Widespread, multi-source glacial erosion on the Chukchi margin, Arctic Ocean

Multibeam bathymetry and sub-bottom profiler data acquired in 2011 from R/V Marcus Langseth in a broad grid over the Chukchi Sea margin reveal multiple glacigenic features on the top and slopes of the outer Chukchi Shelf/Rise and adjacent Borderland. Glacial lineations record a complex pattern of erosion likely formed by both local glaciation and far-traveled ice shelves/streams sourced from the Laurentide, and possibly East Siberian ice sheets. Multiple till units and stacked debris flows indicate recurrent glacial grounding events. Composite till wedges of several hundred meters thick extend the shelf edge by 10–20 km in places. Distribution of ice-marginal features on the Chukchi Rise suggests stepwise deglacial retreat towards the shelf, backing up the broad bathymetric trough at the eastern side of the Rise. Glacigenic features other than extensive iceberg scouring cannot be identified above 350-m depth, and no glacigenic bedforms are present on the current-swept shallow shelf. Despite the resulting uncertainty with the southern extent of the glaciation, the data suggest a widespread grounded-ice presence on the northern Chukchi Shelf, which makes it an important, previously underestimated component of the Arctic paleo-glacial system

Rates of Sedimentation in the Central Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean is presently undergoing geoscientific investigations of the type that occurred during the late 1940\u27s through 1960\u27s in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. Seismic reflection and refraction data are scarce in the Arctic Ocean and large areas are virtually unsampled with respect to piston or gravity coring. The vast majority of available cores are less than10 m in length and largely lack biostratigraphically useful calcareous and siliceous microfossils. No drill cores exist from the ridges or deep basins in the central Arctic Ocean. Considering the limited geophysical and geological data available, it is not surprising that current concepts about Arctic Ocean sedimentation rates are diverging. The main point of difference is whether or not strongly subdued rates of sedimentation persisted in the central Arctic Ocean during Plio-Pleistocene times. The low sedimentation rate scenario is based on age models suggesting Plio-Pleistocene rates that vary between about 0.04 and 0.4 cm/ka. This scenario is chiefly derived from cores raised from ridges in the Amerasian Basin and implies that the majority of cores presently available extend well into, or encompass the entire, Pliocene. The contrasting high sedimentation rate scenario is based on age models suggesting rates that vary from about one to a few cm/ka, derived from cores from ridges and basins in both the Amerasian and Eurasian parts of the central Arctic Ocean. The latter scenario implies that most short cores rarely extend beyond the Pleistocene. Early paleomagnetic chronologies of sediment cores retrieved from the Amerasian Basin were based on the assumption that zones with negative inclination represented genuine polarity reversals. The first encountered down-core zone with negative inclination was interpreted to be the Brunhes/Matuyama boundary. This approach yielded mm-scale Plio-Pleistocene sedimentation rates. Biostratigraphy, cyclostratigraphy, and OSL dating, subsequently have indicated that many of these negative inclination changes represent Brunhes geomagnetic excursions, thus providing cm-scale Pleistocene sedimentation rates. All longer-term, Cretaceouos through Cenozoic, sedimentation rates derived from seismic reflection and tectonic models of bedrock age are on the order of cm/ka

A Holocene cryptotephra record from the Chukchi margin: the first tephrostratigraphic study in the Arctic Ocean

Developing geochronology for sediments in the Arctic Ocean and its continental margins is an important but challenging task complicated by multiple problems. In particular, the Chukchi/Beaufort margin, a critical area for reconstructing paleoceanographic conditions in the Pacific sector of the Arctic, features widespread dissolution of calcareous material, which limits posibilities for radiocarbon chronology. In order to evaluate the untapped potential of tephrochronology for constraining the age of these sediments, we investigated a sediment core from the eastern Chukchi Sea margin for cryptotephra. The core was collected in the area of sediment focusing on the upper slope (Darby et al., 2009). Samples were taken from the upper sedimentary unit composed of homogenous, fine-grained mud inferred to represent marine environmental conditions of the last 8-9 ka. Based on this age estimate, the initial set of 36 samples has an average resolution of ~250 years. Freeze-dried samples (0.5 g) were treated with HCl, wet-sieved to obtain a 80-25-μm fraction, treated with 1% NaOH to disaggregate clay clumps, and separated at specific density between 2.3 and 2.5 g/cm3. Residues in all samples featured abundant shards of colorless volcanic glass with an admixture of brown shards in the lower part of the unit. Three apparent tephra peaks were identified in the upper part of the record. The electron microprobe analysis of individual shards from these peaks showed nearly identical chemical compositions indicative of the late-Holocene tephras of the Aniakchak volcano in southwestern Alaska (e.g., Kaufman et al., 2012). The glasses analyzed exhibit a continuous composition range from 55 to 77 wt% SiO2 overlapping with two major populations of Aniakchak glasses (andesitic and dacitic) and also including some intermediate compositions. We infer that the three tephra peaks identified correspond to the three prominent tephra layers investigated in lake deposits between Aniakchak and the core site and dated to ~0.4, 3.1, and 3.7 ka (Kaufman et al., 2012). Further detailed study of tephra distribution in the Chukchi margin cores is underway. Identification of distinct tephra peaks with the composition traceable to specific known eruptions provides a powerful, independent chronological tool, much needed for Arctic paleoceanography. The consistent presence of cryptotephra in the analyzed samples suggests its wide occurrence in at least the Chukchi margin sediments; studies from other Arctic shelves and basins are needed to understand the geographic pattern of tephra distribution in seafloor sediments from this part of the world. Darby, D.A., Ortiz, J. Polyak, L., et al., 2009. The role of currents and sea ice in both slowly deposited central Arctic and rapidly deposited Chukchi-Alaskan margin sediments. Global Planet. Change 68, 58-72. Kaufman, D.S., Jensen, B.J.L., Reyes, A.V., et al., 2012. Late Quaternary tephrostratigraphy, Ahklun Mountains, SW Alaska. J. Quatern. Sci. 27, 344–359

Clay Mineral Cycles Identified by Diffuse Spectral Reflectance in Quaternary Sediments From the Northwind Ridge: Implications for Glacial-Interglacial Sedimentation Patterns in the Arctic Ocean

A Quaternary record of fine-grained sediment composition is used to investigate Arctic Ocean climate variability on glacial-interglacial time scales. Diffuse spectral reflectance data from sediment core P1-92AR-P25 from the Northwind Ridge, north of Alaska, demonstrates cyclic variations in mineralogy. Varimax-rotated R-mode factor analysis of down-core data revealed three major mineralogical assemblages, which were then compared with the content of manganese, a proxy for basin ventilation, and thus glacial-interglacial cycles. Results indicate that factor 1, a smectite + chlorite clay assemblage, was delivered to the core site during interglacials, either by fluvial discharge or sea-ice drift from Siberian rivers or inflow from the Bering Sea. Factor 2, an illite + goethite assemblage, is related to glacial periods, and was probably transported from the Laurentide Ice Sheet by icebergs or meltwater. Factor 3, glauconite, might have been sourced from the North Slope region of Alaska during deglacial intervals, or from dolomites associated with Laurentide iceberg-discharge pulses. The observed variations in sediment source and transport mechanisms arise from glacial-interglacial changes in sea level, the size of the terrestrial ice sheets surrounding the Arctic Ocean, the extent of sea-ice cover and altered atmospheric circulation. The reconstructed glacial-interglacial circulation patterns from the Late Quaternary show some similarity with modern circulation changes presumably related to the monthly- to decadally-fluctuating Arctic Oscillation. However, because the Arctic Oscillation operates on much shorter time scales, further research is necessary to better understand the driving mechanism for the changes observed over glacial-interglacial cycles, and the potential role of ocean-atmospheric interaction

Dynamics of Manganese and Cerium Enrichments in Arctic Ocean Sediments: A Case Study From the Alpha Ridge

Manganese (Mn) and cerium (Ce) are known as reactive metals sensitive to marine redox conditions, and can therefore serve as useful proxies for paleoceanographic environments. Quaternary sedimentary records in the Arctic Ocean show a consistent cyclicity of Mn enrichments, but Mn sources, transportation and deposition patterns, and relationship to paleoclimatic conditions are not well understood. Sediment core ARC3-B85D from the Alpha Ridge with the estimated stratigraphy covering ∼350 kyr is used to investigate a coupled distribution of Mn and Ce in Quaternary Arctic Ocean sediments. By analyzing Mn and Ce distribution patterns in the core and surface sediments from the western Arctic Ocean and adjacent shelves, we investigate the conditions and dynamics of concurrent metal enrichments. Stratigraphic Ce and Mn patterns follow inferred glacial-interglacial cycles, with enrichments generally occurring during interglacial-type conditions with high sea levels. However, the relationships involved are not straightforward as highest Mn and Ce enrichments seem to occur closer to the end of interglacial/major interstadial periods, when sea levels were lowering from their highest positions. We conclude that the enrichment patterns are primarily defined by sediment dynamics controlling resuspension and transportation of reactive metals and their deposition in the central Arctic Ocean after diagenetic preconditioning on the shelves. We further infer that major transportation agents are sea-level affected cross-shelf and mid-depth ocean currents rather than sea ice as has been proposed earlier. Comprehending this coupled geochemical and sedimentary system is important for improving the chronostratigraphic framework for Quaternary deposits in the Arctic Ocean

Holocene tephra from the Chukchi-Alaskan margin, Arctic Ocean: Implications for sediment chronostratigraphy and volcanic history

Highlights • Cryptotephra study of a Holocene sedimentary record from the Chukchi Sea. • Major tephra concentration peak fingerprinted to the ∼3.6 ka Aniakchak eruption. • New electron microprobe and LA-ICP-MS glass data applicable for the Western Arctic. • Re-evaluation of the Aniakchak tephra volume. • Redeposited tephra shards map pathways of sediment transport. Abstract Developing chronologies for sediments in the Arctic Ocean and its continental margins is an important but challenging task. Tephrochronology is a promising tool for independent age control for Arctic marine sediments and here we present the results of a cryptotephra study of a Holocene sedimentary record from the Chukchi Sea. Volcanic glass shards were identified and quantified in sediment core HLY0501-01 and geochemically characterized with single-shard electron microprobe and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). This enabled us to reveal a continuous presence of glass shards with identifiable chemical compositions throughout the core. The major input of glasses into the sediments is geochemically fingerprinted to the ∼3.6 ka Aniakchak caldera II eruption (Alaska), which provides an important chronostratigraphic constraint for Holocene marine deposits in the Chukchi-Alaskan region and, potentially, farther away in the western Arctic Ocean. New findings of the Aniakchak II tephra permit a reevaluation of the eruption size and highlight the importance of this tephra as a hemispheric late Holocene marker. Other identified glasses likely originate from the late Pleistocene Dawson and Old Crow tephras while some cannot be correlated to certain eruptions. These are present in most of the analyzed samples, and form a continuous low-concentration background throughout the investigated record. A large proportion of these glasses are likely to have been reworked and brought to the depositional site by currents or other transportation agents, such as sea ice. Overall, our results demonstrate the potential for tephrochronology for improving and developing chronologies for Arctic Ocean marine records, however, at some sites reworking and redistribution of tephra may have a strong impact on the record of primary tephra deposition

Changes in terrestrial organic matter input to the Mendeleev Ridge, western Arctic Ocean, during the Late Quaternary

Hydrocarbons and glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) were analyzed in Late Pleistocene sediments of Core HLY0503-08JPC collected at the Mendeleev Ridge during the Healy-Oden Trans Arctic Expedition 2005 (HOTRAX'05) to investigate environmental changes in the western Arctic Ocean during the last full glacial cycle, ca. 130 kyr. Variations in long-chain n-alkane and GDGT concentrations correspond to alternated color banding, brown (interglacial/interstadial) and grayish (glacial/stadial) layers. Grayish layers are characterized by abundant higher plant n-alkanes and branched GDGTs, implying larger contribution of terrestrial plant and soil organic matter (OM) in glacial environments, possibly due to the deposition of fine-grained products of glacial erosion in the Amerasian basin. Lithic n-alkanes derived from mature OM show pronounced peaks, which can be classified into six types presumably indicative of various sediment sources. Some peaks are correlated to events of iceberg discharge and freshwater outbursts from proglacial lakes of the Eurasian and, possibly, Laurentide ice sheets, suggesting that other peaks may correspond to similar events