC) that conveys Atlantic (AW) and mixed water masses northwards along the continental slope. The mixed waters are underlain by Norwegian Sea Deep Water (NSDW, water depth 〉 1000 m). North of Svalbard the upper 500 m (sill depth) branch off and flow in easterly direction to form the Svalbard Branch of the WSC. Further north the Yermak Slope Current (YSC, water depth: 1000 to 1500 m) advects NSDW towards the Arctic Ocean where it quickly loses its signature north of the Yermak Plateau. The studied fine-grained layer reveals a sortable-silt mean grain size of 15 to 20 µm. The fineness of this layer is basically the result of a coarse-silt subpopulation between 36 and 63 µm that is absent in this layer but present throughout most of the cores. As yet the sediment layer was found in 32 sediment cores (mostly published data) from ~75°N to ~82°N at water depths ranging from ~300 m (Kveithola) to 1880 m (Yermak slope) south, west and north of Svalbard. Very low magnetic susceptibility, a distinct decrease in Ca-ratios and slightly increased Ti-ratios are further key characteristics for the investigated layer (XRF analyses of 4 cores). AMS age determinations of another 4 cores show a doubled to ten-fold increased sedimentation rate for the period of deposition of this layer. The greatest thickness of the fine-grained layer appears in sediment cores from ~1400 to ~1500 m water depth and decreases in cores deeper than ~1600 m and cores shallower than ~1100 m water depth (except for Kveithola), respectively. Thus, the fine-grained material was transported northwards in a relatively narrow strip along the western Svalbard and Yermak slopes. The distribution and thickness of the investigated sediment layer can be linked to both, the rapid melting of the Svalbard and the Barents Sea ice sheets in response to the intense warming at the onset of the Bølling period. Since Kveithola trough is assumed to be fully deglaciated since 14.7 cal. years BP a sediment source in the adjacent Barents Sea as well as from local fjords of Spitsbergen is likely. Reference for the oceanographic information: Schlichtholz and Houssais, 1999.

Description: Ice loss from the marine-based, potentially unstable West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) contributes to current sea-level rise and may raise sea level by up to 3.3 to 5 meters in the future. Over the past few decades, glaciers draining the WAIS into the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) have shown accelerated ice flow, rapid thinning and grounding-line retreat. However, the long-term context of this ice-sheet retreat is poorly constrained, limiting our ability to accurately predict future WAIS behaviour. Here we present a new chronology for WAIS retreat from the inner continental shelf of the eastern ASE based on radiocarbon dates from three marine sediment cores. The ages document a retreat of the grounding line to within ~93 km of its modern position before 11.7±0.7 kyr BP (thousand years before present). This early deglaciation is consistent with ages for grounding-line retreat from the western ASE. Our new data demonstrate that, other than in the Ross Sea, WAIS retreat in the ASE has not continued progressively since the Last Glacial Maximum. Furthermore, our results suggest that the grounding-line position in the ASE was predominantly stable throughout the Holocene, and that any episodes of fast retreat similar to that observed today must have been short-lived. Alternatively, today's rapid retreat was unprecedented during the Holocene. Therefore, the current ice loss must originate in recent changes in regional climate, ocean circulation or ice-sheet dynamics. Incorporation of these results into models is essential to produce robust predictions of future ice-sheet change and its contribution to sea-level rise.