Sedimentological, Geochemical and Isotopic Evidence for the Establishment of Modern Circulation Through the Bering Strait and De

University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst

Masters Theses Dissertations and Theses

November 2014

Sedimentological, Geochemical and Isotopic Evidence for the Establishment of Modern Circulation through the Bering Strait and Depositional Environment History of the Bering and Chukchi Seas during the Last Deglaciation

Ben M. Pelto University of Massachusetts Amherst

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Part of the Biogeochemistry Commons, Climate Commons, Geochemistry Commons, Oceanography Commons, and the Sedimentology Commons

Recommended Citation Pelto, Ben M., "Sedimentological, Geochemical and Isotopic Evidence for the Establishment of Modern Circulation through the Bering Strait and Depositional Environment History of the Bering and Chukchi Seas during the Last Deglaciation" (2014). Masters Theses. 108. https://doi.org/10.7275/5735252 https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2/108

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SEDIMENTOLOGICAL, GEOCHEMICAL AND ISOTOPIC EVIDENCE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF MODERN CIRCULATION THROUGH THE BERING STRAIT AND DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENT HISTORY OF THE BERING AND CHUKCHI SEAS DURING THE LAST DEGLACIATION

A Thesis Presented

BEN M. PELTO

Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

MASTER OF SCIENCE

September 2014

Department of Geosciences

A Thesis Presented

BEN M. PELTO

Approved as to style and content by:

______Julie Brigham-Grette, Chair

______Steven Petsch, Member

______Jonathan D. Woodruff, Member

______Julie Brigham-Grette, Department Head Department of Geosciences ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Department of Geosciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst offered me an opportunity to grow as a scientist over the past two years. The guidance and support of the faculty, staff, and fellow graduate students has made my experience at UMass productive, fun, and rewarding.

I would most like to thank my advisor Dr. Julie Brigham-Grette. She provided me with the chance to pursue my desire to become an expert in climate science. Her belief in me and unwavering support made my time here truly great, and gave me the confidence to complete this project.

I thank Steven Petsch for always being an enthusiastic audience for my various ideas and questions, allowing me to test and pursue hypotheses that got me excited about my research. His feedback was particularly valuable on my various abstracts, which gave me a better idea of how one should write scientific documents. Jon Woodruff was always willing to field any question from statistics to how to format radiocarbon dates in a paper. Jon provided me with the introduction to PCA that enabled me to dig into my data statistically, which I feel greatly added to my final product.

My time at UMass helped me grow tremendously as a scientist and furthered my understanding of the global climate system. For that knowledge in particular, I would like to thank the faculty of the department, who happily share their wealth of knowledge. I, and many of my fellow climate science graduate students, feel this is perhaps the most valuable aspect our department. In particular I enjoyed Robert DeConto's excellent courses that taught me so much about