Description
The authors studied the types and concentrations of diatoms found within four sediment cores extracted from Skalafjord and the mouth of the Kaldbaksfjord of the Faeroe Islands (62°02.895-62°10.707N, 06°45.033-06°47.870W). This work revealed, in their words, that "the freshwater diatom flora that occurred between 1200 and 700 cal. yr BP in all four cores suggests markedly increased freshwater discharge into the fjord," which in turn suggests that "during this time much higher precipitation occurred" and that "increased snowdrift and melt-water runoff from land ... played a major role for the increase in the freshwater flora in the Skalafjord." They also write that "this period represents the Medieval Warm Period (MWP), which coincides with the first human settlements on the Faeroe Islands."