Freshwater pulses in the eastern Arctic Ocean during Saalian and Early Weichselian ice-sheet collapse

Improved multiparameter records from the northern Barents Sea margin show two prominent freshwater pulses into the Arctic Ocean during MIS 5 that significantly disturbed the regional oceanic regime and probably affected global climate. Both pulses are associated with major iceberg-rafted debris (IRD) events, revealing intensive iceberg/sea ice melting. The older meltwater pulse occurred near the MIS 5/6 boundary (∼131,000 yr ago); its ∼2000 year duration and high IRD input accompanied by high illite content suggest a collapse of large-scale Saalian Glaciation in the Arctic Ocean. Movement of this meltwater with the Transpolar Drift current into the Fram Strait probably promoted freshening of Nordic Seas surface water, which may have increased sea-ice formation and significantly reduced deep-water formation. A second pulse of freshwater occurred within MIS 5a (∼77,000 yr ago); its high smectite content and relatively short duration is possibly consistent with sudden discharge of Early Weichselian ice-dammed lakes in northern Siberia as suggested by terrestrial glacial geologic data. The influence of this MIS 5a meltwater pulse has been observed at a number of sites along the Transpolar Drift, through Fram Strait, and into the Nordic Seas; it may well have been a trigger for the North Atlantic cooling event C20.     

The Younger Dryas and the Sea of Ancient Ice

We propose that prior to the Younger Dryas period, the Arctic Ocean supported extremely thick multi-year fast ice overlain by superimposed ice and firn. We re-introduce the historical term paleocrystic ice to describe this. The ice was independent of continental (glacier) ice and formed a massive floating body trapped within the almost closed Arctic Basin, when sea-level was lower during the last glacial maximum. As sea-level rose and the Barents Sea Shelf became deglaciated, the volume of warm Atlantic water entering the Arctic Ocean increased, as did the corresponding egress, driving the paleocrystic ice towards Fram Strait. New evidence shows that Bering Strait was resubmerged around the same time, providing further dynamical forcing of the ice as the Transpolar Drift became established. Additional freshwater entered the Arctic Basin from Siberia and North America, from proglacial lakes and meltwater derived from the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Collectively, these forces drove large volumes of thick paleocrystic ice and relatively fresh water from the Arctic Ocean into the Greenland Sea, shutting down deepwater formation and creating conditions conducive for extensive sea-ice to form and persist as far south as 60°N. We propose that the forcing responsible for the Younger Dryas cold episode was thus the result of extremely thick sea-ice being driven from the Arctic Ocean, dampening or shutting off the thermohaline circulation, as sea-level rose and Atlantic and Pacific waters entered the Arctic Basin. This hypothesis focuses attention on the potential role of Arctic sea-ice in causing the Younger Dryas episode, but does not preclude other factors that may also have played a role.     

Neodymium isotopes in seawater from the Barents Sea and Fram Strait Arctic-Atlantic gateways

The neodymium concentration, C_Nd, and isotopic composition, ε_Nd, in seawater have been determined in the water column at five sites in the Barents Sea-Fram Strait area where most of the water exchange between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic takes place. In the main Arctic Ocean inflow branch across the Barents Sea the concentration and isotopic composition (C_Nd = 15.5 pmol/kg and ε_Nd = −10.8) are similar to those reported for the northeastern Nordic Seas, which is consistent with this region being a source area for the Arctic inflow. Due to the addition of Nd from Svalbard shelf sediments, the C_Nd in the surface waters above 150 m, in the Fram Strait inflow branch is higher by a factor of 2 and the ε_Nd is shifted to lower values (−11.8).In the stratified Nansen Basin, where cold low salinity water overlies warmer Atlantic water the C_Nd and ε_Nd do not vary with the vertical temperature-salinity structure but are essentially constant and similar to those of the Atlantic inflow throughout the entire water column, down to 3700 m depth, which indicates that the Nd is to a large extent of Atlantic origin.Compared to the Atlantic inflow water, the Nd in the major Arctic Ocean outflow, the Fram Strait, show higher C_Nd in the surface waters above 150 m, and a higher ε_Nd (−9.8) throughout the entire water column down to 1300 m depth. Sources for the more radiogenic Nd isotopic composition in deep water of the Fram Strait outflow most likely involve boundary exchange with sediments on the shelf and slope as the water passes along the Canadian archipelago. River water is a possible source in the surface water but it also seems likely that Pacific water Nd, modified by interactions on the shelf, is an important component in the Fram Strait surface outflow. Changes in the relative proportions of inflow of river water and flow of Pacific water through the Arctic Ocean could thus influence the isotopic composition of Nd in the North Atlantic.     

Major changes in ice stream dynamics during deglaciation of the north-western margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet

Victoria Island lies at the north-western limit of the former North American (Laurentide) Ice Sheet in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and displays numerous cross-cutting glacial lineations. Previous work suggests that several ice streams operated in this region during the last (Wisconsinan) glaciation and played a major role in ice sheet dynamics and the delivery of icebergs into the Arctic Ocean. This paper produces the first detailed synthesis of their behaviour from the Last Glacial Maximum through to deglaciation (～21–9.5 cal ka BP) based on new mapping and a previously published radiocarbon-constrained ice sheet margin chronology. Over 70 discrete ice flow events (flow-sets) are ‘fitted’ to the ice margin configuration to allow identification of several ice streams ranging in size from large and long-lived (thousands of years) to much smaller and short-lived (hundreds of years). The reconstruction depicts major ice streams in M'Clure Strait and Amundsen Gulf which underwent relatively rapid retreat from the continental shelf edge at some time between ～15.2 and 14.1 cal ka BP: a period which encompasses climatic warming and rapid sea level rise (meltwater pulse-1a). Following this, overall retreat was slower and the ice streams exhibited asynchronous behaviour. The Amundsen Gulf Ice Stream continued to operate during ice margin retreat, whereas the M'Clure Strait Ice Stream ceased operating and was replaced by an ice divide within ～1000 years. This ice divide was subsequently obliterated by another short-lived phase of ice streaming in M'Clintock Channel ～13 cal ka BP. The timing of this large ice discharge event coincides with the onset of the Younger Dryas. Subsequently, a minor ice divide developed once again in M'Clintock Channel, before final deglaciation of the island shortly after 9.5 cal ka BP. It is concluded that large ice streams at the NW margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, equivalent in size to the Hudson Strait Ice Stream, underwent major changes during deglaciation, resulting in punctuated delivery of icebergs into the Arctic Ocean. Published radiocarbon dates constrain this punctuated delivery, as far as is possible within the limits imposed by their precision, and we note their coincidence with pulses of meltwater delivery inferred from numerical modelling and ocean sediment cores.     

The origin and flux of icebergs released into the Last Glacial Maximum Northern Hemisphere oceans: the impact of ice‐sheet topography

The precipitation fields of a palaeoatmospheric general circulation model are used to derive estimates of the geographical distribution, and flux, of icebergs from the Laurentide, Fennoscandinavian and eastern Siberian ice‐sheets at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The atmospheric model fields from LGM simulations using CLIMAP or Peltier (ICE‐4G) ice orography were studied, to test the sensitivity of the predicted flux. The estimated Northern Hemispheric LGM iceberg flux is 3500–4000 km³ yr^?1, of which about 60% issued directly into the North Atlantic. The iceberg flux from the St Lawrence area is of similar significance to that issuing from Hudson Strait in all estimates. Both the North Pacific and the Arctic received substantial iceberg fluxes (ca. 700 km³ yr^?1), with relatively minor differences occurring between the two ice‐sheet reconstructions. Apparent discrepancies between Arctic deep‐sea core samples of ice‐rafted debris and our estimates of mean glacial iceberg flux may be ascribed to coastal trapping of bergs, the existence of floating ice tongues or a rapid exit of icebergs from the Arctic basin into the Greenland Sea through the Fram Strait. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Biomarker proxy shows potential for studying the entire Quaternary Arctic sea ice history

A novel and promising biomarker proxy for reconstruction of Arctic sea ice conditions was developed and is based on the determination of a highly branched isoprenoid with 25 carbons (IP₂₅). IP₂₅ records have been restricted to the last 150 kyr BP. We present a biomarker record from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 912, going back to the Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary and indicating that sea ice of variable extent occurred in the Fram Strait/southern Yermak Plateau area at least since about 2.2 Ma. Furthermore, our data support the idea that a combination of IP₂₅ and open water, phytoplankton biomarker data (“PIP₂₅ index”) may give a more reliable and quantitative estimate of past sea ice cover (at least for the study area). The study reveals that the novel IP₂₅/PIP₂₅ biomarker approach has potential for semi-quantitative paleo-sea ice studies covering the entire Quaternary and could motivate further detailed high resolution research on ODP/IODP material using this proxy.     

History of Sedimentation on the Yermak Plateau during the Recent 190 ka: Communication 2. Paleoceanographic Interpretation

Provenances for the lithogenic part of the sandy fraction of sediments on the Yermak Plateau are located in northern Eurasia. Based on the study of heavy minerals, new indicators are proposed for the ice-rafted material and main systems of surficial water circulation (gyres of the Beaufort Sea and Polar and Siberian currents of the Transpolar drift). Interpretation of the grain size distribution of sediments of warm and cold stages is based on difference in mechanisms of sedimentary material introduction into sea ice. Episodes of the influx of Atlantic warm and saline waters via the Fram Strait into the Arctic Ocean are reconstructed based on CaCO₃ content. The relationship between sedimentary materials transported by icebergs and sea ice during the last 190 ka is given. Hypotheses of the history of surficial circulation in the Arctic Ocean and discharges of Siberian rivers during this period are presented.     

Thermosteresis and Transportation of Atlantic Water Along Eurasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean

It is summarized based on previous studies that warm and salty Atlantic Water (AW) brings huge amount of heat into Arctic Ocean and influences oceanic heat distribution and climate. Both heat transportation and heat release of AW are key factors affecting the thermal process in Eurasian Basin. The Arctic circumpolar boundary current is the carrier of AW, whose flow velocity varies to influence the efficiency of the warm advection. Because the depth of AW in Eurasian Basin is much shallower than that in Canadian Basin, the upward heat release of AW is an important heat source to supply sea ice melting. Turbulent mixing, winter convention and double-diffusion convention constitute the main physical mechanism for AW upward heat release, which results in the decrease of the Atlantic water core temperature during its spreading along the boundary current. St. Anna Trough, a relatively narrow and long trough in northern continental shelf of Kara Sea, plays a key role in remodeling temperature and salinity characteristics of AW, in which the AW from Fram Strait enters the trough and mixes with the AW from Barents Sea. Since the 21^st Century, AW in the Arctic Ocean has experienced obvious warming and had the influence on the physical processes in downstream Canada Basin, which is attributed to the anomalous warming events of AW inflowing from the Fram Strait. It is inferred that the warming AW is dominated by a long-term warming trend superimposed on low frequency oscillation occurring in the Nordic Seas and North Atlantic Ocean. As the Arctic Ocean is experiencing sea ice decline and Arctic amplification, the role of AW heat release in response to the rapid change needs further investigation.     

Modeling North American Freshwater Runoff through the Last Glacial Cycle

The Northern Hemisphere ice sheets decayed rapidly during deglacial phases of the ice-age cycle, producing meltwater fluxes that may have been of sufficient magnitude to perturb oceanic circulation. The continental record of ice-sheet history is more obscured during the growth and advance of the last great ice sheets, ca. 120,000–20,000 yr B.P., but ice cores tell of high-amplitude, millennial-scale climate fluctuations that prevailed throughout this period. These climatic excursions would have provoked significant fluctuation of ice-sheet margins and runoff variability whenever ice sheets extended to mid-latitudes, giving a complex pattern of freshwater delivery to the oceans. A model of continental surface hydrology is coupled with an ice-dynamics model simulating the last glacial cycle in North America. Meltwater discharged from ice sheets is either channeled down continental drainage pathways or stored temporarily in large systems of proglacial lakes that border the retreating ice-sheet margin. The coupled treatment provides quantitative estimates of the spatial and temporal patterns of freshwater flux to the continental margins. Results imply an intensified surface hydrological environment when ice sheets are present, despite a net decrease in precipitation during glacial periods. Diminished continental evaporation and high levels of meltwater production combine to give mid-latitude runoff values that are highly variable through the glacial cycle, but are two to three times in excess of modern river fluxes; drainage to the North Atlantic via the St. Lawrence, Hudson, and Mississippi River catchments averages 0.356 Sv for the period 60,000–10,000 yr B.P., compared to 0.122 Sv for the past 10,000 yr. High-amplitude meltwater pulses to the Gulf of Mexico, North Atlantic, and North Pacific occur throughout the glacial period, with ice-sheet geometry controlling intricate patterns of freshwater routing variability. Runoff from North America is staged in the final deglaciation, with a stepped sequence of pulses through the Mississippi, St. Lawrence, Arctic, and Hudson Strait drainages.     

Identification and characterisation of a novel mono-unsaturated highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) alkene in ancient Arctic sediments

The occurrence of a novel C₂₅ highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) mono-unsaturated hydrocarbon in Arctic marine sediments from the Fram Strait is described. The structure was determined following synthesis from a closely related diene and NMR spectroscopic analysis. The position of the double bond was confirmed by oxidation (RuO₄) and comparison of the mass spectrum of the resulting C₁₉ ketone with that of an authentic sample synthesised previously. The same C₁₉ ketone was also present following oxidation of the Fram Strait sediment extracts. The source of the novel HBI monoene biomarker is not known, but is believed to be certain marine diatoms on the basis of structural similarities with other HBIs from such sources. It does not, however, appear to be biosynthesised by Arctic sea ice diatoms, unlike its regio isomer, IP₂₅, an established proxy for Arctic sea ice. Alternatively, it may represent a diagenetic product of the sea ice diatom biomarker IP₂₅; this seems unlikely, however, on the basis of their respective structures. Since the new HBI monoene and IP₂₅ possess similar gas chromatographic and mass spectral properties, but probably have contrasting sources, we suggest that future paleo sea ice reconstruction studies based on the occurrence of IP₂₅ should pay further attention to the rigorous assignment of this biomarker in marine sediment extracts. Some suggestions for achieving this, based on analytical purification and mass spectrometric measurements, are provided.     

格陵兰海海冰外缘线变化特征分析

格陵兰海作为北冰洋的边缘海之一,容纳了北极输出的海冰,其海冰外缘线的变化既受北极海冰输出量的影响,也受局地海冰融化和冻结过程的影响。利用2003年1月到2011年6月AMSR-E卫星亮温数据反演的海冰密集度产品,对格陵兰海海冰外缘线的变化特征进行了分析。结果表明,格陵兰海海冰外缘线不仅存在一年的变化周期,还存在比较显著的半年变化周期,与海冰在春秋两季向岸收缩有关。格陵兰海冬季的海冰外缘线极大值呈逐年下降的趋势,体现了北极增暖导致的冬季海冰范围减小;而夏季海冰外缘线离岸距离的极小值呈上升趋势,表明夏季来自北冰洋的海冰输出量增大。2003—2004年是格陵兰海夏季海冰融化最严重的2年。2007年北冰洋夏季海冰覆盖范围达到历史最小;而格陵兰海夏季的最小海冰范围最大,表明2007年北冰洋海冰的输出量大于其他年份。此外,夏季格陵兰岛冰雪融化形成的地表径流对海冰外缘线有一定的影响。对海冰外缘线影响最大的不是格陵兰海的局地风场,而是弗拉姆海峡(Fram Strait)区域的经向风,它直接驱动了北冰洋海冰向格陵兰海的输运,进而对格陵兰海海冰外缘线的分布产生滞后的影响。     

Subglacial bedform evidence for a major palaeo‐ice stream and its retreat phases in Amundsen Gulf,Canadian Arctic Archipelago

Ascertaining the location of palaeo‐ice streams is crucial in order to produce accurate reconstructions of palaeo‐ice sheets and examine interactions with the ocean–climate system. This paper reports evidence for a major ice stream in Amundsen Gulf, Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Mapping from satellite imagery (Landsat ETM+) and digital elevation models, including bathymetric data, is used to reconstruct flow‐patterns on southwestern Victoria Island and the adjacent mainland (Nunavut and Northwest Territories). Several flow‐sets indicative of ice streaming are found feeding into the marine trough and cross‐cutting relationships between these flow‐sets (and utilising previously published radiocarbon dates) reveal several phases of ice stream activity centred in Amundsen Gulf and Dolphin and Union Strait. A large erosional footprint on the continental shelf indicates that the ice stream (ca. 1000 km long and ca. 150 km wide) filled Amundsen Gulf, probably at the Last Glacial Maximum. Subsequent to this, the ice stream reorganised as the margin retreated back along the marine trough, eventually splitting into two separate low‐gradient lobes in Prince Albert Sound and Dolphin and Union Strait. The location of this major ice stream holds important implications for ice sheet–ocean interactions and specifically, the development of Arctic Ocean ice shelves and the delivery of icebergs into the western Arctic Ocean during the late Pleistocene. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于海冰分析图获取北极固定冰分布的方法研究

对北极沿岸地区固定冰的分析研究,将有助于更全面认识北极海冰的变化趋势,并为进一步探索北极航道的开发利用提供数据支撑。基于美国国家冰中心发布的2008-2018年逐周/逐两周海冰分析图发展了一个数据转化处理方法,准确提取了全北极逐周的固定冰分布格点数据。分析该时间序列发现,北极平均固定冰范围为（9.0±6.3）×10⁵ km²,呈现出（-1.0±3.9）×10³ km²·a^-1的减小趋势;4月份固定冰范围最大,多年平均值为1.6×10⁶ km²,处于北极冬季的1-6月份的范围均高于百万平方公里,而7-10月份为北半球夏季,几乎无固定冰存在。将MODIS图像作为基准数据对不同月份的七组结果进行对比验证,结果显示：结冰末期和融冰前期的平均偏差较小,如2012年3月12日的固定冰外缘线平均偏差为-0.8 km;而融冰末期的偏差较大,如2009年9月14日的固定冰外缘线平均偏差为-9.4 km;但所有月份的验证误差都小于格点网格的大小（25 km）,因此认为该方法是可行的,得到的格点数据可以代表固定冰的真实分布情况。     

Crustal structures of the Canada basin near Alaska, the Lomonosov ridge and adjoining basins near the North Pole

Seismic refraction surveys conducted in 1976 and 1979 over the broken ice surface of the Arctic Ocean, reveal distinctly different crustal structures for the Fram, Makarov and Canada basins. The Canada Basin, characterized by a 2–4 km thick sedimentary layer and a distinct oceanic layer 3B of 7.5 km/s velocity has the thickest crust and is undoubtedly the oldest of the three. The crust of the Makarov Basin has a thin sedimentary layer of less than 1 km and is about 9 km in total thickness. The Fram Basin has a similarly thin sedimentary layer but is 3–4 km thicker than the Makarov as it approaches the Lomonosov Ridge near the North Pole. The ridge itself is cored by material with a velocity of 6.6 km/s and may be a metagabbro similar to oceanic layer 3A. This ridge root material extends to a depth of about 27 km, where a change occurs to upper-mantle material with a velocity of 8.3 km/s. The core is overlain by up to 6 km of material with a velocity of about 4.7 km/s which could be oceanic layer 2A basalts or continental crystalline rocks with some sedimentary material.The Fram Basin probably began to open contemporaneously with the North Atlantic about 70 m.y. ago, by spreading along the Nansen-Gakkel Ridge. Although not yet dated, the Makarov Basin is probably no older than the initiation of the Fram Basin and may be much younger. The Alpha Ridge may once have been part of the Lomonosov Ridge, splitting off to form the Makarov Basin between 70 and 25 m.y. ago and possibly contributing to the Eurekan Orogeny of 25 m.y. ago, evident on Ellesmere Island. In contrast, the likely age of the Canada Basin lies in the 125–190 m.y. range and may have been formed by the counter-clockwise rotation of Alaska and the Northwind Ridge away from the Canadian Arctic Islands. The Lomonosov Ridge emerges from this scenario as a block resulting from a strike-slip shear zone on the European continental shelf, related to the opening of the Canada basin (180-120 my) and then becomes an entity broken from this shelf by the opening of the Eurasia Basin (70-0 m.y.).     

Examples of ice pack rigidity and mobility characteristics determined from ice motion

A method has been developed to determine ice pack rigidity and mobility using observed ice motion. Using this method, one may determine how solidly the ice pack is frozen in near real-time. In addition, spatial and temporal variations in the freezing and thawing of the ice pack can be studied. Various degrees of ice rigidity were considered using remotely-sensed ice motion off the N coast of Alaska during 1975 and 1979. Summer-time ice rigidities were detected first in late June 1975 and lasted through September 1975. However, in 1979 considerably higher rigidities were found in August while summer-like rigidities were detected into late November. Analyses of atmospheric pressure distributions suggest that less mechanical breakup occurred in the summer of 1979, resulting in the greater rigidities during August of that year. In addition, minimum ice coverage was 21% less in the Beaufort Sea in 1979 than in 1975. The result was a relatively large percent of thinner ice for November of 1979 than for 1975, the likely cause of the less rigid conditions detected during the fall of 1979.Nomenclature D deviation in height (m) of a pressure level from the standard atmosphere (Huschke 1959). - e_T time lag (h) at which the autocorrelation of ice speed drops to e^–1 - SL the large-scale disturbance or longwave component of a scalar field; in this study, the 500 mb circulation (Holl 1963). - U mean ice speed over a given time interval - V variance of ice speed over a given time interval     

Sea ice variations in the central Canadian Arctic Archipelago during the Holocene

A sea ice record for Barrow Strait in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) is presented for the interval 10.0–0.4 cal. kyr BP. This Holocene record is based primarily on the occurrence of a sea ice biomarker chemical, IP₂₅, isolated from a marine sediment core obtained from Barrow Strait in 2005. A core chronology is based on ¹⁴C AMS dating of mollusc shells obtained from ten horizons within the core. The primary IP₂₅ data are compared with complementary proxy data obtained from analysis of other organic biomarkers, stable isotope composition of bulk organic matter, benthic foraminifera, particle size distributions and ratios of inorganic elements. The combined proxy data show that the palaeo-sea ice record can be grouped according to four intervals, and these can be contextualised further with respect to the Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM). Spring sea ice occurrence was lowest during the early–mid Holocene (10.0–6.0 cal. kyr BP) and this was followed by a second phase (6.0–4.0 cal. kyr BP) where spring sea ice occurrence showed a small increase. Between 4.0 and 3.0 cal. kyr BP, spring sea ice occurrence increased abruptly to above the median and we associate this interval with the termination of the HTM. Elevated spring sea ice occurrences continued from 3.0 to 0.4 cal. kyr BP, although they were more variable on shorter timescales. Within this fourth interval, we also provide evidence for slightly lower and subsequently higher spring sea ice occurrence during the Mediaeval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age respectively. Comparisons are made between our proxy data with those obtained from other palaeo-climate and sea ice studies for the CAA.     

Intermediate-scale sea ice — Atmosphere interactions over high southern latitudes in winter

Associations between polar air cloud vortices (polar lows), as an indicator of intermediate-scale atmospheric activity, and the Antarctic sea ice, are examined for the Southern Hemisphere winter (June–September). Seven consecutive winters, spanning a period of marked interannual variability of the atmospheric circulation and sea ice (1977–83), are analyzed using sets of DMSP (Defense Meteorological Satellite Program) imagery. Relatively high frequencies of polar lows are found in ice-edge and adjacent ocean latitudes. There is some evidence for an equatorward shift in the latitude of maximum monthly polar low occurrence during the June to September period. Polar low incidence over the Southern Hemisphere on interannual time scales shows a close association with positive sea ice anomalies in the longitudes of more frequent cold air outbreaks from higher latitudes. This is particularly apparent for winters of strongly anomalous circulation, such as FGGE (1979) and the major ENSO of 1982–83. However, for individual cases on daily to weekly time scales, the feedback of cold air — sea ice advance — polar low development is not always evident, and implies that additional processes may contribute to polar air cyclogenesis in the marginal ice zone.     

Revision of the NW Laurentide Ice Sheet: implications for paleoclimate,the northeast extremity of Beringia,and Arctic Ocean sedimentation

For the past half-century, reconstructions of North American ice cover during the Last Glacial Maximum have shown ice-free land distal to the Laurentide Ice Sheet, primarily on Melville and Banks islands in the western Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Both islands reputedly preserve at the surface multiple Laurentide till sheets, together with associated marine and lacustrine deposits, recording as many as three pre-Late Wisconsinan glaciations. The northwest corner of Banks Island was purportedly never glaciated and is trimmed by the oldest and most extensive glaciation (Banks Glaciation) considered to be of Matuyama age (>780 ka BP). Inside the limit of Banks Glaciation, younger till sheets are ascribed to the Thomsen Glaciation (pre-Sangamonian) and the Amundsen Glaciation (Early Wisconsinan Stade). The view that the western Canadian Arctic Archipelago remained largely ice-free during the Late Wisconsinan is reinforced by a recent report of two woolly mammoth fragments collected on Banks and Melville islands, both dated to ～22 ka BP. These dates imply that these islands constitute the northeast extremity of Beringia.A fundamental revision of this model is now warranted based on widespread fieldwork across the adjacent coastlines of Banks and Melville islands, including new dating of glacial and marine landforms and sediments. On Dundas Peninsula, southern Melville Island, AMS ¹⁴C dates on ice-transported marine molluscs within the most extensive Laurentide till yield ages of 25–49 ka BP. These dates require that Late Wisconsinan ice advanced northwestward from Visount Melville Sound, excavating fauna spanning Marine Isotope Stage 3. Laurentide ice that crossed Dundas Peninsula (300 m asl) coalesced with Melville Island ice occupying Liddon Gulf. Coalescent Laurentide and Melville ice continued to advance westward through M'Clure Strait depositing granite erratics at ≥235 m asl that require grounded ice in M'Clure Strait, as do streamlined bedforms on the channel floor. Deglaciation is recorded by widespread meltwater channels that show both the initial separation of Laurentide and Melvile ice, and the successive retreat of Laurentide ice southward across Dundas Peninsula into Viscount Melville Sound. Sedimentation from these channels deposited deltas marking deglacial marine limit. Forty dates on shells collected from associated glaciomarine rhythmites record near-synchronous ice retreat from M'Clure Strait and Dundas Peninsula to north-central Victoria Island ～11.5 ka BP. Along the adjacent coast of Banks Island, deglacial shorelines also record the retreat of Laurentide ice both eastward through M'Clure Strait and southward into the island's interior. The elevation and age (～11.5 ka BP) of deglacial marine limit there is fully compatible with the record of ice retreat on Melville Island. The last retreat of ice from Mercy Bay (northern Banks Island), previously assigned to northward retreat into M'Clure Strait during the Early Wisconsinan, is contradicted by geomorphic evidence for southward retreat into the island's interior during the Late Wisconsinan. This revision of the pattern and age of ice retreat across northern Banks Island results in a significant simplification of the previous Quaternary model. Our observations support the amalgamation of multiple till sheets – previously assigned to at least three pre-Late Wisconsinan glaciations – into the Late Wisconsinan. This revision also removes their formally named marine transgressions and proglacial lakes for which evidence is lacking. Erratics were also widely observed armouring meltwater channels originating on the previously proposed never-glaciated landscape. An extensive Late Wisconsinan Laurentide Ice Sheet across the western Canadian Arctic is compatible with similar evidence for extensive Laurentide ice entering the Richardson Mountains (Yukon) farther south and with the Innuitian Ice Sheet to the north. Widespread Late Wisconsinan ice, in a region previously thought to be too arid to sustain it, has important implications for paleoclimate, ice sheet modelling, Arctic Ocean ice and sediment delivery, and clarifying the northeast limit of Beringia.     

Evolution in sea ice from 1978 to 2012

In this paper, the intra-annual and interannual variability of the sea ice is analysed over the period 1979–2012 from the data and images facilitated by the “National Snow and Ice dates Center”. These data are related to the annual average temperature. The annual average of the marine ice surface area (1979–2012) is very similar in both poles, although its temporary evolution is opposed in both hemispheres. In the Arctic Ocean there is an abrupt reduction of the surface area of the ice during this period. As opposed to it, the marine seas surrounding the Antarctic show an increase of the extension of the ice, especially in the last 15 years, with a maximum value in 2012. With respect to the total of the marine ice over the period 1979–2012, there is an overall deficit balance, because the reduction of the Arctic ice is greater than the increase of the Antarctic ice.     

Non-glacial paleoenvironments and the extent of Weichselian ice sheets on Severnaya Zemlya, Russian High Arctic

The extent of the Barents-Kara Sea ice sheet (northern Europe and Russia) during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), in Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2 is controversial, especially along the southern and northeastern (Russian High Arctic) margins. We conducted a multi-disciplinary study of various organic and mineral fractions, obtaining chronologies with ¹⁴C and luminescence dating methods on a 10.5 m long core from Changeable Lake (4 km from the Vavilov Ice Cap) on Severnaya Zemlya. The numeric ages indicate that the last glaciation at this site occurred during or prior to MIS 5d-4 (Early Middle Weichselian). Deglaciation was followed by a marine transgression which affected the Changeable Lake basin. After the regression the basin dried up. In late Middle Weichselian time (ca 25–40 ka), reworked marine sediments were deposited in a saline water body. During the Late Weichselian (MIS 2), the basin was not affected by glaciation, and lacustrine sediments were formed which reflect cold and arid climate conditions. During the termination of the Pleistocene and into the Holocene, warmer and wetter climate conditions than before led to a higher sediment input. Thus, our chronology demonstrates that the northeastern margin of the LGM Barents-Kara Sea ice sheet did not reach the Changeable Lake basin. This result supports a modest model of the LGM ice sheet in northern Europe determined from numeric ice sheet modelling and geological investigations.