PAST CLIMATES OF THE NORWEGIAN REGION (NORPAST) - A NEW NATIONAL RESEARCH PROJECT

1Larsen, E., ²Birks, H.J.B., ³Hald, M., ⁴Landvik, J.Y.⁵Nesje, A., ⁶Nordli, Ø., ⁵Sejrup, H.-P.

With the present project, funded by the Research Council of Norway (NFR), we will focus and co-ordinate Norwegian research efforts within Quaternary palaeoclimatology. This will be achieved through co-operation in fieldwork, multi-parameter statigraphical analyses at a limited number of key sites that focus on the same time periods, and address the same scientific questions. Furthermore, the selection of sites has aimed at obtaining the optimal location along geographical transects important for studying the variability and mechanisms behind climate change in the region. The primary scientific questions we want to address are the following: 1) What were the relative importance of different climate forcing mechanisms during the transition from a glacial to an interglacial world in this region? 2) What was the Holocene climate variability along the studied transects and how are different parts of the climate system responding to cyclic and non-cyclic changes in climate along these transects (north-south (both land and sea) and west-east (open ocean-land)? 3) What is the effect of increased CO₂/greenhouse-forced climate change on the archives/proxies we are utilising and what can this tell us about possible future effects? 4) How is rapid climate change versus climate variability following the orbital forcing expressed along different part of our transects? 5) What is the influence of the ice sheets and their dynamics on climate (topography, melt-water events, albedo, sea-level etc.)?