Indication of Holocene sea-level stability in the southern Laptev Sea recorded by beach ridges in north-east Siberia, Russia

• Published in: Polar Research
• Main Authors: Lasse Sander, Rune Michaelis, Svenja Papenmeier, Sergey Pravkin, Gesine Mollenhauer, Hendrik Grotheer, Torben Gentz, Karen Helen Wiltshire
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Norwegian Polar Institute 2019
• Subjects: arctic coastal change; gravel beaches; coastal geomorphology; wave climate; lena delta; buor khaya bay; Environmental sciences; GE1-350; Oceanography; GC1-1581; Arctic; Laptev Sea; Khaya; Buor-Khaya; laptev; Polar Research; Siberia
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v38.3379; https://doaj.org/article/0d28ea4898cf4299bb1406cbbe19e3b9

The rapid warming of the Arctic may affect the stability of coastal geomorphological systems. Prograded sequences of wave-built deposits, so-called beach-ridge systems, preserve a proxy record of the long-term variability in the drivers of coastal evolution. Information on relative sea level (RSL), climate forcing and sediment supply can be reconstructed from these archives. Buor Khaya Bay is one of the few places along the Siberian Arctic coast where wide beach-ridge systems exist. A previously undescribed field site was surveyed in order to obtain information on the geomorphological processes along the modern shoreline under the current environmental conditions, and the characteristics of the Holocene beach-ridge deposits (e.g., elevation, sediment and age). Our data show that the system formed under storm wave/surge conditions. The beach ridges prograded ca. 1100 m between 6200 and 2600 cal yr BP, with only minor variations in surface elevation. This suggests a continuous and high sediment supply and similar storm wave run-up heights during that time. This relationship is interpreted as indicating RSL stability at a similar-to-present elevation during the period of beach-ridge formation. The hiatus in coastal progradation is concurrent with a deteriorating climate (cooling) in the Laptev Sea area and our data hence suggest increased rates of coastal change during periods of warmer climate conditions. Our study illustrates the potential of coastal sedimentary archives to provide a more complete view of the forcing, resilience and long-term evolution of unconsolidated Arctic coasts in a changing environment.