Natural variability of the Arctic Ocean sea ice during the present interglacial.

The impact of the ongoing anthropogenic warming on the Arctic Ocean sea ice is ascertained and closely monitored. However, its long-term fate remains an open question as its natural variability on centennial to millennial timescales is not well documented. Here, we use marine sedimentary records to reconstruct Arctic sea-ice fluctuations.

Palynological data of cores MSM5/5-712-2 and PS2863/1-2 from northeastern Fram Strait spanning the last glacial maximum to present.

The palynogical data of two sites from northeastern Fram Strait (MSM5/5-712 and PS2863) encompassing the last 23,000 years are presented here. The data set first includes the palynomorph concentrations: dinocysts (cysts/g) and their fluxes (cysts/cm/yr) as well as pollen grains, spores, organic linings, , reworked palynomorphs and represented in #/g. It also includes the relative abundance (%) of dinocyst taxa at sites MSM5/5-712 and PS2863.

Enhanced modern heat transfer to the Arctic by warm Atlantic Water.

The Arctic is responding more rapidly to global warming than most other areas on our planet. Northward-flowing Atlantic Water is the major means of heat advection toward the Arctic and strongly affects the sea ice distribution. Records of its natural variability are critical for the understanding of feedback mechanisms and the future of the Arctic climate system, but continuous historical records reach back only ~150 years.