Meltwater discharge to the Skagerrak-Kattegat from the Baltic Ice Lake during the Younger Dryas interval

Diatom data from the Skagerrak-Kattegat show that large amounts of meltwater were discharged into the Kattegat-Skagerrak from the Baltic Ice Lake during the Younger Dryas interval. Strong meltwater discharge greatly freshened surface-water salinity in the Kattegat and areas along the Swedish west coast and possibly changed the directions of sea-surface salinity gradients from north-south to east-west or northwest-southeast. It resulted in a markedly stratified water column in salinity in the Kattegat, which complicates the environmental interpretation based on different types of microfossils. The meltwater influence on the large area of the Skagerrak during the Younger Dryas was, however, restricted along the Norwegian coast where it flowed into the Norwegian Sea.