scholarly journals Post-glacial flooding of the Beringia Land Bridge dated to 11,000 cal yrs BP based on new geophysical and sediment records

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Jakobsson ◽  
Christof Pearce ◽  
Thomas M. Cronin ◽  
Jan Backman ◽  
Leif G. Anderson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Chukchi Sea ◽  
Isotope Composition ◽  
Younger Dryas ◽  
Human Migration ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Bering Strait ◽  
Land Bridge

Abstract. The Bering Strait connects the Arctic and Pacific oceans and separates the North American and Asian land masses. The presently shallow (~ 53 m) strait was exposed during the sea-level lowstand of the last glacial period, which permitted human migration across a land bridge referred to as Beringia. Proxy studies (stabile isotope composition of foraminifera, whale migration into the Arctic Ocean, mollusc and insect fossils and paleobotanical data) have suggested a range of ages for the Bering Strait reopening, mainly falling within the Younger Dryas stadial (12.9–11.7 ka). Here we provide new information on the deglacial and post-glacial evolution of the Arctic-Pacific connection through the Bering Strait based on analyses of geological and geophysical data from Herald Canyon, located north of the Bering Strait on the Chukchi Sea shelf region in the western Arctic Ocean. Our results suggest an initial opening at about 11 ka in the earliest Holocene, which is later when compared to several previous studies. Our key evidence is based on a well dated core from Herald Canyon, in which a shift from a near-shore environment to a Pacific-influenced open marine setting around 11 ka is observed. The shift corresponds to Meltwater Pulse 1b (MWP1b) and is interpreted to signify relatively rapid breaching of the Bering Strait and submergence of the large Beringia Land Bridge. Although precise rates of sea-level rise cannot be quantified, our new results suggest that the late deglacial sea-level rise was rapid, and occurred after the end of the Younger Dryas stadial.

scholarly journals Post-glacial flooding of the Bering Land Bridge dated to 11 cal ka BP based on new geophysical and sediment records

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 991-1005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Jakobsson ◽  
Christof Pearce ◽  
Thomas M. Cronin ◽  
Jan Backman ◽  
Leif G. Anderson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Isotope Composition ◽  
Younger Dryas ◽  
Human Migration ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Bering Strait ◽  
Land Bridge ◽  
Bering Land Bridge

Abstract. The Bering Strait connects the Arctic and Pacific oceans and separates the North American and Asian landmasses. The presently shallow ( ∼  53 m) strait was exposed during the sea level lowstand of the last glacial period, which permitted human migration across a land bridge today referred to as the Bering Land Bridge. Proxy studies (stable isotope composition of foraminifera, whale migration into the Arctic Ocean, mollusc and insect fossils and paleobotanical data) have suggested a range of ages for the Bering Strait reopening, mainly falling within the Younger Dryas stadial (12.9–11.7 cal ka BP). Here we provide new information on the deglacial and post-glacial evolution of the Arctic–Pacific connection through the Bering Strait based on analyses of geological and geophysical data from Herald Canyon, located north of the Bering Strait on the Chukchi Sea shelf region in the western Arctic Ocean. Our results suggest an initial opening at about 11 cal ka BP in the earliest Holocene, which is later than in several previous studies. Our key evidence is based on a well-dated core from Herald Canyon, in which a shift from a near-shore environment to a Pacific-influenced open marine setting at around 11 cal ka BP is observed. The shift corresponds to meltwater pulse 1b (MWP1b) and is interpreted to signify relatively rapid breaching of the Bering Strait and the submergence of the large Bering Land Bridge. Although the precise rates of sea level rise cannot be quantified, our new results suggest that the late deglacial sea level rise was rapid and occurred after the end of the Younger Dryas stadial.

scholarly journals Sea level fingerprinting of the Bering Strait flooding history detects the source of the Younger Dryas climate event

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (9) ◽  
pp. eaay2935 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Pico ◽  
J. X. Mitrovica ◽  
A. C. Mix
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Ice Sheets ◽  
Younger Dryas ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Bering Strait ◽  
Land Bridge ◽  
Climate Event ◽  
Ice Retreat ◽  
Cold Episode ◽  
Continental Ice Sheets

During the Last Glacial Maximum, expansive continental ice sheets lowered globally averaged sea level ~130 m, exposing a land bridge at the Bering Strait. During the subsequent deglaciation, sea level rose rapidly and ultimately flooded the Bering Strait, linking the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. Observational records of the Bering Strait flooding have suggested two apparently contradictory scenarios for the timing of the reconnection. We reconcile these enigmatic datasets using gravitationally self-consistent sea-level simulations that vary the timing and geometry of ice retreat between the Laurentide and Cordilleran Ice Sheets to the southwest of the Bering Strait to fit observations of a two-phased flooding history. Assuming the datasets are robust, we demonstrate that their reconciliation requires a substantial melting of the Cordilleran and western Laurentide Ice Sheet from 13,000 to 11,500 years ago. This timing provides a freshwater source for the widely debated Younger Dryas cold episode (12,900 to 11,700 years ago).

scholarly journals On the circulation, water mass distribution, and nutrient concentrations of the western Chukchi Sea

Ocean Science ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-49
Author(s):  
Jaclyn Clement Kinney ◽  
Karen M. Assmann ◽  
Wieslaw Maslowski ◽  
Göran Björk ◽  
Martin Jakobsson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Modelling ◽  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Dissolved Inorganic Carbon ◽  
Chukchi Sea ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Sediment Surface ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Bering Strait ◽  
East Siberian Sea ◽  
The Arctic Ocean

Abstract. Substantial amounts of nutrients and carbon enter the Arctic Ocean from the Pacific Ocean through the Bering Strait, distributed over three main pathways. Water with low salinities and nutrient concentrations takes an eastern route along the Alaskan coast, as Alaskan Coastal Water. A central pathway exhibits intermediate salinity and nutrient concentrations, while the most nutrient-rich water enters the Bering Strait on its western side. Towards the Arctic Ocean, the flow of these water masses is subject to strong topographic steering within the Chukchi Sea with volume transport modulated by the wind field. In this contribution, we use data from several sections crossing Herald Canyon collected in 2008 and 2014 together with numerical modelling to investigate the circulation and transport in the western part of the Chukchi Sea. We find that a substantial fraction of water from the Chukchi Sea enters the East Siberian Sea south of Wrangel Island and circulates in an anticyclonic direction around the island. This water then contributes to the high-nutrient waters of Herald Canyon. The bottom of the canyon has the highest nutrient concentrations, likely as a result of addition from the degradation of organic matter at the sediment surface in the East Siberian Sea. The flux of nutrients (nitrate, phosphate, and silicate) and dissolved inorganic carbon in Bering Summer Water and Winter Water is computed by combining hydrographic and nutrient observations with geostrophic transport referenced to lowered acoustic Doppler current profiler (LADCP) and surface drift data. Even if there are some general similarities between the years, there are differences in both the temperature–salinity and nutrient characteristics. To assess these differences, and also to get a wider temporal and spatial view, numerical modelling results are applied. According to model results, high-frequency variability dominates the flow in Herald Canyon. This leads us to conclude that this region needs to be monitored over a longer time frame to deduce the temporal variability and potential trends.

scholarly journals The Younger Dryas and the Sea of Ancient Ice

2008 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond S. Bradley ◽  
John H. England
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Younger Dryas ◽  
Arctic Basin ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Floating Body ◽  
The Arctic Ocean

AbstractWe propose that prior to the Younger Dryas period, the Arctic Ocean supported extremely thick multi-year fast ice overlain by superimposed ice and firn. We re-introduce the historical term paleocrystic ice to describe this. The ice was independent of continental (glacier) ice and formed a massive floating body trapped within the almost closed Arctic Basin, when sea-level was lower during the last glacial maximum. As sea-level rose and the Barents Sea Shelf became deglaciated, the volume of warm Atlantic water entering the Arctic Ocean increased, as did the corresponding egress, driving the paleocrystic ice towards Fram Strait. New evidence shows that Bering Strait was resubmerged around the same time, providing further dynamical forcing of the ice as the Transpolar Drift became established. Additional freshwater entered the Arctic Basin from Siberia and North America, from proglacial lakes and meltwater derived from the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Collectively, these forces drove large volumes of thick paleocrystic ice and relatively fresh water from the Arctic Ocean into the Greenland Sea, shutting down deepwater formation and creating conditions conducive for extensive sea-ice to form and persist as far south as 60°N. We propose that the forcing responsible for the Younger Dryas cold episode was thus the result of extremely thick sea-ice being driven from the Arctic Ocean, dampening or shutting off the thermohaline circulation, as sea-level rose and Atlantic and Pacific waters entered the Arctic Basin. This hypothesis focuses attention on the potential role of Arctic sea-ice in causing the Younger Dryas episode, but does not preclude other factors that may also have played a role.

Sea level rise in the Arctic Ocean

2001 ◽  
Vol 28 (11) ◽  
pp. 2237-2240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrey Proshutinsky ◽  
Vladimir Pavlov ◽  
Robert H. Bourke
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The Arctic Ocean

scholarly journals On the circulation, water mass distribution, and nutrient concentrations of the western Chukchi Sea

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaclyn Clement Kinney ◽  
Karen M. Assmann ◽  
Wieslaw Maslowski ◽  
Göran Björk ◽  
Martin Jakobsson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Modeling ◽  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Dissolved Inorganic Carbon ◽  
Chukchi Sea ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Sediment Surface ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Bering Strait ◽  
East Siberian Sea ◽  
The Arctic Ocean

Abstract. Substantial amounts of nutrients and carbon enter the Arctic Ocean from the Pacific Ocean through Bering Strait, distributed over three main pathways. Water with low salinities and nutrient concentrations takes an eastern route along the Alaskan coast, as Alaskan Coastal Water. A central pathway exhibits intermediate salinity and nutrient concentrations, while the most nutrient-rich water enters Bering Strait on its western side. Towards the Arctic Ocean the flow of these water masses is subject to strong topographic steering within the Chukchi Sea with volume transports modulated by the wind field. In this contribution we use data from several sections crossing Herald Canyon collected in 2008 and 2014 together with numerical modeling to investigate the circulation and transport in the western part of the Chukchi Sea. We find that a substantial fraction of water from the Chukchi Sea enters the East Siberian Sea south of Wrangel Island and circulates in an anticyclonic direction around the island. This water then contributes to the high nutrient waters of Herald Canyon. The bottom of the canyon has the highest nutrient concentrations, likely as a result of addition from the degradation of organic matter at the sediment surface in the East Siberian Sea. The flux of nutrients (nitrate, phosphate, and silicate) and dissolved inorganic carbon in Bering Summer Water and Winter Water is computed by combining hydrographic and nutrient observations with geostrophic transports referenced to LADCP and surface drift data. Even if there are some general similarities between the years, there are differences in both the temperature-salinity and nutrient characteristics. To assess these differences, and also to get a wider temporal and spatial view, numerical modeling results are applied. According to model results, high frequency variability dominates the flow in Herald Canyon. This leads us to conclude that this region needs to be monitored over a longer time frame to deduce the temporal variability and potential trends.

scholarly journals N2O dynamics in the western Arctic Ocean during the summer of 2017

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jang-Mu Heo ◽  
Seong-Su Kim ◽  
Sung-Ho Kang ◽  
Eun Jin Yang ◽  
Ki-Tae Park ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Chukchi Sea ◽  
Hot Spot ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Northern Region ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Western Arctic Ocean ◽  
Deep Layers ◽  
Western Arctic

AbstractThe western Arctic Ocean (WAO) has experienced increased heat transport into the region, sea-ice reduction, and changes to the WAO nitrous oxide (N2O) cycles from greenhouse gases. We investigated WAO N2O dynamics through an intensive and precise N2O survey during the open-water season of summer 2017. The effects of physical processes (i.e., solubility and advection) were dominant in both the surface (0–50 m) and deep layers (200–2200 m) of the northern Chukchi Sea with an under-saturation of N2O. By contrast, both the surface layer (0–50 m) of the southern Chukchi Sea and the intermediate (50–200 m) layer of the northern Chukchi Sea were significantly influenced by biogeochemically derived N2O production (i.e., through nitrification), with N2O over-saturation. During summer 2017, the southern region acted as a source of atmospheric N2O (mean: + 2.3 ± 2.7 μmol N2O m−2 day−1), whereas the northern region acted as a sink (mean − 1.3 ± 1.5 μmol N2O m−2 day−1). If Arctic environmental changes continue to accelerate and consequently drive the productivity of the Arctic Ocean, the WAO may become a N2O “hot spot”, and therefore, a key region requiring continued observations to both understand N2O dynamics and possibly predict their future changes.

scholarly journals Arctic Ocean stratification set by sea level and freshwater inputs since the last ice age

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesse R. Farmer ◽  
Daniel M. Sigman ◽  
Julie Granger ◽  
Ona M. Underwood ◽  
François Fripiat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Surface Waters ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Bering Strait ◽  
Central Arctic Ocean ◽  
Phytoplankton Productivity ◽  
Nitrate Consumption ◽  
Western Arctic ◽  
Last Ice Age

AbstractSalinity-driven density stratification of the upper Arctic Ocean isolates sea-ice cover and cold, nutrient-poor surface waters from underlying warmer, nutrient-rich waters. Recently, stratification has strengthened in the western Arctic but has weakened in the eastern Arctic; it is unknown if these trends will continue. Here we present foraminifera-bound nitrogen isotopes from Arctic Ocean sediments since 35,000 years ago to reconstruct past changes in nutrient sources and the degree of nutrient consumption in surface waters, the latter reflecting stratification. During the last ice age and early deglaciation, the Arctic was dominated by Atlantic-sourced nitrate and incomplete nitrate consumption, indicating weaker stratification. Starting at 11,000 years ago in the western Arctic, there is a clear isotopic signal of Pacific-sourced nitrate and complete nitrate consumption associated with the flooding of the Bering Strait. These changes reveal that the strong stratification of the western Arctic relies on low-salinity inflow through the Bering Strait. In the central Arctic, nitrate consumption was complete during the early Holocene, then declined after 5,000 years ago as summer insolation decreased. This sequence suggests that precipitation and riverine freshwater fluxes control the stratification of the central Arctic Ocean. Based on these findings, ongoing warming will cause strong stratification to expand into the central Arctic, slowing the nutrient supply to surface waters and thus limiting future phytoplankton productivity.

Identification of Younger Dryas outburst flood path from Lake Agassiz to the Arctic Ocean

Nature ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 464 (7289) ◽  
pp. 740-743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian B. Murton ◽  
Mark D. Bateman ◽  
Scott R. Dallimore ◽  
James T. Teller ◽  
Zhirong Yang
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Younger Dryas ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Outburst Flood ◽  
Lake Agassiz ◽  
The Arctic Ocean

scholarly journals Calcium carbonate saturation in the surface water of the Arctic Ocean: undersaturation in freshwater influenced shelves

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. 2421-2431 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Chierici ◽  
A. Fransson
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Carbonate ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Dissolved Inorganic Carbon ◽  
Chukchi Sea ◽  
Total Alkalinity ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Subsurface Water ◽  
Chukchi Peninsula ◽  
Bering Strait

Abstract. In the summer of 2005, we sampled surface water and measured pH and total alkalinity (AT) underway aboard IB Oden along the Northwest Passage from Cape Farewell (South Greenland) to the Chukchi Sea. We investigated the variability of carbonate system parameters, focusing particularly on carbonate concentration [CO32−] and calcium carbonate saturation states, as related to freshwater addition, biological processes and physical upwelling. Measurements on AT, pH at 15°C, salinity (S) and sea surface temperature (SST), were used to calculate total dissolved inorganic carbon (CT), [CO32−] and the saturation of aragonite (ΩAr) and calcite (ΩCa) in the surface water. The same parameters were measured in the water column of the Bering Strait. Some surface waters in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) and on the Mackenzie shelf (MS) were found to be undersaturated with respect to aragonite (ΩAr<1). In these areas, surface water was low in AT and CT (<1500 μmol kg−1) relative to seawater and showed low [CO32−]. The low saturation states were probably due to the likely the effect of dilution due to freshwater addition by sea ice melt (CAA) and river runoff (MS). High AT and CT and low pH, corresponded with the lowest [CO32−], ΩAr and ΩCa, observed near Cape Bathurst and along the South Chukchi Peninsula. This was linked to the physical upwelling of subsurface water with elevated CO2. The highest surface ΩAr and ΩCa of 3.0 and 4.5, respectively, were found on the Chukchi Sea shelf and in the cold water north of Wrangel Island, which is heavily influenced by high CO2 drawdown and lower CT from intense biological production. In the western Bering Strait, the cold and saline Anadyr Current carries water that is enriched in AT and CT from enhanced organic matter remineralization, resulting in the lowest ΩAr (~1.2) of the area.

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