Nansen paleocruise

Abstract

This cruise is part of the Nansen Legacy project which will investigate climate and ecosystem change of the Barents Sea and adjacent Arctic Basin. These areas are changing rapidly, e.g. decreasing sea ice distribution and thickness. The project will be an integrated arctic perspective from physical processes to living resources and from understanding the past to predicting the future. This cruise is part of research focus 1 (RF1) “Natural drivers”, subtask T1-3.1. RF1 aims to improve our understanding of the physical climate system in this region. This knowledge is a fundamental building block for any sustainable management plan. Subtask T1-3.1 will investigate the natural variability and ranges of sea ice cover and Atlantic Water through flow in the Barents Sea. The Barents Sea and Arctic climates in general comprise a strong component of natural variability. For any attempt to project and predict future changes in this environment, it is important to understand the range of this variability, its evolution over time, and its responsiveness to external drivers. The paleoclimate records provide this strongly needed insight and will enable assessment of the changes associated with prior intervals where sea ice cover was less and temperatures were higher than those experienced in the recent past were when instrumental and observational records were obtained.