Magnetostratigraphy in the eastern Arctic Ocean, further palaeomagnetic results from Ymer-80 cores

The reconstruction of palaeoceanographic events in the Canadian Arctic Ocean for the last 4.5 Ma is based on palaeomagnetic reversal stratigraphy of deep sea cores (Herman & Hopkins 1980). The interpretation of palaeomagnetic results in terms of genuine geomagnetic reversals results in sedimentation rates of the order of mm/ka, which is one order of magnitude less than corresponding accumulation rates for the eastern Arctic Ocean. The latter rate is founded on the interpretation of palaeomagnetic results from three cores north of Spitshergen, which carry two zones with negative remanent inclinations confined within oxygen isotope stages 2-3 (Ldvlie et al. 1986). The chronostratigraphic framework is based on CI4, amino acid and oxygen isotope stratigraphies, and the reversals are easily correlated with short duration excursions occurring around 30 and 60 ka, respectively. Since neither polarity chrons nor excursions appear to have unique directional signatures, reversed palaeomagnetic directions cannot be assigned to polarity chrons/subchrons without independent chronostratigraphic control

Paleomagnetic correlations between scandinavian ice-sheet fluctuations and greenland dansgaard–oeschger events, 45,000–25,000 yr B.P.

Two paleomagnetic excursions, the Skjong correlated with the Laschamp (about 41,000 GISP2 yr B.P.) and the Valderhaug correlated with the Mono Lake (about 34,000 GISP2 yr B.P.), have been identified in stratigraphic superposition in laminated clay deposited in ice-dammed lakes in three large caves in western Norway. During both periods the margin of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet advanced and reached the continental shelf beyond the outermost coastline. The mild, 4000-yr-long Ålesund interstade, when the coast and probably much of the hinterland were ice-free, separated the two glacial advances. The two paleomagnetic excursions have also been indirectly identified as increased fluxes of 36Cl and 10Be in the GRIP ice core, Greenland. This article presents a correlation between ice-margin fluctuations of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet and the stratigraphy of GRIP/GISP cores, using the paleomagnetic excursions and the 36Cl and 10Be peaks and thus circumventing the application of different dates or time scales. Some of the fluctuations of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet were of the "Allerød/Younger Dryas type" in the sense that its margin retreated during mild interstades on Greenland and readvanced during cold stades. However, some fluctuations were apparently not in phase with the Greenland climate

A 1.3-Myr palaeoceanographic record from the continental margin off Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica

A 12.5 m long core was retrieved from the continental margin off Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Magnetostratigraphy, stable isotopes, 14C accelerator mass spectrometer and amino acid analyses indicate a continuous sediment record going back 1.3 Myr. Comparison of CaCO3 results with those from ODP Site 1089 and an index of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) influence in surface waters indicate that NADW upwelled along the Antarctic continental margin during the whole of this period. The mid-Pleistocene transition (1.0^0.6 Ma) was accompanied by an apparent decline in the NADW influence, and was followed by extended carbonate dissolution during the interglacials of marine isotope stages (MIS) 13 and 11. Less extensive periods of dissolution occur at the end of the interglacials younger than MIS 11. While interglacial dissolution is characteristic of the Pacific and Indian oceans, the carbon isotopes return to pre-transition values indicative of renewed NADW upwelling. The concentration of ice-rafted debris may reflect changes in the relative rate of interglacial sedimentation. It is speculated that the high ice rafted debris (IRD) concentrations during interglacials younger than 400 kyr may be due to a reduced relative sedimentation rate of other interglacial components whereas the low concentrations during interglacials before the mid-Pleistocene transition may be due to a higher relative sedimentation rate of these. < 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Late Quaternary stratigraphy and sedimentation patterns in the western Arctic Ocean

Sediment cores from the western Arctic Ocean obtained on the 2005 HOTRAX and some earlier expeditions have been analyzed to develop a stratigraphic correlation from the Alaskan Chukchi margin to the Northwind and Mendeleev–Alpha ridges. The correlation was primarily based on terrigenous sediment composition that is not affected by diagenetic processes as strongly as the biogenic component, and paleomagnetic inclination records. Chronostratigraphic control was provided by 14C dating and amino-acid racemization ages, as well as correlation to earlier established Arctic Ocean stratigraphies. Distribution of sedimentary units across the western Arctic indicates that sedimentation rates decrease from tens of centimeters per kyr on the Alaskan margin to a few centimeters on the southern ends of Northwind and Mendeleev ridges and just a few millimeters on the ridges in the interior of the Amerasia basin. This sedimentation pattern suggests that Late Quaternary sediment transport and deposition, except for turbidites at the basin bottom, were generally controlled by ice concentration (and thus melt-out rate) and transportation distance from sources, with local variances related to subsurface currents. In the long term, most sediment was probably delivered to the core sites by icebergs during glacial periods, with a significant contribution from sea ice. During glacial maxima very fine-grained sediment was deposited with sedimentation rates greatly reduced away from the margins to a hiatus of several kyr duration as shown for the Last Glacial Maximum. This sedimentary environment was possibly related to a very solid ice cover and reduced melt-out over a large part of the western Arctic Ocean