Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Research Unit Potsdam Working Group “Periglacial Dynamics” Characterisation and evolution of periglacial landscapes in Northern Siberia during the Late Quaternary – Remote sensing and GIS studies Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades „doctor rerum naturalium“ (Dr. rer. nat.) in der Wissenschaftsdisziplin „Geologie“ eingereicht an der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Potsdam von Guido Grosse Potsdam, März 2005 Table of contents Table of contents .........................................................................................................................I Abstract ....................................................................................................................................IV Kurzfassung..............................................................................................................................VI 1. Introduction......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Scientific background................................................................................................. 1 1.1.1 Permafrost and permafrost distribution.............................................................. 1 1.1.2 Permafrost in the Quaternary ............................................................................. 2 1.1.3 Permafrost as palaeoclimate archive.................................................................. 3 1.1.4 Permafrost and changing climate ....................................................................... 4 1.2 Aims and approaches ................................................................................................. 5 1.2.1 Basic ideas.......................................................................................................... 5 1.2.2 Field work .......................................................................................................... 7 1.3 Study area................................................................................................................... 7 1.3.1 Geography of the Laptev Sea region.................................................................. 7 1.3.2 Geology and tectonics ........................................................................................ 9 1.3.3 Palaeogeography during the Late Pleistocene.................................................. 10 1.3.4 Ice Complex and thermokarst .......................................................................... 13 1.4 Synopsis ................................................................................................................... 14 2. The use of CORONA images in remote sensing of periglacial geomorphology: An illustration from the NE Siberian coast ............................................................................ 16 2.1 Abstract .................................................................................................................... 16 2.2 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 16 2.3 The CORONA program and its satellite images...................................................... 17 2.4 Investigation area ..................................................................................................... 17 2.5 Image processing...................................................................................................... 19 2.6 Mapping of thermokarst and water surfaces ............................................................ 22 2.7 Results ...................................................................................................................... 25 2.8 Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 26 3. Application of Landsat-7 satellite data for the quantification of thermokarst-affected terrain types in the periglacial Lena-Anabar coastal lowland .......................................... 27 3.1 Abstract .................................................................................................................... 27 3.2 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 27 3.3 Approach .................................................................................................................. 31 I 3.4 Investigation area ..................................................................................................... 31 3.5 Fieldwork ................................................................................................................. 34 3.6 Digital elevation data ............................................................................................... 35 3.7 Remote sensing data................................................................................................. 35 3.7.1 Basic information ............................................................................................. 35 3.7.2 Classification approach .................................................................................... 37 3.8 Results and analyses................................................................................................. 39 3.8.1 Classification results ........................................................................................ 39 3.8.2 Evaluation and accuracy assessment of the classification ............................... 39 3.8.3 Analysis of the classification result.................................................................. 42 3.9 Discussion ................................................................................................................ 46 3.10 Conclusion................................................................................................................ 48 4. Geological and geomorphological evolution of a periglacial landscape complex in Northeast Siberia during the Late Quaternary.................................................................. 50 4.1 Abstract .................................................................................................................... 50 4.2 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 50 4.3 Study area................................................................................................................. 54 4.4 Methods and Materials............................................................................................. 57 4.4.1 Compilation of a cryolithological field data base ............................................ 58 4.4.2 Satellite remote sensing data............................................................................ 63 4.4.3 Digital elevation data ....................................................................................... 64 4.5 Results ...................................................................................................................... 64 4.5.1 Sediment studies............................................................................................... 64 4.5.2 Derivation of landscape development stages from surface structures ............. 72 4.5.3 Terrain analysis ................................................................................................ 76 4.6 Evolution of the landscape and discussion............................................................... 77 4.6 Evolution of the landscape and discussion............................................................... 78 4.6.1 Pliocene – Early Pleistocene ............................................................................ 78 4.6.2 Early Weichselian (Zyryan Stadial) ................................................................. 78 4.6.3 Middle Weichselian (Kargin Interstadial)........................................................ 81 4.6.4 Late Weichselian (Sartan Stadial).................................................................... 82 4.6.5 Transition period from Late Weichselian (Sartan Stadial) – Early Holocene.. 83 4.6.6 Early Holocene................................................................................................. 85 4.6.7 Middle-Late Holocene...................................................................................... 87 II 4.7 Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 88 5. Synthesis........................................................................................................................... 91 5.1 Intention ................................................................................................................... 91 5.2 Methods and techniques........................................................................................... 92 5.3 Results ...................................................................................................................... 94 5.3.1 Periglacial surface structures and thermokarst quantification.......................... 94 5.3.2 Reconstruction of the Palaeo-landscape evolution........................................... 95 5.4 Outlook..................................................................................................................... 97 5.4.1 Further investigations of important processes.................................................