Late Quaternary climate history of Northern Siberia - evidence from ground ice Die spätquartäKlimageschichte Nordsibiriens - Ergebnisse aus Untersuchungen an Grundeis Hanno Meyer Ber. Polarforsch. Meeresforsch. 461 (2003) ISSN 1618 - 3193 Hanno Meyer Alfred-Wegener-Institut fü Polar- und Meeresforschung Forschungsstelle Potsdam Telegrafenberg A43 14473 Potsdam Diese Arbeit ist die leicht verändert Fassung einer Dissertation, die im April 2001 dem Fachbereich Geowissenschaften der UniversitäPotsdam vorgelegt wurde. Table of contents Table of contents .................................................................................................i Abstract ..............................................................................................................iv Kurzfassung........................................................................................................ V 1. Introduction ...............................................................................................1 1.1 Scientific background.................................................................................... 1 1.2. Aims for paleociimate studies in ground ice .................................................3 2 . Study area ..................................................................................................5 2.1 . Geology .......................................................................................................5 2.2. Ice Complex .................................................................................................6 3 . Isotope studies of hydrogen and oxygen in ground ice . Experiences with the equilibration technique 3.1. Abstract ........................................................................................................9 3.2. Introduction ................................................................................................10 3.3. Analytical procedure ..................................................................................11 3.4. Calibration ..................................................................................................14 3.5. Equilibration technique and small sample sizes .........................................18 3.6. Sampling strategy for ground ice ...............................................................22 3.7. First results ................................................................................................ 25 3.8. Conclusions ...............................................................................................25 4 . Paleociimate studies On Bykovsky Peninsula. North Siberia . Hydrogen and oxygen isotopes in ground ice 4.1 . Abstract ......................................................................................................26 4.2. Introduction ................................................................................................27 4.3. The working area .......................................................................................28 4.4. The outcrop ................................................................................................30 4.5. Sampling strategy ......................................................................................34 4.6. Analytical procedure ..................................................................................35 4.7. Geochronology ..........................................................................................35 4.7.1. Age estimate of the Ice Complex .................................................35 4.7.2. Age estimate of the Holocene genetic units .................................40 4.8. Results and discussion ..............................................................................41 4.8.1 . Recent precipitation ......................................................................41 4.8.2. Stahle isotopes in ice wedges ......................................................43 4.8.3. Paleoclimatic evolution as revealed from stable isotope data ......48 4.8.4. Sources ........................................................................................54 4.9. Conclusions ...............................................................................................57 5 . Paleoclimate reconstruction on Big Lyakhovsky Island. North Siberia .hydrogen and oxygen isotopes in ice wedges 5.1 . Abstract ......................................................................................................59 5.2. Introduction ................................................................................................60 5.3. Working area and climatic background .....................................................61 5.4. Methods .....................................................................................................62 5.5. Results of the field studies .........................................................................64 5.6. Geochronology ..........................................................................................68 5.7. Recent precipitation ...................................................................................70 5.8. Stahle isotopes in ice wedges and their paleoclimatic interpretation .........73 5.9. Conclusions ...............................................................................................81 6 . Synthesis .................................................................................................83 6.1 . Paleoclimatic history of Northern Siberia ....................................................83 6.2 Moisture sources for ice wedges ................................................................90 6.3 Absolute temperatures ...............................................................................92 7. Conclusions ............................................................................................ 96 8 . References ............................................................................................... 99 List of Figures ...............................................................................................107 List of Tables .............................................................................................. 108 Acknowledgements ......................................................................................110 Abstract Large areas of Russia, especially in Northern Siberia, are characterised by a severe continental climate and continuous permafrost conditions. On Bykovsky Peninsula and Big Lyakhovsky Island, located in the Laptev Sea region, ice-rich permafrost deposits were studied in order to decipher the climatic variations of the Late Quaternary. Ground ice and in particular ice wedges were analysed by means of stable hydrogen and oxygen isotopes in the framework of the multidisciplinary research project "Paleoclimate signals in ice-rich permafrost". The main goals of the research program are the reconstruction of the paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental conditions in ice-rich permafrost areas of Northern Siberia. The Ice Complex, a peculiar cryolithogenic formation, is typical for the non- glaciated lowland areas of Northern Siberia. It was formed between 60 ka and 12 ka BP, and is characterised by syngenetic ice wedge growth in ice-rich deposits. As shown in the stable isotopes, ice wedges are mainly fed by meltwater of the winter precipitation and, thus reflect winter temperatures. Water from the adjacent Sediment may alter the isotopic composition of an ice wedge at its margins. The presence of ice wedges as indicative feature for permafrost conditions since 60 ka BP, implies that a large glacier extending over the Laptev Sea shelf did not exist during the Late Glacial Maximum. Sediment and ice wedges with an age of 200 ka underlay the Ice Complex on Big Lyakhovsky Island. This is the oldest ground ice ever analysed by hydrogen and oxygen isotopes. The comparison between the stable isotope records of ice wedges from the individuat sites reveal a period of extremely cold winter temperatures between 60 and 50 ka BP. Between 50 and 20 ka BP, the winters were relatively cold and stable. A sharp rise in the stable isotope ratios of ice wedges is found for the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary, interpreted as a climatic warming trend. For the Early Holocene warm period (8-4.5 ka BP), thermokarst processes formed lacustrine environments, which restricted ice wedge growth. After 4.5 ka BP, Holocene ice wedges grew until present in thermo-erosional valleys and in thermo-karst depressions after the lakes feil dry. The isotopic composition of recent ice wedges was used for the reconstruction of absolute winter and January temperatures of the older units. The combination of H and 0 isotope analyses of precipitation and ground ice is useful to identify moisture sources for the Laptev Sea region. For the winter precipitation of the western Laptev Sea, a change in the moisture source to the present North Atlantic source was proved between 18.5 and 11.2 ka BP. Kurzfassung Weite Gebiete Russlands, insbesondere im nördliche Sibirien sind durch ein strenges kontinentales Klima und kontinuierliche Permafrost-Bedingungen gekennzeichnet. Im Gebiet der Laptew-See, auf der Bykowski-Halbinsel und der Große Ljachow-Insel, wurden eisreiche Permafrost-Ablagerungen untersucht, um die spätquartä Klima-Entwicklung zu rekonstruieren. Grundeis, insbesondere Eiskeile wurden mittels stabiler Sauerstoff- und Wasserstoff-Isotope im Rahmen des deutsch-russischen Forschungs- Programms "System Laptew-See 2000" im multi-disziplinäre