Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T10:41:58.408Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Stratigraphic constraints on late Pleistocene glacial erosion and deglaciation of the Chukchi margin, Arctic Ocean

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Leonid Polyak ,
Dennis A. Darby ,
Jens F. Bischof  and
Martin Jakobsson
Leonid Polyak*
Affiliation:
Byrd Polar Research Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Dennis A. Darby
Affiliation:
Department of Ocean, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA
Jens F. Bischof
Affiliation:
Department of Ocean, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA
Martin Jakobsson
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Geochemistry, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
*
⁎Corresponding author. Fax: +1 614 292 4697. E-mail address:[email protected] (L. Polyak).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

At least two episodes of glacial erosion of the Chukchi margin at water depths to ∼ 450 m and 750 m have been indicated by geophysical seafloor data. We examine sediment stratigraphy in these areas to verify the inferred erosion and to understand its nature and timing. Our data within the eroded areas show the presence of glaciogenic diamictons composed mostly of reworked local bedrock. The diamictons are estimated to form during the last glacial maximum (LGM) and an earlier glacial event, possibly between OIS 4 to 5d. Both erosional events were presumably caused by the grounding of ice shelves originating from the Laurentide ice sheet. Broader glaciological settings differed between these events as indicated by different orientations of flutes on eroded seafloor. Postglacial sedimentation evolved from iceberg-dominated environments to those controlled by sea-ice rafting and marine processes in the Holocene. A prominent minimum in planktonic foraminiferal δ18O is identified in deglacial sediments at an estimated age near 13,000 cal yr BP. This δ18O minimum, also reported elsewhere in the Amerasia Basin, is probably related to a major Laurentide meltwater pulse at the Younger Dryas onset. The Bering Strait opening is also marked in the composition of late deglacial Chukchi sediments.

Keywords

Chukchi marginArctic OceanLate PleistoceneLast glacial maximumLast deglaciationHoloceneSediment stratigraphyIce groundingGlaciomarine sedimentationMeltwater event
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 67 , Issue 2 , March 2007 , pp. 234 - 245
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andrews, J.T., and Dunhill, G. Early to mid-Holocene Atlantic water influx and deglacial meltwater events, Beaufort Sea slope, Arctic Ocean. Quaternary Research 61, (2004). 14–21.Google Scholar
Bischof, J.F., and Darby, D.A. Mid- to Late Pleistocene ice drift in the western Arctic Ocean: evidence for a different circulation in the past. Science 277, (1997). 74–78.Google Scholar
Bischof, J.F., and Darby, D.A. Quaternary ice transport in the Canadian Arctic and extent of Late Wisconsinan glaciation in the Queen Elizabeth Islands. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 36, (1999). 2007–2022.Google Scholar
Bischof, J.F., and Darby, D.A. Sequence of Laurentide ice decay recognized in Late Pleistocene to Holocene sediments of the western Arctic Ocean. Eos, Transactions AGU 80, 46 (1999). (Fall Meeting Supplement, F534) Google Scholar
Bischof, J.F., and Darby, D.A. A thick, grounded ice shelf in the Northwind Ridge region, western Arctic Ocean?. Eos, Transactions AGU 83, 47 (2002). (Fall Meeting Supplement, F782) Google Scholar
Björck, S., Koç, N., and Skog, G. Consistently large marine reservoir ages in the Norwegian Sea during the last Deglaciation. Quaternary Science Reviews 22, (2003). 429–435.Google Scholar
Blasco, S.M., Fortin, G., Hill, P.R., O'Connor, M.J., and Brigham-Grette, J. The late Neogene and Quaternary stratigraphy of the Canadian Beaufort continental shelf. Grantz, A., Johnson, L., and Sweeney, J.F. The Geology of North America, Vol. L. The Arctic Ocean region. (1990). Geol. Soc. Amer., Boulder. 491–502.Google Scholar
Brigham-Grette, J., Hopkins, D.M., Ivanov, V.F., Basilyan, A.E., Benson, S.L., Heiser, P.A., and Pushkar, V.S. Last Interglacial (isotope stage 5) glacial and sea-level history of coastal Chukotka Peninsula and St. Lawrence Island, Western Beringia. Quaternary Science Reviews 20, (2001). 419–436.Google Scholar
Broecker, W.S. Does the trigger for abrupt climate change reside in the ocean or in the atmosphere?. Science 300, (2003). 1519–1522.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bromwich, D.H., Toracinta, E.R., Wei, H., Oglesby, R.J., Fastook, J.L., and Hughes, T.J. Polar MM5 simulations of the winter climate of the Laurentide Ice Sheet at the LGM. Journal of Climate 17, (2004). 3415–3433.Google Scholar
Budd, W.F., Coutts, B., and Warner, R.C. Modeling the Antarctic and Northern Hemisphere ice-sheet changes with global climate through the glacial cycle. Annals of Glaciology 27, (1998). 153–160.Google Scholar
Campbell, J.S., and Clark, D.L. Pleistocene turbidites of the Canada Abyssal Plain of the Arctic Ocean. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 47, (1977). 657–670.Google Scholar
Clark, P.U., and Mix, A.C. Ice sheets and sea level of the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews 21, (2002). 1–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, C.D., and Stokes, C.R. Extent and basal characteristics of the M'Clintock Channel ice stream. Quaternary International 86, (2001). 81–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Darby, D.A. Sources of sediment found in sea ice from the western Arctic Ocean, new insights into processes of entrainment and drift patterns. Journal of Geophysical Research 108, C8 (2003). 3257 http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2002JC001350, 13-1–13-10Google Scholar
Darby, D.A., and Bischof, J.F. A statistical approach to source determination of lithic and Fe-oxide grains: an example from the Alpha Ridge, Arctic Ocean. Journal of Sedimentary Research 66, (1996). 599–607.Google Scholar
Darby, D.A., and Bischof, J.F. A Holocene record of changing Arctic Ocean ice drift analogous to the effects of Arctic Oscillation. Paleoceanography 19, (2004). PA1027 (9 pp)Google Scholar
Darby, D.A., Bischof, J.F., Cutter, G., deVernal, A., Hillaire-Marcel, C., Dwyer, G., McManus, J., Osterman, L., Polyak, L., and Poore, R.Z. New record of pronounced changes in Arctic Ocean circulation and climate. Eos 82, 49 (2001). 603–607.Google Scholar
Darby, D.A., Bischof, J.F., Spielhagen, R.F., Marshall, S.A., and Herman, S.W. Arctic ice export events and their potential impact on global climate during the late Pleistocene. Paleoceanography 17, 2 (2002). 15-1–15-17.Google Scholar
Darby, D.A., Jakobsson, M., Polyak, L., (2005). Icebreaker expedition collects key Arctic seafloor and ice data. Eos 86, (52), p. 549, 552.Google Scholar
Davies, T.A., Bell, T., Cooper, A.K., Josenhans, H., Polyak, L., Solheim, A., Stoker, M.S., and Stravers, J.A. Glaciated Continental Margins: An Atlas of Acoustic Images. (1997). Chapman and Hall, London. 315 pp.Google Scholar
Dixon, J., Dietrich, J.R., and McNeil, D.H. Upper Cretaceous to Pleistocene sequence stratigraphy of the Beaufort-Mackenzie and Banks Island areas, northwest Canada. Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 407, (1992). (90 pp)Google Scholar
Dowdeswell, J.A., Ó Cofaigh, C., and Pudsey, C.J. Thickness and extent of the subglacial till layer beneath an Antarctic paleo-ice stream. Geology 32, (2004). 13–16.Google Scholar
Dyke, A.S., Andrews, J.T., Clark, P.U., England, J.H., Miller, G.H., Shaw, J., and Veillette, J.J. The Laurentide and Innuitian ice sheets during the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews 21, (2002). 9–31.Google Scholar
Edwards, M., and Coakley, B. SCICEX investigations of the Arctic Ocean System. Chemie der Erde 63, (2003). 281–328.Google Scholar
Eiríksson, J., Larsen, G., Knudsen, K.L., Heinemeier, J., and Simonarson, L.A. Marine reservoir age variability and water mass distribution in the Iceland Sea. Quaternary Science Reviews 23, (2004). 2247–2268.Google Scholar
Elias, S.A., Short, S.K., Nelson, C.H., and Birks, H.H. Life and times of the Bering land bridge. Nature 382, (1996). 60–63.Google Scholar
Engels, J.L., (2004). New evidence for ice shelf flow across the Alaska and Beaufort margins, Arctic Ocean. PhD thesis, University of Hawaii, .Google Scholar
Fairbanks, R.G. The age and origin of the “Younger Dryas climate event” in Greenland ice cores. Paleoceanography 5, (1990). 937–948.Google Scholar
Fisher, T.G., Smith, D.G., and Andrews, J.T. Preboreal oscillation caused by a glacial Lake Agassiz flood. Quaternary Science Reviews 21, (2002). 873–878.Google Scholar
Flood, R.D. Classification of sedimentary furrows and a model for furrow initiation and evolution. Geological Society of America Bulletin 94, (1983). 630–639.Google Scholar
Grantz, A., May, S.D., and Hart, P.E. Geology of the Arctic continental margin of Alaska. Grantz, A., Johnson, L., and Sweeney, J.F. The geology of North America, Vol. L. The Arctic Ocean region. (1990). Geological Society of America, Boulder. 257–288.Google Scholar
Grantz, A., Phillips, R.L., Mullen, M.W., Starratt, S.W., Jones, G.A., Naidu, A.S., and Finney, B.P. Character, paleoenvironment, rate of accumulation, and evidence for seismic triggering of Holocene turbidites, Canada Abyssal Plain, Arctic Ocean. Marine Geology 133, (1997). 51–73.Google Scholar
Grosswald, M.G., and Hughes, T.J. The case for an ice shelf in the Pleistocene Arctic Ocean. Polar Geography 23, (1999). 23–54.Google Scholar
Gualtieri, L., Vartanyan, S., Brigham-Grette, J., and Anderson, P.M. Pleistocene raised marine deposits on Wrangel Island, northeast Siberia and implications for the presence of an East Siberian ice sheet. Quaternary Research 59, (2003). 399–410.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gualtieri, L., Vartanyan, S.L., Brigham-Grette, J., and Anderson, P.M. Evidence for an ice-free Wrangel Island, northeast Siberia during the Last Glacial Maximum. Boreas 34, (2005). 264–273.Google Scholar
Hall, J.M., and Chan, L.-H. Ba/Ca in Neogloboquadrina pachyderma as an indicator of deglacial meltwater into the western Arctic Ocean. Paleoceanography 19, (2004). PA1017 (9 pp)Google Scholar
Hughes, T.J., Denton, G.H., and Grosswald, M.G. Was there a late Wurm ice sheet?. Nature 266, (1977). 596–602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunkins, K.L., Herron, T., Kutschale, H.W., and Peter, G. Geophysical studies of the Chukchi Cap, Arctic Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research 67, (1962). 235–247.Google Scholar
Jakobsson, M. First high-resolution chirp sonar profiles from the central Arctic Ocean reveal erosion of Lomonosov Ridge sediments. Marine Geology 158, (1999). 111–123.Google Scholar
Jakobsson, M., Lovlie, R., Al-Hanbali, H., Arnold, E., Backman, J., and Morth, M. Manganese and color cycles in Arctic Ocean sediments constrain Pleistocene chronology. Geology 28, (2000). 23–26.Google Scholar
Jakobsson, M., Lovlie, R., Arnold, E.M., Backman, J., Polyak, L., Knutsen, J.-O., and Musatov, E. Pleistocene stratigraphy and paleoenvironmental variation from Lomonosov Ridge sediments, central Arctic Ocean. Global and Planetary Change 31, (2001). 1–22.Google Scholar
Jakobsson, M., Gardner, J.V., Vogt, P., Mayer, L.A., Armstrong, A., Backman, J., Brennan, R., Calder, B., Hall, J.K., and Kraft, B. Multibeam bathymetric and sediment profiler evidence for ice grounding on the Chukchi Borderland, Arctic Ocean. Quaternary Research 63, (2005). 150–160.Google Scholar
Jenkins, D.G., and Murray, J.W. Stratigraphical Atlas of Fossil Foraminifera. 2nd ed. (1989). Ellis Horwood, Chichester. 593 ppGoogle Scholar
Jennings, A.E., Hald, M., Smith, M., and Andrews, J.T. Freshwater forcing from the Greenland Ice Sheet during the Younger Dryas: evidence from southeastern Greenland shelf cores. Quaternary Science Reviews 25, (2006). 282–298.Google Scholar
Jones, G.A., and Keigwin, L.D. Evidence from Fram Strait (78°N) for early deglaciation. Nature 336, (1988). 56–59.Google Scholar
Kristoffersen, Y., Coakley, B., Jokat, W., Edwards, M., Brekke, H., and Gjengedal, J. Seabed erosion on the Lomonosov Ridge, central Arctic Ocean: a tale of deep draft icebergs in the Eurasia Basin and the influence of Atlantic water inflow on iceberg motion?. Paleoceanography 19, (2004). PA3006 (14 pp)Google Scholar
Kuijpers, A., Hansen, B., Huhnerbach, V., Larsen, B., Nielsen, T., and Werner, F. Norwegian Sea overflow through the Faroe–Shetland gateway as documented by its bedforms. Marine Geology 188, (2002). 147–164.Google Scholar
Lemmen, D.S., Duk-Rodkin, A., and Bednarski, J.M. Late glacial drainage systems along the northwestern margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Quaternary Science Reviews 13, (1994). 805–828.Google Scholar
Lowell, T.V., Fisher, T.G., Comer, G.C., Hajdas, I., Waterson, N., Glover, K., Loope, H.M., Schaefer, J.M., Rinterknecht, V., Broecker, W., Denton, G., Teller, J.T., (2005). Testing the Lake Agassiz meltwater trigger for the Younger Dryas. Eos 86, p. 365, 372.Google Scholar
Matthiessen, J., Knies, J., Nowaczyk, N.R., and Stein, R. Late Quaternary dinoflagellate cyst stratigraphy at the Eurasian continental margin, Arctic Ocean: indications for Atlantic water inflow in the past 150,000 years. Global and Planetary Change 31, (2001). 65–86.Google Scholar
Mercer, J.H. A former ice sheet in the Arctic Ocean. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 8, (1970). 19–27.Google Scholar
Ó Cofaigh, C., Pudsey, C.J., Dowdeswell, J.A., and Morris, P. Evolution of subglacial bedforms along a paleo-ice stream, Antarctic Peninsula continental shelf. Geophysical Research Letters 29, (2003). 41-1–41-4.Google Scholar
Phillips, R.L., and Grantz, A. Quaternary history of sea ice and paleoclimate in the Amerasia basin, Arctic Ocean, as recorded in the cyclical strata or Northwind Ridge. Geological Society of America Bulletin 109, (1997). 1101–1115.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, R.L., and Grantz, A. Regional variations in provenance and abundance of ice-rafted clasts in Arctic Ocean sediments: implications for the configuration of late Quaternary oceanic and atmospheric circulation in the Arctic. Marine Geology 172, (2001). 91–115.Google Scholar
Phillips, R.L., Pickthorn, L.G., and Rearic, D.M. Late Cretaceous sediments from the northeast Chukchi Sea. US Geological Survey Circular 1016, (1988). 187–189.Google Scholar
Polyak, L., Forman, S.L., Herlihy, F.A., Ivanov, G., and Krinitsky, P. Late Weichselian deglacial history of the Svyataya (Saint) Anna Trough, northern Kara Sea, Arctic Russia. Marine Geology 143, (1997). 169–188.Google Scholar
Polyak, L., Levitan, M., Gataullin, V., Khusid, T., Mikhailov, V., and Mukhina, V. The impact of glaciation, river-discharge, and sea-level change on Late Quaternary environments in the southwestern Kara Sea. International Journal of Earth Sciences 89, (2000). 550–562.Google Scholar
Polyak, L., Edwards, M.H., Coakley, B.J., and Jakobsson, M. Ice shelves in the Pleistocene Arctic Ocean inferred from glaciogenic deep-sea bedforms. Nature 410, 6827 (2001). 453–457.Google Scholar
Polyak, L., Curry, W.B., Darby, D.A., Bischof, J., and Cronin, T.M. Contrasting glacial/interglacial regimes in the western Arctic Ocean as exemplified by a sedimentary record from the Mendeleev Ridge. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 203, (2004). 73–93.Google Scholar
Poore, R.Z., Osterman, L., Curry, W.B., and Phillips, R.L. Late Pleistocene and Holocene meltwater events in the western Arctic Ocean. Geology 27, (1999). 759–762.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scientific Party Cruise to the Chukchi Borderland, Arctic Ocean. Eos 74, (1993). 253–254.Google Scholar
Shipp, S., Anderson, J., and Domack, E. Late pleistocene-holocene retreat of the West Antarctic ice-sheet system in the Ross Sea: part 1—Geophysical results. Geological Society of America Bulletin 111, (1999). 1486–1516.Google Scholar
Siegert, M.J., and Marsiat, I. Numerical reconstructions of LGM climate across the Eurasian High Arctic. Quaternary Science Reviews 20, (2001). 1595–1605.Google Scholar
Spielhagen, R.F., Erlenkeuser, H., and Siegert, C. History of freshwater runoff across the Laptev Sea (Arctic) during the last deglaciation. Global and Planetary Change 48, (2005). 187–207.Google Scholar
Stein, R., Nam, S.-I., Schubert, C., Vogt, C., Fütterer, D., and Heinemeier, J. The last deglaciation event in the eastern central Arctic Ocean. Science 264, (1994). 692–696.Google Scholar
Steinsund, P.I., and Hald, M. Recent calcium carbonate dissolution in the Barents Sea: paleoceanographic applications. Marine Geology 117, (1994). 303–316.Google Scholar
Stokes, C.R., Clark, C.D., Darby, D.A., and Hodgson, D.A. Late Pleistocene ice export events into the Arctic Ocean from the M'Clure Strait Ice Stream, Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Global and Planetary Change 49, (2005). 139–162.Google Scholar
Stokes, C.R., Clark, C.D., and Winsborrow, M.C.M. Subglacial bedform evidence for a major palaeo-ice stream in Amundsen Gulf and its retreat phases, Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Journal of Quaternary Science 21, (2006). 399–412.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M., and Reimer, P.J. Extended 14-C database and revised CALIB 3.0 14-C age calibration program. Radiocarbon 35, (1993). 215–230.Google Scholar
Svendsen, J.I., Alexanderson, H., Astakhov, V.I., Demidov, I., Dowdeswell, J.A., Funder, S., Gataullin, V., Henriksena, M., Hjort, C., Houmark-Nielsen, M., Hubberten, H.W., Olfsson, I., Jakobsson, M., Kjær, K.H., Larsen, E., Lokrantz, H., Pekka Lunkka, J., Lyså, A., Mangerud, J., Matiouchkov, A., Murray, A., Mölleri, P., Niessen, F., Nikolskaya, O., Polyak, L., Saarnisto, M., Siegert, M., Spielhagen, R.F., and Stein, R. Late Quaternary ice sheet history of northern Eurasia. Quaternary Science Reviews 23, (2004). 1229–1271.Google Scholar
Tarasov, L., and Peltier, W.R. A geophysically constrained large ensemble analysis of the deglacial history of the North American ice sheet complex. Quaternary Science Reviews 23, (2004). 359–388.Google Scholar
Tarasov, L., and Peltier, W.R. Arctic freshwater forcing of the Younger Dryas cold reversal. Nature 435, (2005). 662–665.Google Scholar
Tarasov, L., and Peltier, W.R. A calibrated deglacial drainage chronology for the North American continent: evidence of an Arctic trigger for the Younger Dryas. Quaternary Science Reviews 25, (2006). 659–688.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tulaczyk, S., Kamb, B., Scherer, R.P., and Engelhardt, H.F. Sedimentary processes at the base of a West Antarctic ice stream: constraints from textural and compositional properties of subglacial debris. Journal of Sedimentary Research 68, (1998). 487–496.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vogt, P.R., Crane, K., and Sundvor, E. Deep Pleistocene iceberg plowmarks on the Yermak Plateau: sidescan and 3.5 kHz evidence for thick calving ice fronts and a possible marine ice sheet in the Arctic Ocean. Geology 22, (1994). 403–406.Google Scholar
Volkmann, R. Planktic foraminifers in the outer Laptev Sea and the Fram Strait—Modern distribution and ecology. Journal of Foraminiferal Research 30, (2000). 157–176.Google Scholar
Yashin, D.S., Mel'nitsky, V.Ye., and Kirillov, O.V. Structure and composition of bottom deposits of the Barents Sea. Verba, M.L. Geologicheskoe stroenie Barentsevo-Karskogo shel'fa (Geological structure of the Barents and Kara Sea shelf). (1985). Sevmorgeologia, Leningrad. 101–115. (in Russian) Google Scholar