Plio-Pleistocene trends in ice rafted debris on the Lomonosov Ridge

Although more than 700 sediment cores exist from the Arctic Ocean, the Plio-Pleistocene evolution of the basin and its marginal seas remains virtually unknown. This is largely due the shallow penetration of most of these records, and difficulties associated with deriving chronologies for the recover...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Quaternary International
Main Authors: O'Regan, Matthew, St John, Kristen, Moran, Kathryn, Backman, Jan, King, John, Haley, Brian A., Jakobsson, Martin, Frank, Martin, Röhl, Ursula
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Institutionen för geologi och geokemi 2010
Subjects:
Arctic Ocean
sea ice
paleoceanography
Geology
Geologi
Arctic
Pacific
Lomonosov Ridge
North Atlantic
Sea ice
Online Access:http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-33764
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2009.08.010
Description
Summary:Although more than 700 sediment cores exist from the Arctic Ocean, the Plio-Pleistocene evolution of the basin and its marginal seas remains virtually unknown. This is largely due the shallow penetration of most of these records, and difficulties associated with deriving chronologies for the recovered material. The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program's (IODP) Expedition 302 (Arctic Coring Expedition, ACEX) recovered 197 m of Neogene/Quaternary sediment from the circumpolar regions of the Lomonosov Ridge. As detailed analyses of this material emerge, research is beginning to formulate a long-term picture of paleoceanographic changes in the central Arctic Ocean. This paper reviews the ACEX Plio-Pleistocene age model, identifies uncertainties, and addresses ways in which these may be eliminated. Within the established stratigraphic framework, a notable reduction in the abundance of ice rafted debris (IRD) occurs in the early part of the Pleistocene and persists until Marine Isotope Stage 6 (MIS 6). Therefore, while global oceanographic proxies indicate the gradual growth of terrestrial ice-sheets during this time, IRD delivery to the central Arctic Ocean remained comparatively low and stable. Within the resolution of existing data, the Pleistocene reduction in IRD is synchronous with predicted changes in both the inflow of North Atlantic and Pacific waters, which in modern times are known to exert a strong influence on sea ice stability. authorCount :9

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