Biomarker data from surface sediments and environmental data from the (sub)Arctic

For the interpretation of proxy reconstructions it is necessary to understand the recent signals of different sea-ice proxies from various regions. We present 260 new sediment surface samples collected in the (sub-) Arctic Oceans that were analysed for specific sea-ice (IP~25~) and open-water phytoplankton biomarkers (brassicasterol, dinosterol, HBI III). This new biomarker dataset was combined with 615 previously published biomarker surface samples into a pan-Arctic database.

This comprehensive dataset is compared to satellite-based sea-ice concentrations and other environmental parameters to contribute to a better understanding of biomarker distributions as a basis for sea-ice reconstructions on a (sub-) Arctic scale.