Anna Bang Kvorning

Forestil dig, at du hver dag læser en papiravis fyldt med information. Når du er færdig, lægger du den over i en bunke i hjørnet af stuen. Med tiden vokser bunken, og hver avis fortæller om den dag, den blev trykt. Mudder på havbunden fungerer på samme måde: Hvert nyt lag gemmer på informationer om den tid, det blev aflejret under. Hvad nu, hvis vi kunne finde netop det lag mudder, der fortæller, hvordan omgivelserne så ud, dengang temperaturen var højere end i dag?

Abstract Arctic marine ecosystems have undergone notable reconfigurations in response to Holocene climate and environmental changes. Yet our understanding of how marine mammal occurrence was impacted remains limited, due to their relative scarcity in the fossil record.

Coastal marine landscape in Ilulissat, West Greenland [photo: Anna Bang Kvorning] It is scary how fast the Greenland Ice Sheet is melting and how much freshwater it is discharging to the coastal areas around Greenland. This freshening is having a serious impact to coastal marine primary production, which is the foundation of the Arctic marine food web. Now, because of increased melting and freshwater discharge, we need to understand how coastal ecosystems will react.