Dynamics of the Sedimentary Matter Composition in the Lofoten Basin of the Norwegian Sea

Abstract— A study of the relationship between the microfossil assemblages (palynomorphs and diatoms) in sinking particulate matter collected over two years from the Lofoten Basin (Norwegian Sea), and the underlying bottom sediments, revealed that thanatocenosis assemblages depend on various environmental parameters. The increase in particle fluxes in the near-bottom layer was caused by intensified deep current activity, resulting in the formation of a nepheloid layer in the basin at least 450 m thick. The higher abundance of relatively warm-water dinocysts and diatoms, in both the water column and sediments, and their increased flux over the past three decades, reflect the increasing influence of the North Atlantic Current and its extension, the Norwegian Current, in the eastern Norwegian Sea.