Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences 118 Editors: J. Reitner, Gottingen¨ M. H. Trauth, Potsdam K. Stuwe,¨ Graz D. Yuen, USA Founding Editors: G. M. Friedman, Brooklyn and Troy A. Seilacher, Tubingen¨ and Yale M.A. Levitan · Yu.A.Lavrushin Sedimentation History in the Arctic Ocean and Subarctic Seas for the Last 130 kyr 123 Dr.M.A.Levitan Dr. Yu. A. Lavrushin Russian Academy of Sciences Russian Academy of Sciences Vernadsky Inst. Geochemistry Inst. Geology Analytical Chemistry Pyzhevsky per. 7 Kosygina Str. 19 Moscow Moscow Russia 119017 Russia 119991 [email protected] [email protected] ISSN 0930-0317 ISBN 978-3-642-00287-8 e-ISBN 978-3-642-00288-5 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-00288-5 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2009926693 c Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009 This work is subject to copyright. 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Cover design: Bauer, Thomas Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Contents Part I Geological and Paleoecological Events of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene in Northern Eurasia 1 Geological and Paleoecological Events of the Late Pleistocene along Eurasian Coastal Areas of the Arctic Ocean ....................... 3 General Upper Pleistocene Stratigraphic Scheme for Northern Eurasia . 3 DurationoftheMikulinoInterglaciation ............................ 5 Correlation of the Natural Events Correlative with MIS 5d–5a inNorthernWestEuropeandNorthwesternRussia.................... 6 2 Late Pleistocene Geologic-Paleoecological Events in the North of European Russia ............................................... 11 Relationship between Land and Sea Areas during the Mikulino InterglacialinNorthernEurasia.................................... 11 Genetic Types of Continental Sediments ............................ 14 Marine Sediments of the Boreal Transgression in the North of European Russia......................................................... 15 3 Main Geologic-Paleoecological Events of the Late Pleistocene in the North of Western Siberia .............................................. 31 4 Geologic-Paleoecological Events of the Late Pleistocene in the Northern-Siberian Lowland and Taimyr Peninsula ................. 37 5 The Late Glacial Time and Holocene of Northern Eurasia ............................................ 43 6 Outlines of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene History of the East Arctic Seas .................................................... 47 7 The Deglaciation Time and Holocene of Northern Eurasia .......... 57 v vi Contents Part II Marine Sedimentation in the Arctic Ocean and Subarctic Seas 8 The Seas of West Subarctic Region ............................... 61 Geologic and Oceanographic Setting . ............................ 61 History of Sedimentation . ....................................... 68 History of Sedimentation Rates . ............................ 68 History of Sedimentation on the Vøring Plateau During the Last 25 ka 88 History of Sedimentation at the Continental Margin of Eastern and South-Eastern Greenland During the Last 130 ka. ............107 9 The Arctic Ocean ...............................................113 Recent Environment . .......................................113 Morphostructure, Oceanographic and Sea-Ice Setting, Recent Sediments and Their Mineral Composition .......................113 Facies Variations of Holocene Sediments on the Yermak Plateau (According to Study Data of >63mkmFraction)..................124 History of Sedimentation . .......................................136 History of Sedimentation Rates During the Last 130 ka . ..........136 History of Sedimentation on the Yermak Plateau During theLast190ka...............................................148 Organic-Geochemical Sediment Studies of the Eastern Part oftheCentralArctic..........................................173 10 The Western Arctic Seas ........................................177 Recent Sedimentation Environment . ............................177 TheBarentsSea..............................................177 TheKaraSea................................................178 Surface Sediments of the Pechora Sea. .....................179 Surface Sediments of St. Anna Trough . .....................186 Facies Zonality of Surface Sediments in the Eastern KaraSea....................................................194 History of Sedimentation . .......................................210 Late- and Post-Glacial History of Sedimentation in the Eastern Part oftheBarentsSea............................................210 Holocene Sedimentation History in the Southern Novaya Zemlya Trough . .............................................224 History of Sedimentation in the Pechora Sea During the Late Pleistocene and Holocene . ..................................241 Light Fraction Mineralogy of the Upper Quaternary Sediments from the Saint Anna Trough and Its Paleoceanographic Interpretation .....247 Holocene History of Yenisei River Discharge .....................256 Holocene History of Ob River Discharge . .....................272 Contents vii 11 Eastern Arctic Seas .............................................289 Recent Sedimentation Environment . ............................289 TheLaptevSea ..............................................289 TheEastSiberianSea.........................................290 The Chukchi Sea . .......................................291 History of Sedimentation . .......................................291 History of Sedimentation in the Laptev Sea During the Late Weichselian to Holocene by Geophysical and Geochemical Data .....292 Holocene History of the Lena and Other Rivers Discharge intheLaptevSea.............................................295 Organic Geochemical Data About Sedimentation History Along the Continental Slope of the East Siberian Sea During the Last ClimaticCycle...............................................297 Preliminary Data About Accumulation of Diatom-Bearing Clayey Silts at the Chukchi Sea Shelf ..................................298 12 Seas of the Eastern Subarctic ....................................301 Recent Sedimentation Environment . ............................301 History of Sedimentation . .......................................307 History of Sedimentation in the Deep-Water Part of the Shirshov Ridge (Bering Sea) During the Last Three Marine-Isotope Stages . 307 History of Sedimentation in the Northern Sea of Okhotsk During the Last1.1Ma.................................................310 Part III The Late Pleistocene Paleogeographic Events of Northern Eurasia and History of Sedimentation in the Subarctic Seas and the Arctic Ocean in Relation to the Northern Hemisphere Glaciation during the Last Climatic Cycle 13 Characteristic Features of the Mikulino Landscapes ................333 14 Results of Paleoclimate Studies ...................................337 15 Particularities of Sedimentation Processes Within the Continental Blocks and Marine Basins .......................................345 Deglaciation Peculiarities . .......................................345 Facies Variability during Glaciations, Deglaciations, Interglacials . ......349 Geological History of the Arctic Ocean Sea Ice during the Last 60 ka . 350 Intercoupling of Atmo-, Hydro-, Cryo-, Bio-, and Lithospheres . ......353 References ........................................................357 Index ............................................................381 List of Figures 1.1 Oxygen-isotope records of the lower parts of the GRIP and GISP 2 Greenland ice cores (Johnsen et al., 1995) . ..................... 6 1.2 Climatostratigraphic scheme of main natural events of the Late Pleistocene (by Yu A. Lavrushin, based on (Behre, 1989; Spiridonova, 1983; Mangerud, 1989). Palynological, geological and geomorphological data are used qualitatively ..................... 7 2.1 Schematic distribution map of the Karelian Interglacial sea (Biske, 1959). 1 – coast lines; 2 – sea; 3 – locations of interglacial sedimentary sections with paleontological characteristics; 4 – locations of interglacial sedimentary sections without paleontological characteristics . ............................ 12 2.2 Distribution of the interglacial boreal transgression (Lavrova and Troitsky, 1960). 1 – marine boreal transgression waters; 2 – freshened bays; 3 – waters of Eemian transgression . .......... 13 2.3 Boreal sea on the Russian North (according to S.L. Troitsky (1964)). 1 – territories covered by boreal sea during the maximal transgression; 2 – Baltic Basin during the transgression maximum; 3 – freshened areas; 4–8 – boundaries of distribution of zoogeographic groups and individual species of mollusks and barnacles: 4 – Lusitanian (south-boreal) species;