Abstract
To reconstruct palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironmental conditions in the
northeast Siberian Arctic, we studied late Quaternary permafrost at the
Oyogos Yar coast (Dmitry Laptev Strait). New infrared-stimulated luminescence
ages for distinctive floodplain deposits of the Kuchchugui Suite
(112.5 ± 9.6 kyr) and thermokarst-lake deposits of the Krest Yuryakh
Suite (102.4 ± 9.7 kyr), respectively, provide new substantial
geochronological data and shed light on the landscape history of the Dmitry
Laptev Strait region during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5. Ground-ice
stable-isotope data are presented together with cryolithological information
for eight cryostratigraphic units and are complemented by data from nearby
Bol'shoy Lyakhovsky Island. Our combined record of ice-wedge stable isotopes
as a proxy for past winter climate conditions covers about 200 000 years and
is supplemented by stable isotopes of pore and segregated ice which reflect
annual climate conditions overprinted by freezing processes. Our ice-wedge
stable-isotope data indicate substantial variations in northeast Siberian
Arctic winter climate conditions during the late Quaternary, in particular
between glacial and interglacial times but also over the last millennia to
centuries. Stable isotope values of ice complex ice wedges indicate cold to
very cold winter temperatures about 200 kyr ago (MIS7), very cold winter
conditions about 100 kyr ago (MIS5), very cold to moderate winter conditions
between about 60 and 30 kyr ago, and extremely cold winter temperatures
during the Last Glacial Maximum (MIS2). Much warmer winter conditions are
reflected by extensive thermokarst development during MIS5c and by Holocene
ice-wedge stable isotopes. Modern ice-wedge stable isotopes are most enriched
and testify to the recent winter warming in the Arctic. Hence,
ice-wedge-based reconstructions of changes in winter climate conditions add
substantial information to those derived from paleoecological proxies stored
in permafrost and allow a distinction between seasonal trends of past climate
dynamics. Future progress in ice-wedge dating and an improved temporal
resolution of ice-wedge-derived climate information may help to fully explore
the palaeoclimatic potential of ice wedges.
Citation
ID:
227193
Ref Key:
opel2017climateground-ice