The palaeoclimatic and palaeoceanographic variation and terrestrial flux will be studied in sediment cores taken from the Godthåbsfjord system and from the adjacent inner shelf. Up to 6-m long gravity cores will be taken in order to cover the Holocene time window, which will allow us to study changes in ocean circulation and surface-water conditions on multi-decadal to millennial time scales. Analyses will include sedimentology, inorganic geochemistry and micropalaeontological proxies, while age models will be established through ¹⁴C and 210Pbh datings.

In parallel cores, we will study the relationship between age and reactivity of buried organic carbon and study how the reactivity of organic matter controls the microbial abundance and cell specific activity. Specifically, we will analyze pore water chemistry and bulk sediment geochemistry, measure rates of organic carbon mineralization through sulfate reduction, analyze intermediates in the anaerobic mineralization such as volatile fatty acids and hydrogen, and quantify the microbial communities

Site: Sanna cruise, Godthåbsfjorden, Nuuk, Greenland

PI: Marit-Solveig Seidenkrantz and Hans Røy