Seabirds colonized Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, Arctic ～9,400 years ago

摘要

A 118-cm-long and well-preserved sediment profile in a paleo-notch, which was formed by ocean wave action before rising to the terrace, was collected from the first terrace of Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, Arctic. The bottom of this profile was dated as 9,400 years B.P. based on two radiocarbon dates of fossil mollusc shell fragments. The organic material in the sediment was identified by δ~(13)C_(org)-C/N plot and δ~(15)N_(org) characteristics to be predominantly composed of seabird guano, which was transported from the ocean via preying and excreting by seabirds. These results indicate that seabirds have inhabited Ny-Alesund since 9,400 years B.P. after Kongsfjorden was completely deglaciated. This is the first report on Holocene seabird occupation on Ny-Alesund and it provides the foundation for understanding the ecological history of seabirds in Svalbard in Holocene.