Reference
Perner, K., Moros, M., Jennings, A., Lloyd, J.M. and Knudsen, K.L. 2013. Holocene palaeoceanographic evolution off West Greenland. The Holocene 23: 374-387.
Description
By identifying and quantifying the different types of benthic foraminiferal species found in two sediment cores beneath the path of the West Greenland Current (WGC) southwest of Disko Bugt (68°28.311'N, 54°00.119'W) on the West Greenland margin, the authors determined the relative thermal history of the WGC over the past 7,300 years; and this record revealed, in their words, "(1) cooling at ~2.5 ka BP, linked to the 2.7 ka BP 'cooling event', (2) a warm phase centered at 1.8 ka BP, associated with the 'Roman Warm Period', (3) slight warming between 1.4 and 0.9 ka BP, linked to the 'Medieval Climate Anomaly' [MCA], (4) severe cooling of the WGC after 0.9 ka BP, culminating at 0.3 ka BP during the 'Little Ice Age'." With respect to the degree of warmth of the MCA, the authors state that "our data show that oceanographic conditions (WGC) are relatively cool and remained cooler during the last 100 years than during the MCA," indicating that the warmth of the Current Warm Period has not reached that experienced during the MCA.