Sediment Waves on the Western Slope of the Chukchi Rise (Arctic Ocean) and Their Implications for the Paleoenvironment

• Published in: Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
• Main Authors: Qingfeng Hua, Guanbao Li, Qingjie Zhou, Shujiang Li, Tengfei Xu, Baohua Liu, Hongxia Chen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2022
• Subjects: seafloor bedform; multibeam bathymetry; sub-bottom profile; bottom current; Naval architecture. Shipbuilding. Marine engineering; VM1-989; Oceanography; GC1-1581; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Chukchi Rise; Chukchi
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10111586; https://doaj.org/article/c392bc0de9274bb18eb56fb7cbfe41ee

Based on multibeam bathymetric data and high-resolution shallow sub-bottom profiles acquired during China’s 10th Arctic Scientific Expedition Cruise in 2019, a sediment wave field was found on the western slope of the Chukchi Rise, in the Arctic Ocean. This sediment wave field developed on the lower slope with water depths of between 1200 m and 1800 m and stretched 15 km in the downslope direction. It comprised several parallel sediment waves, with wavelengths ranging from 700 m to 3400 m and wave heights from 12 m to 70 m. In the vertical direction, well-stratified deposits, tens of meters thick, were affected by sediment waves, which exhibit asymmetric waveforms and upslope migration trends. The morphological and seismostratigraphic characteristics of the sediment waves suggested their genesis as a result of the interaction between the bottom current and seafloor morphology, which was also supported by hydrographical data adjacent to the sediment wave field. It was infered that this bottom current was related to the Arctic Circumpolar Boundary Current, which many researchers suggest flows through the study area.