Coastal permafrost landscape development since the Late Pleistocene in the western Laptev Sea,Siberia

Winterfeld, M., Schirrmeister, L., Grigoriev, M. N., Kunitsky, V. V., Andreev, A., Murray, A. & Overduin, P. P. 2011: Coastal permafrost landscape development since the Late Pleistocene in the western Laptev Sea, Siberia. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2011.00203.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. The palaeoenvironmental development of the western Laptev Sea is understood primarily from investigations of exposed cliffs and surface sediment cores from the shelf. In 2005, a core transect was drilled between the Taymyr Peninsula and the Lena Delta, an area that was part of the westernmost region of the non‐glaciated Beringian landmass during the late Quaternary. The transect of five cores, one terrestrial and four marine, taken near Cape Mamontov Klyk reached 12 km offshore and 77 m below sea level. A multiproxy approach combined cryolithological, sedimentological, geochronological (¹⁴C‐AMS, OSL on quartz, IR‐OSL on feldspars) and palaeoecological (pollen, diatoms) methods. Our interpretation of the proxies focuses on landscape history and the transition of terrestrial into subsea permafrost. Marine interglacial deposits overlain by relict terrestrial permafrost within the same offshore core were encountered in the western Laptev Sea. Moreover, the marine interglacial deposits lay unexpectedly deep at 64 m below modern sea level 12 km from the current coastline, while no marine deposits were encountered onshore. This implies that the position of the Eemian coastline presumably was similar to today's. The landscape reconstruction suggests Eemian coastal lagoons and thermokarst lakes, followed by Early to Middle Weichselian fluvially dominated terrestrial deposition. During the Late Weichselian, this fluvial landscape was transformed into a poorly drained accumulation plain, characterized by widespread and broad ice‐wedge polygons. Finally, the shelf plain was flooded by the sea during the Holocene, resulting in the inundation and degradation of terrestrial permafrost and its transformation into subsea permafrost.     

Vegetation and climate history in the Laptev Sea region (Arctic Siberia) during Late Quaternary inferred from pollen records

Paleoenvironmental records from a number of permafrost sections and lacustrine cores from the Laptev Sea region dated by several methods (¹⁴C-AMS, TL, IRSL, OSL and ²³⁰Th/U) were analyzed for pollen and palynomorphs. The records reveal the environmental history for the last ca 200 kyr. For interglacial pollen spectra, quantitative temperature values were estimated using the best modern analogue method. Sparse grass-sedge vegetation indicating arctic desert environmental conditions existed prior to 200 kyr ago. Dense, wet grass-sedge tundra habitats dominated during an interstadial ca 200–190 kyr ago, reflecting warmer and wetter summers than before. Sparser vegetation communities point to much more severe stadial conditions ca 190–130 kyr ago. Open grass and Artemisia communities with shrub stands (Alnus fruticosa, Salix, Betula nana) in more protected and moister places characterized the beginning of the Last Interglacial indicate climate conditions similar to present. Shrub tundra (Alnus fruticosa and Betula nana) dominated during the middle Eemian climatic optimum, when summer temperatures were 4–5 °C higher than today. Early-Weichselian sparse grass-sedge dominated vegetation indicates climate conditions colder and dryer than in the previous interval. Middle Weichselian Interstadial records indicate moister and warmer climate conditions, for example, in the interval 40–32 kyr BP Salix was present within dense, grass-sedge dominated vegetation. Sedge-grass-Artemisia-communities indicate that climate became cooler and drier after 30 kyr BP, and cold, dry conditions characterized the Late Weichselian, ca 26–16 kyr BP, when grass-dominated communities with Caryophyllaceae, Asteraceae, Cichoriaceae, Selaginella rupestris were present. From 16 to 12 kyr BP, grass-sedge communities with Caryophyllaceae, Asteraceae, and Cichoriaceae indicate climate was significantly warmer and moister than during the previous interval. The presence of Salix and Betula reflect temperatures about 4 °C higher than present at about 12–11 kyr BP, during the Allerød interval, but shrubs were absent in the Younger Dryas interval, pointing to a deterioration of climate conditions. Alnus fruticosa, Betula nana, Poaceae, and Cyperaceae dominate early Holocene spectra. Reconstructed absolute temperature values were substantially warmer than present (up to 12 °C). Shrubs gradually disappeared from coastal areas after 7.6 kyr BP when vegetation cover became similar to modern. A comparison of proxy-based paleoenvironmental reconstructions with the simulations performed by an Earth system model of intermediate complexity (CLIMBER-2) show good accordance between the regional paleodata and model simulations, especially for the warmer intervals.     

Alkanes in Quaternary deposits of the Laptev Sea

The distribution and genesis of n-alkanes in sediments from the 38-m sequence obtained during core boring in the Ivashkina lagoon were studied. Sediments were formed in the Holocene as a result of thermokarst and penetration of seawater. The sequence mostly includes permafrost rocks partially molten in the upper horizons and covered by Quaternary deposits, which are mostly the products of thermoabrasion.     

钱塘江北岸晚第四纪沉积与古环境演变

通过钱塘江北岸第四系钻孔岩心的岩石学、年代学以及孢粉带、有孔虫化石组合的综合分析,认为HQB7孔全新世沉积始于孔深35.7 m处(年代约为10.4 ka B.P.),其下至孔深71.1 m属晚更新世沉积,并将该孔31.2 ka B.P.以来的古环境演变划分为5个发展阶段.系统阐述了各阶段的古植被、古气候与古地理特征,指出第2阶段(20.1～10.4ka B.P.)处于低海面时期,气候凉冷干燥,其早期可能对应于末次盛冰期(LGM);第4阶段(7.5～2.5 ka B.P.)为高海面时期,气候温热潮湿,相当于与全球变化相一致的全新世气候适宜期.本区晚第四纪3万年以来的气候变化特点与中国南方的深圳湾地区有很好的可比性.     

Late Saalian and Eemian palaeoenvironmental history of the Bol''shoy Lyakhovsky Island (Laptev Sea region, Arctic Siberia)

Palaeoenvironmental records from permafrost sequences complemented by infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) and [Formula: See Text]Th/U dates from Bol'shoy Lyakhovsky Island (73°20'N, 141°30'E) document the environmental history in the region for at least the past 200 ka. Pollen spectra and insect fauna indicate that relatively wet grass-sedge tundra habitats dominated during an interstadial c. 200-170 ka BP. Summers were rather warm and wet, while stable isotopes reflect severe winter conditions. The pollen spectra reflect sparser grass-sedge vegetation during a Taz (Late Saalian) stage, c. 170-130 ka BP, with environmental conditions much more severe compared with the previous interstadial. Open Poaceae and Artemisia plant associations dominated vegetation at the beginning of the Kazantsevo (Eemian) c. 130 ka BP. Some shrubs (Alnus fruticosa, Salix, Betula nana) grew in more protected and wetter places as well. The climate was relatively warm during this time, resulting in the melting of Saalian ice wedges. Later, during the interglacial optimum, shrub tundra with Alnus fruticosa and Betula nana s.l. dominated vegetation. Climate was relatively wet and warm. Quantitative pollen-based climate reconstruction suggests that mean July temperatures were 4-5°C higher than the present during the optimum of the Eemian, while late Eemian records indicate significant climate deterioration.     

Stratigraphy and paleoenvironmental changes in the Yangtze Delta during the Late Quaternary

The Yangtze Delta area may be subdivided into paleo-valley and paleointerfluves of the last glaciation. The postglacial transgressive sedimentary cycle (PTSC) on the front zones of the paleointerfluves is composed of marsh-nearshore and barrier-lagoon, shallow marine and nearshore-tidal flat units, with a basement in stiff clay. The PTSC in back zones of the paleointerfluves consists of lacustrine-marsh deposits. The PTSC in the incised valley contains river channel, floodplain-estuary, estuarine-shallow marine and deltaic units, with an erosional surface at its bottom. The stiff clay and the erosional surface constitute the PTSC lower boundary.The stiff clay, consisting of a paleosol, experienced deposition alternating with pedogenesis during the falling of sea-level during δ¹⁸O stage 3; ongoing pedogenesis in the sea-level lowstand of δ¹⁸O stage 2; and early diagenesis after paleointerfluve inundation by the sea-level rise of δ¹⁸O stage 1. The climate during the paleosol formation was temperate with more than 500-mm a⁻¹ rainfall and frequently fluctuating groundwater.The Yangtze River incised its course during falling sea level of stage 3, and a huge incised valley was formed during the sea-level lowstand (stage 2). The filling of the incised valley took place during the postglacial sea-level rise, and delta formation occurred at a late stage of PTSC development.     

Quaternary stratigraphy in the northern North Sea

Core recovered from IGS Borehole 78/9 is described and suhsamples have been examined for geotechnical properties, palaeomagnelic events and microfauna content. It was hoped that this approach would provide a Quaternary stratigraphy for the area by assuming that significant geological events correlate with simultaneous changes in the lithology, gcotechnical properties, geomagnetic polarity and climatic regime. The magnetic reversals observed were linked to the existing palaeomagnelic time scale and stratigraphic ages assigned to the various units obtained on a 'best fit' to this time scale. The stratigraphic succession and geological history deduced for the borehole are compatible with other borehole and vibrocore data available from the area.     

Late Quaternary glaciation in the south-western Barents Sea

Moraine ridges have been morphologically and seismically identified in the south-western Barents Sea. Some of these ridges were deposited in front of ice lobes from the northern part of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet, others in front of glaciers located on the southern Barents Sea shelf. The moraine ridges were probably deposited during the Weichselian, possibly the Late Weichselian.     

Sedimentology and paleohydrology of Late Quaternary lake deposits in the northern Namib Sand Sea, Namibia

The Namib Sand Sea is the largest active desert dunefield in southern Africa, and is comprised mainly of large north-south linear dunes. In the interdune areas of the northern Sand Sea eleven small areas of calcareous lacustrine sediment have been studied. These beds are typically less than a metre thick and are dominantly comprised of calcareous sandstones to mudstones and sandy limestones. The carbonates are mainly magnesian calcites (1–14% MgCO₃) with some protodolomite and aragonite. Calcified reed casts and fresh to brackish water gastropods, diatoms, and ostracods are present in some beds. δ¹⁸O values indicate a hot and dry climate. A number of enriched δ¹³C values may reflect high salinity, low organic populations, or carbonate recrystallization.These carbonate-rich lacustrine deposits are indicative of increased periods of moisture availability in this normally hyperarid region during the Late Quaternary. The origin of the water responsible for depositing these sediments may be: (1) ponding at the end point of the Tsondab River, which at one time extended farther west into the Sand Sea; (2) flooding into interdune corridors when water levels rose in rivers such as the Kuiseb; (3) groundwater seepage into depressions either through dunes that border rivers or from the underlying Tsondab Sandstone; and (4) increased rainfall. We do not believe that there is evidence to support a major increase in precipitation over the region. However, even a small increase in precipitation in the headwaters of valleys that drain toward the Sand Sea might: (1) generate enough additional runoff to extend the terminal point of rivers such as the Tsondab farther into the dunes; (2) cause lateral flooding from major valleys into interdune corridors; and (3) recharge aquifers. The sedimentary records at Narabeb, Ancient Tracks, and West Pan, which lie along the old course of the Tsondab River, favor a ponded river origin for them, whereas groundwater seepage is favored at other sites. The chronology of deposition, based on radiocarbon dates, suggests that ponding and recharge occurred earlier in the lower, western part of the area, and later in the east. This is in harmony with the view that the end point of the Tsondab River progressively retreated eastward between about 30 and 14 ka BP, as dunes blocked its route.     

The first ever application of electromagnetic sounding for mapping the submarine permafrost table on the Laptev Sea shelf

The inconsistency between the position of the submarine permafrost table in the East Arctic seas revealed by simulation and anomalies in the distribution of dissolved methane associated with ascending torchlike ejections of bubbling methane made it necessary to develop a representative geophysical express method, which allows the position of the submarine permafrost table to be determined. The method is based on sounding of the generated primary electromagnetic field in the near zone of the medium and measurement of the induced secondary EM field. The reliability of the method is confirmed by core drilling in the Laptev Sea.     

Timing of Late Quaternary glaciations in the Himalayas of northern Pakistan

Optically stimulated luminescence dating of Late Quaternary glaciogenic sediments was undertaken in critical areas of the Himalayas of northern Pakistan in order to examine the timing of glaciation. The dates demonstrate that several glaciations occurred during the last glacial cycle. In Swat, the Grabral 2 Stade and the Kalam I Stade were dated at ca. 77 ka and ca. 38 ka, respectively. The error on the former date is large and it is conceivable that the moraines may have formed during the early part of Oxygen Isotope Stage 3 rather than during Oxygen Isotope Stage 4. The Kalam I Stade, however, clearly represents a glaciation during Oxygen Isotope Stage 3. The oldest moraines and those at the lowest altitude in the Indus valley at Shatial have an age of ca. 60 ka. These also relate to a major glacial advance during Oxygen Isotope Stage 3. A younger series of moraines, the Jalipur Tillite, and glaciofluvial sands at Liachar in the Indus valley, and moraines at Rampur–Tarshing have ages of ca. 27 ka, ca. 21–23 ka and ca. 15 ka, respectively. These dates show that glaciers also occupied parts of the Indus valley during Oxygen Isotope Stage 2. These dates and the morphostratigraphy show that glaciation in the Pakistani Himalaya was more extensive during the early part of the last glacial cycle and that the local last glacial maximum in Pakistan was asynchronous with the maximum extent of Northern Hemisphere ice sheets. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Late Quaternary glacial episodes in the Hornsund Region of Spitsbergen

On the basis of field and laboratory studies supported by thermoluminescence dates, an occurrence of marine and glacial sediments is described from South Spitsbergen. These deposits are thought to date from the Holsteinian interglacial and the Saalian glacial stages respectively. In addition, the evidence and extent of Vistulian and Holoccne glacial advances in South Spitsbergen are presented. These advances occurred at 50,000–43,000, 30,000–10,000, 3,000–2,500 and 600–100 years B.P. The latter have been tentatively correlated with those recorded in other parts of Svalbard, as well as in East Greenland, the Barents Sea, Scandinavia, the Baltic Sea, North Poland and the Russian Plain.     

The pollen complex from postglacial sediments of the Laptev Sea as a bioindicator

The first results of comparison of palynological analysis (pollen of terrestrial plants), SEM analysis of pollen morphology, and radiocarbon age dating (AMS14C) of sediments of the eastern shelf of the Laptev Sea show that the diverse taxonomic composition of pollen spectra provides an integrated idea of the vegetation and climate of the region over 11.2 calendar kiloyears. It is found that phases of the tree and shrub vegetation development (maxima of pollen of Betula sect. Nanae and Pinus s/g Haploxylon) correspond to the warm epochs in the Holocene. It is obvious that birch phytocoenoses first settled in the southern tundra subzone with increasing temperature, and then coniferous communities of forest tundra. An occurrence of pollen of shrubby birches (Nanae) suggests compliance of permafrost landscapes with cold climate conditions, i.e., with an annual average temperature of ?2°C and amount of precipitation of less than 500 mm. Owing to a progressive increase in summer temperatures, dwarf cedar and pine communities advanced toward the seashore. The SEM analysis results show that a significant proportion of regional coniferous pollen belongs to representatives of Pinus pumila (Pall.) and P. sylvestris L. In addition, the SEM study of the exine of Pinus sylvestris L. and P. pumila (Pall.) Regel pollen grains confirmed polymorphism in coniferous pollen. According to the inverse relationship between climate and vegetation, frequent climate fluctuations that are typical of progressive and differential postglacial transgression were revealed. An increase in arboreal pollen transfer onto the shelf later than 9.1 cal. ka coincides with the time of forest boundary migration to the north due to the warming of the Earth’s climate. At that time, the tundra vegetation was replaced by forest-tundra vegetation, the maximum stage of sea transgression began, and there appeared a trend of increasing temperature and moisture.     

Late Quaternary glaciation of the northern Urals: a review and new observations

This is a synthesis of the glacial history of the northern Urals undertaken using published works and the results of geological surveys as well as recent geochronometric and remote sensing data. The conclusions differ from the classical model that considers the Urals as an important source of glacial ice and partly from the modern reconstructions. The principal supporting evidence for the conventional model – Uralian erratics found on the adjacent plains – is ambiguous because Uralian clasts were also delivered by a thick external ice sheet overriding the mountains during the Middle Pleistocene. Alternative evidence presented in this paper indicates that in the late Quaternary the Ural mountains produced only valley glaciers that partly coalesced in the western piedmont to form large piedmont lobes. The last maximum glaciation occurred in the Early Valdaian time at c. 70–90 ka when glacial ice from the Kara shelf invaded the lowlands and some montane valleys but an icecap over the mountains was not formed. The moraines of the alpine glaciation are preserved only beyond the limits of the Kara ice sheet and therefore cannot be younger than MIS 4. More limited glaciation during MIS 2 generated small alpine moraines around the cirques of the western Urals (Mangerud et al. 2008: Quaternary Science Reviews 27, 1047). The largest moraines of Transuralia were probably produced by the outlet glaciers of a Middle Pleistocene ice sheet that formed on the western plains and discharged across the Polar Urals. The resultant scheme of limited mountain glaciation is possibly also applicable as a model for older glacial cycles.     

Late Quaternary carbonate sedimentation and paleo-oceanography in the eastern Norwegian Sea

Four gravity cores from the eastern Norwegian Sea are studied. Absolute accumulation rates are quantified and variations in carbonate sedimentation and their implications for the paleo-oceanographic history of the Norwegian Sea are described. In the eastern Norwegian Sea, interglacial, ice-free conditions were developed during oxygen-isotope stages 1 and 5e. Open water conditions were probably the norm during the summer season, also during glacial stages. Slightly elevated summer temperatures in periods during isotope stages 2 and 7 are demonstrated by increased contents of subpolar planktic foraminifera. The deep waters of the eastern Norwegian Sea have been well oxygenated during most of the last 250,000 years. Organic-rich sediments and intensive carbonate dissolution in some parts of isotope stages 4 and 6 indicate corrosive bottom waters. A permanent ice cover and low saline surface waters, as found in the Arctic Ocean today, may have been developed in these periods. Well-preserved foraminiferal assemblages from stage 2 show more oxygenated bottom waters and more effective bottom water renewal in this period than during stage 3.     

Detection of methane ebullition in shelf waters of the Laptev Sea in the Eastern Arctic Region

Doklady Earth Sciences -     

Middle and Late Quaternary depositional sequences and cycles in the eastern Mediterranean

Although most of the Quaternary sediments of the eastern Mediterranean appear reworked, extensive areas of hemipelagic sediments occur, mainly in the central part of the basin (Mediterranean Ridge). The most obvious character of these muddy sediments is the numerous changes in colour. They result from the organic carbon content as well as from concentration and chemical form of metallic elements (Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn). The succession of coloured layers is arranged into sequences developed between two sharp contacts; a complete sequence involves five lithofacies, from an oxidized layer at the base to a reduced sapropel at the top, and displays progressive internal changes of colour from ochre, beige, greyish-beige, grey and black layers: several sequence-variants (top-truncated, base-truncated, recurrent) are identified. These sequences are a consequence of changes in oceanographic conditions, i.e. from oxidizing to reduced environments, resulting in different organic and mineral contents. Based on detailed studies of Quaternary sediments collected by coring, a synthesized standard succession representative of the ordered sequences in the eastern Mediterranean is proposed, from about 650 000 yr as deduced from the calculated rate of sedimentation of 1·7 mm 1000yr^?1. This succession appears modulated by cyclic events: large-scale periods (200 000 yr) of reduced and oxidized sequences correlate with major alternate phases of flooding and reduced flow of the Nile River during the Quaternary. Subsequent sequences of shorter time-scale (20 000–50 000 yr) results from two factors: heaviest monsoons leading to an increase of the influx of the Nile River and global climatic changes (Eurasian ice sheet meltwater); these two factors act synchronously or independently along the studied time-span. These interplaying factors result in periodic stages of increasingly restricted conditions in the basin and explain the complexity of the eastern Mediterranean succession, at least since 650 000 yr ago.     

青海湖地区晚第四纪黄土的物质来源

青海湖地区的晚第四纪黄土记录了湖区晚第四纪以来的环境和气候变化.迄今为止,对于青海湖地区晚第四纪黄土物质来源的研究较薄弱.以青海湖东岸的种羊场晚第四纪风成沉积剖面为主要研究对象,在青海湖区及其周边采集了黄土、风成砂、湖相沉积、河流沉积等样品,结合黄土高原西部临洮黄土样品,对它们的元素组成(＜75 μm的硅酸盐组分)进行了对比研究.初步结果表明:(1) K₂O/Al₂O₃(摩尔比)和Zr/Ti、Zr/Nb比值显示青海湖地区的风成沉积显著区别于本区的河流沉积和湖相沉积;(2) 青海湖地区的晚第四纪黄土与黄土高原西部临洮黄土的K₂O/Al₂O₃和Zr/Ti、Zr/Nb比值相一致;(3) 青海湖地区的晚第四纪黄土可能来自柴达木盆地.