关键词: 冰岛周边海域, 末次冰消期, 古海洋环境, 海冰

Abstract:

Iceland is one of the most sensitive areas to the global climate changes due to the location in the North Atlantic storm-track path and at the present-day boundary between Polar and Atlantic surface-water masses. Even relatively minor changes in the circulation pattern are likely to be archived in the sedimentary record in this sensitive boundary region. Therefore, further research on the paleoceanography of its adjacent seas is an important component in the study of global climate change. Extensiveness of the sea ice is one of the prominent characters in the area around the Iceland, which plays a significant role in the global climate system. Furthermore, the adjacent seas around the Iceland have widespread tephra layers, which provide dependable chronological data for the study of paleoceanography. In this paper, we firstly reviewed the current studies of paleoenvironment and sea ice changes in the adjacent seas around the Iceland since the last deglaciation, and then discussed the advantages and disadvantages of different paleoceanographic records which are based on diverse proxies in the study area. In addition, the deficiency of different paleoenvironment and sea ice proxies around the Iceland since the last deglaciation were also pointed out in this study. Finally, we prospected the future of paleoclimatic research in the regions around the Iceland in order to fill up the paucity of long-term paleoenvironmental records, like sea ice record.

Key words: adjacent seas around Iceland, last deglaciation, paleoceanography, sea ice