Meltwater Pulses during Late-Quaternary; Origin, onset dynamics and impacts on the environment and climate

This Thesis comprises a multiproxy reconstruction of major paleoclimate/paleoceanographic shifts along the southwest margin of the Svalbard archipelago (Arctic) during the last 28 thousand years. This particular region is the only deep-water gateway between the North Atlantic and the Arctic Oceans. New evidence were obtained from marine piston cores, regarding the ocean/cryosphere interaction during the collapse of the Svalbard-Barents Sea Ice-sheet. A detailed description of the trigger mechanisms, onset conditions, internal variations and consequences of abrupt sea-level rise episodes know as Meltwater pulses is presented with a new chronology based on radiocarbon age-depth modelling.