Early diagenetic transformations, fluxes, and reaction rates in Holocene sediments of the NE Greenland shelf

Process-based, mechanistic research of mineral authigenesis has been progressively utilized to understand the biogeochemical processes taking place at the sediment–water interface (SWI), and to capture long-term sedimentary (biogeochemical) records of paleoenvironments. A better understanding of mineral authigenic sedimentary processes directly beneath the SWI in Arctic continental shelves is thus fundamental as Earth’s polar regions are at greatest risk of future climate change. This is in part due to disturbances in the benthic–pelagic coupling related to changes in ocean circulation and sea ice dynamics.

In this study, we aim at focusing on the Holocene period by investigating sedimentary archives recovered from the NE Greenland shelf during the NorthGreen17 Expedition. Here we combined a suite of sedimentological (e.g., detailed ichnological analysis and taphonomic features of the benthic foraminifera Cassidulina neoteretis), mineralogical (bulk and clay mineralogy) and geochemical (major, trace and rare earth elements, and δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O stable isotope signatures recorded in Cassidulina neoteretis) proxies with bulk organic matter parameters (δ¹³C, TOC, TN). The first results of this study, presented during the EGU General Assembly 2023 in Vienna, Austria, focus on several important points such as: (1) changes in sedimentation (geochemical characteristics) over the NE Greenland sediment profiles; (2) evolutionary characteristics of terrigenous influx, redox conditions and productivity; and (3) controlling factors and modes of organic matter accumulation.