Holocene saline water inflow changes into the Baltic Sea, ecosystem responses and future scenarios

The Holocene saline water inflow changes into the Baltic Sea (INFLOW) was one of the BONUS Research Programme projects (2009–2011) that generate new knowledge in support of decision-making in the Baltic Sea region. The INFLOW project integrated sediment multi-proxy studies and modelling aiming to reconstruct past changes in the Baltic Sea ecosystem; to identify the forcing mechanisms of those environmental changes; and to provide scenarios of the impact of climate change on the Baltic Sea ecosystem at the end of the 21st century. The main efforts have been directed towards studies of the saline water inflow strength, salinity, temperature, redox, and benthic fauna activity over the past 6000 years, concentrating on the time period that covers two natural climate extremes, the Little Ice Age and Medieval Climate Anomaly.