Predicted sea-ice loss will terminate Iceland's driftwood supply by 2060 CE
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Global and Planetary Change |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921818122001011?via%3Dihub#! |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2022.103834 |
| Keywords | Arctic Ocean; Climate change; Dendrochronology; Driftwood supply; Global warming; Sea-ice dynamics |
| Description | Driftwood supply was a pivotal factor for the Norse expansion in medieval times and still exhibits an essential resource for Arctic settlements. The physical causes and societal consequences of long-term changes in the distribution of Arctic driftwood are, however, poorly understood. Here, we use dendrochronology to reconstruct the age and origin of 289 driftwood samples that were collected at remote shorelines in northeast Iceland. Based on 240 reference tree-ring width chronologies from the boreal forest zone, and an overall provenance success of 73%, we show that most of the driftwood is pine and larch from the Yenisei catchment in central Siberia. Our study reveals an abrupt decline in the amount of driftwood reaching Iceland since the 1980s, which is corroborated by the experience of local farmers and fishers. Despite the direct and indirect effects of changes in both, logging activity across Siberia as well as Arctic Ocean currents, the predicted amount of sea-ice loss under anthropogenic global warming is likely to terminate Iceland's driftwood supply by 2060 CE. |
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