Northeast Siberian Permafrost Ice‐Wedge Stable Isotopes Depict Pronounced Last Glacial Maximum Winter Cooling

Wetterich, Sebastian; Meyer, Hanno; Fritz, Michael; Mollenhauer, Gesine; Rethemeyer, Janet; Kizyakov, Alexander I.; Schirrmeister, Lutz; Opel, Thomas

doi:10.1029/2020gl092087

Cited by 21 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…Other aquatic fossils such as from branchiopods, cladocerans and chironomids have only little been studied yet in Yedoma IC deposits (Neretina et al, 2020;Rogers et al, 2021). Numerical reconstructions of paleo-climate parameters such as summer air temperature and annual precipitation in West Beringia are scarce (Andreev et al, 2011) or poorly developed in case of ice-wedge stable water isotopic composition reflecting winter climate (Opel et al, 2018;Wetterich et al, 2021). Pitulko et al (2017) present T July and precipitation reconstructions from 34 to 10 kyr BP for the western part of the Yana-Indigirka Lowland (east of our study region), while from the Bykovsky Yedoma archive only two points in time, at around 48 and 35 kyr BP, provide estimated T July values based on plant macrofossils (Kienast et al, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paleo-Ecology of the Yedoma Ice Complex on Sobo-Sise Island (EasternLena Delta, Siberian Arctic)

et al. 2021

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Late Pleistocene permafrost of the Yedoma type constitutes a valuable paleo-environmental archive due to the presence of numerous and well-preserved floral and faunal fossils. The study of the fossil Yedoma inventory allows for qualitative and quantitative reconstructions of past ecosystem and climate conditions and variations over time. Here, we present the results of combined paleo-proxy studies including pollen, chironomid, diatom and mammal fossil analyses from a prominent Yedoma cliff on Sobo-Sise Island in the eastern Lena Delta, NE Siberia to complement previous and ongoing paleo-ecological research in western Beringia. The Yedoma Ice Complex (IC) cliff on Sobo-Sise Island (up to 28 m high, 1.7 km long) was continuously sampled at 0.5 m resolution. The entire sequence covers the last about 52 cal kyr BP, but is not continuous as it shows substantial hiatuses at 36–29 cal kyr BP, at 20–17 cal kyr BP and at 15–7 cal kyr BP. The Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 Yedoma IC (52–28 cal kyr BP) pollen spectra show typical features of tundra–steppe vegetation. Green algae remains indicate freshwater conditions. The chironomid assemblages vary considerably in abundance and diversity. Chironomid-based TJuly reconstructions during MIS 3 reveal warmer-than-today TJuly at about 51 cal kyr BP, 46-44 and 41 cal kyr BP. The MIS 2 Yedoma IC (28–15 cal kyr BP) pollen spectra represent tundra-steppe vegetation as during MIS 3, but higher abundance of Artemisia and lower abundances of algae remains indicate drier summer conditions. The chironomid records are poor. The MIS 1 (7–0 cal kyr BP) pollen spectra indicate shrub-tundra vegetation. The chironomid fauna is sparse and not diverse. The chironomid-based TJuly reconstruction supports similar-as-today temperatures at 6.4–4.4 cal kyr BP. Diatoms were recorded only after about 6.4 cal kyr BP. The Sobo-Sise Yedoma record preserves traces of the West Beringian tundra-steppe that maintained the Mammoth fauna including rare evidence for woolly rhinoceros’ presence. Chironomid-based TJuly reconstructions complement previous plant-macrofossil based TJuly of regional MIS 3 records. Our study from the eastern Lena Delta fits into and extends previous paleo-ecological Yedoma studies to characterize Beringian paleo-environments in the Laptev Sea coastal region.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paleo-Ecology of the Yedoma Ice Complex on Sobo-Sise Island (EasternLena Delta, Siberian Arctic)

et al. 2021

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“…However, radiocarbon dating of the carbon dioxide in air bubbles and the organic carbon dissolved within the wedge ice showed much younger age than host sediments, and some Pleistocene ice wedges in the old Tunnel formed between 28,000 and 22,000 years BP while the age of host sediments exceeded 35,000 years BP (Lachniet et al, 2012). Similar studies in other regions (Opel et al, 2019;Holland et al, 2020;Wetterich et al, 2021) also found that ice wedges may be several thousand years younger than enclosing sediments. We hope a similar approach will be used during the future studies in the new Tunnel.…”

Section: Age and Nature Of Ice Wedges In Yedomamentioning

confidence: 64%

Yedoma Cryostratigraphy of Recently Excavated Sections of the CRREL Permafrost Tunnel Near Fairbanks, Alaska

et al. 2022

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Recent excavation in the new CRREL Permafrost Tunnel in Fox, Alaska provides a unique opportunity to study properties of Yedoma — late Pleistocene ice- and organic-rich syngenetic permafrost. Yedoma has been described at numerous sites across Interior Alaska, mainly within the Yukon-Tanana upland. The most comprehensive data on the structure and properties of Yedoma in this area have been obtained in the CRREL Permafrost Tunnel near Fairbanks — one of the most accessible large-scale exposures of Yedoma permafrost on Earth, which became available to researchers in the mid-1960s. Expansion of the new ∼4-m-high and ∼4-m-wide linear excavations, started in 2011 and ongoing, exposes an additional 300 m of well-preserved Yedoma and provides access to sediments deposited over the past 40,000 years, which will allow us to quantify rates and patterns of formation of syngenetic permafrost, depositional history and biogeochemical characteristics of Yedoma, and its response to a warmer climate. In this paper, we present results of detailed cryostratigraphic studies in the Tunnel and adjacent area. Data from our study include ground-ice content, the stable water isotope composition of the variety of ground-ice bodies, and radiocarbon age dates. Based on cryostratigraphic mapping of the Tunnel and results of drilling above and inside the Tunnel, six main cryostratigraphic units have been distinguished: 1) active layer; 2) modern intermediate layer (ice-rich silt); 3) relatively ice-poor Yedoma silt reworked by thermal erosion and thermokarst during the Holocene; 4) ice-rich late Pleistocene Yedoma silt with large ice wedges; 5) relatively ice-poor fluvial gravel; and 6) ice-poor bedrock. Our studies reveal significant differences in cryostratigraphy of the new and old CRREL Permafrost Tunnel facilities. Original syngenetic permafrost in the new Tunnel has been better preserved and less affected by erosional events during the period of Yedoma formation, although numerous features (e.g., bodies of thermokarst-cave ice, thaw unconformities, buried gullies) indicate the original Yedoma silt in the recently excavated sections was also reworked to some extent by thermokarst and thermal erosion during the late Pleistocene and Holocene.

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“…The stratigraphic classification of the middle Pleistocene to the Holocene in the East Siberian Arctic lowlands is based mostly on palynological (e.g., Gitermann et al, 1982;Kaplina and Lozhkin, 1984), palaeozoological (e.g., Sher, 1971;Vangenheim, 1977), and cryolithological (e.g., Kaplina, 1981;Kaplina, 1989;Tumskoy, 2012) and geochronological data (e.g., Schirrmeister et al, 2002a;Schirrmeister et al, 2003a;Schirrmeister et al, 2008;Schirrmeister et al, 2011b;Andreev et al, 2004;Andreev et al, 2009;Wetterich et al, 2009;Wetterich et al, 2011;Wetterich et al, 2014;Wetterich et al, 2016;Wetterich et al, 2019;Wetterich et al, 2020;Wetterich et al, 2021;Zimmermann et al, 2017). The study of local profiles resulted in numerous separate stratigraphic schemes, often with individual terms for single suites, layers, or horizons, which were correlated for further chronostratigraphic classification.…”

Section: Study Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In total, 486 samples were studied for heavy mineral associations of the fine fraction (63-125 µm) and in 282 of these samples the coarse fraction (125-250 µm) was additionally analyzed. Lisiecki and Raymo, 2005) used in this work according to Andreev et al (2004Andreev et al ( , 2009, Wetterich et al (2019Wetterich et al ( , 2021 and Zimmermann et al (2017) Furthermore, light mineral associations were studied in 242 samples of the fine fraction and 131 samples of the coarse fraction (Table 2).…”

Section: Analytical Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heavy and Light Mineral Association of Late Quaternary Permafrost Deposits in Northeastern Siberia

et al. 2022

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We studied heavy and light mineral associations from two grain-size fractions (63–125 μm, 125–250 µm) from 18 permafrost sites in the northern Siberian Arctic in order to differentiate local versus regional source areas of permafrost aggradation on the late Quaternary time scale. The stratigraphic context of the studied profiles spans about 200 ka covering the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 7 to MIS 1. Heavy and light mineral grains are mostly angular, subangular or slightly rounded in the studied permafrost sediments. Only grains from sediments with significantly longer transport distances show higher degrees of rounding. Differences in the varying heavy and light mineral associations represent varying sediment sources, frost weathering processes, transport mechanisms, and post-sedimentary soil formation processes of the deposits of distinct cryostratigraphic units. We summarized the results of 1141 microscopic mineral analyses of 486 samples in mean values for the respective cryostratigraphic units. We compared the mineral associations of all 18 sites along the Laptev Sea coast, in the Lena Delta, and on the New Siberian Archipelago to each other and used analysis of variance and cluster analysis to characterize the differences and similarities among mineral associations. The mineral associations of distinct cryostratigraphic units within several studied profiles differ significantly, while others do not. Significant differences between sites as well as between single cryostratigraphic units at an individual site exist in mineral associations, heavy mineral contents, and mineral coefficients. Thus, each study site shows individual, location-specific mineral association. The mineral records originate from multiple locations covering a large spatial range and show that ratios of heavy and light mineral loads remained rather stable over time, including glacial and interglacial periods. This suggests mostly local sediment sources and highlights the importance of sediment reworking under periglacial regimes through time, including for example the formation of MIS 1 thermokarst and thermo-erosional deposits based on remobilized MIS 3 and 2 Yedoma Ice Complex deposits. Based on the diverse mineralogical results our study supports the viewpoint that Yedoma Ice Complex deposits are mainly results of local and polygenetic formations (including local aeolian relocation) superimposed by cryogenic weathering and varying climate conditions rather than exclusive long distance aeolian transport of loess, which would have highly homogenized the deposits across large regions.

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Northeast Siberian Permafrost Ice‐Wedge Stable Isotopes Depict Pronounced Last Glacial Maximum Winter Cooling

Cited by 21 publications

References 65 publications

Paleo-Ecology of the Yedoma Ice Complex on Sobo-Sise Island (EasternLena Delta, Siberian Arctic)

Paleo-Ecology of the Yedoma Ice Complex on Sobo-Sise Island (EasternLena Delta, Siberian Arctic)

Yedoma Cryostratigraphy of Recently Excavated Sections of the CRREL Permafrost Tunnel Near Fairbanks, Alaska

Heavy and Light Mineral Association of Late Quaternary Permafrost Deposits in Northeastern Siberia

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