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Late Quaternary Glaciations on the Chukchi Margin, Arctic Ocean: Insights from Echo Sounding and Sediment Records
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  • Young Jin Joe,
  • Leonid Polyak,
  • Kwangchul Jang,
  • Christoph M. Vogt,
  • Sookwan Kim,
  • Jung Hyun Kim,
  • Young Keun Jin,
  • Jong Kuk Hong,
  • Frank Niessen,
  • Seung-Il Nam
Young Jin Joe
Korea Polar Research Institute
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Leonid Polyak
Ohio State University
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Kwangchul Jang
Korea Polar Research Institute
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Christoph M. Vogt
University of Bremen
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Sookwan Kim
Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology
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Jung Hyun Kim
Korea Polar Research Institute
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Young Keun Jin
Korean Polar Research Institute
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Jong Kuk Hong
Korean Polar Research Institute
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Frank Niessen
AWI Bremerhaven
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Seung-Il Nam
Korea Polar Research Institute

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Abstract

Glacigenic bedforms such as multiple glacial lineations and moraines on the Chukchi and East Siberian margins reveal recurrent waxing and waning by voluminous ice masses. Despite their paleoclimatic significance, the timing, geographic distribution, and mechanisms of these glaciations remain inadequately understood. To enhance our understanding of the Quaternary Arctic glacial history, we study high-resolution swath bathymetry and subbottom profiling data with lithostratigraphy and provenance of four sediment cores. These data characterize deposits of the last two glaciations at the Chukchi margin and adjacent basins. In all cores, multiple peaks of plagioclase are prominent in both glacial intervals, probably reflecting predominant glacigenic input from the East Siberian Ice Sheet (ESIS). Peaks of dolomite and quartz for tracing the Laurentide Ice Sheet sources occur around the last glacial/deglacial interval and in sediment preceding the penultimate glaciation. By integrating seismostratigraphy with sediment cores, we constrain the formation of mid-slope moraines on the western side of the Chukchi Rise to the penultimate glaciation (estimated age range MIS 4 to 6). Considering the coeval glacial erosion off the East Siberian margin, our results confirm that the ESIS at that time extended to water depths of ~650/950 m on the Chukchi Rise/East Siberian margin. In comparison, the last ESIS (MIS 2 to possibly 4) was smaller, with the identified seafloor imprint limited to water depths of ~450 m on the Chukchi Borderland, while its extent on the East Siberian margin remains to be determined.
01 Mar 2024Submitted to ESS Open Archive
05 Mar 2024Published in ESS Open Archive