scholarly journals Deglacial sea-level history of the East Siberian Sea Margin

Author(s):  
Thomas M. Cronin ◽  
Matt O'Regan ◽  
Christof Pearce ◽  
Laura Gemery ◽  
Michael Toomey ◽  
...  

Abstract. Abstract. Deglacial (12.8–10.7 ka) sea-level history on the East Siberian continental shelf/upper continental slope was reconstructed using new geophysical records and sediment cores taken during Leg 2 of the 2014 SWERUS-C3 expedition. The focus of this study is two cores from Herald Canyon, piston core SWERUS-L2-4-PC1 (4-PC) and multicore SWERUS-L2-4-MC1 (4-MC1) and a gravity core from an East Siberian Sea Transect, SWERUS-L2-20-GC1 (20-GC). Cores 4-PC1 and 20-GC were taken at 120 m and 115 m modern water depth, respectively, only a few meters above the global last glacial maximum (LGM, ~ 24 kiloannum (ka)) minimum sea level of ~ 125–130 meters below sea level (mbsl). Using calibrated radiocarbon ages mainly on molluscs for chronology and the ecology of benthic foraminifera and ostracode species to estimate paleo-depths, the data reveal dominance of river-proximal species during the early part of the Younger Dryas event (YD, Greenland Stadial GS-1) followed by a rise in river-intermediate species in the late Younger Dryas or the early Holocene (Preboreal) period. A rapid relative sea-level rise beginning roughly 11.4 to 10.8 ka (~ 400 cm core depth) during is indicated by a sharp faunal change and unconformity or condensed zone of sedimentation. Regional sea level at this time was about 108 mbsl at the 4-PC1 site and 102 mbsl at 20-GC. Regional sea-level during the YD was about 40 to 50 meters lower than those predicted by geophysical models corrected for glacio-isostatic adjustment. This discrepancy could be explained by delayed isostatic adjustment caused by a greater volume and/or geographical extent of glacial-age land ice and/or ice shelves in the western Arctic Ocean and adjacent Siberian land areas.

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1097-1110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Cronin ◽  
Matt O'Regan ◽  
Christof Pearce ◽  
Laura Gemery ◽  
Michael Toomey ◽  
...  

Abstract. Deglacial (12.8–10.7 ka) sea level history on the East Siberian continental shelf and upper continental slope was reconstructed using new geophysical records and sediment cores taken during Leg 2 of the 2014 SWERUS-C3 expedition. The focus of this study is two cores from Herald Canyon, piston core SWERUS-L2-4-PC1 (4-PC1) and multicore SWERUS-L2-4-MC1 (4-MC1), and a gravity core from an East Siberian Sea transect, SWERUS-L2-20-GC1 (20-GC1). Cores 4-PC1 and 20-GC were taken at 120 and 115 m of modern water depth, respectively, only a few meters above the global last glacial maximum (LGM;  ∼  24 kiloannum or ka) minimum sea level of  ∼  125–130 meters below sea level (m b.s.l.). Using calibrated radiocarbon ages mainly on molluscs for chronology and the ecology of benthic foraminifera and ostracode species to estimate paleodepths, the data reveal a dominance of river-proximal species during the early part of the Younger Dryas event (YD, Greenland Stadial GS-1) followed by a rise in river-intermediate species in the late Younger Dryas or the early Holocene (Preboreal) period. A rapid relative sea level rise beginning at roughly 11.4 to 10.8 ka ( ∼  400 cm of core depth) is indicated by a sharp faunal change and unconformity or condensed zone of sedimentation. Regional sea level at this time was about 108 m b.s.l. at the 4-PC1 site and 102 m b.s.l. at 20-GC1. Regional sea level near the end of the YD was up to 42–47 m lower than predicted by geophysical models corrected for glacio-isostatic adjustment. This discrepancy could be explained by delayed isostatic adjustment caused by a greater volume and/or geographical extent of glacial-age land ice and/or ice shelves in the western Arctic Ocean and adjacent Siberian land areas.


2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 2345-2388 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Schmidt ◽  
B. Lund ◽  
J-O. Näslund

Abstract. In this study we compare a recent reconstruction of the Weichselian ice-sheet as simulated by the University of Main ice-sheet model (UMISM) to two reconstructions commonly used in glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) modeling: ICE-5G and ANU (also known as RSES). The UMISM reconstruction is carried out on a regional scale based on thermo-mechanical modelling whereas ANU and ICE-5G are global models based on the sea-level equation. The Weichselian ice-sheet in the three models are compared directly in terms of ice volume, extent and thickness, as well as in terms of predicted glacial isostatic adjustment in Fennoscandia. The three reconstructions display significant differences. UMISM and ANU includes phases of pronounced advance and retreat prior to the last glacial maximum (LGM), whereas the thickness and areal extent of the ICE-5G ice-sheet is more or less constant up until LGM. The final retreat of the ice-sheet initiates at earliest time in ICE-5G and latest in UMISM, while ice free conditions are reached earliest in UMISM and latest in ICE-5G. The post-LGM deglaciation style also differs notably between the ice models. While the UMISM simulation includes two temporary halts in the deglaciation, the later during the Younger Dryas, ANU only includes a decreased deglaciation rate during Younger Dryas and ICE-5G retreats at a relatively constant pace after an initial slow phase. Moreover, ANU and ICE-5G melt relatively uniformly over the entire ice-sheet in contrast to UMISM which melts preferentially from the edges. We find that all three reconstructions fit the present day uplift rates over Fennoscandia and the observed relative sea-level curve along the Ångerman river equally well, albeit with different optimal earth model parameters. Given identical earth models, ICE-5G predicts the fastest present day uplift rates and ANU the slowest, ANU also prefers the thinnest lithosphere. Moreover, only for ANU can a unique best fit model be determined. For UMISM and ICE-5G there is a range of earth models that can reproduce the present day uplift rates equally well. This is understood from the higher present day uplift rates predicted by ICE-5G and UMISM, which results in a bifurcation in the best fit mantle viscosity. Comparison of the uplift histories predicted by the ice-sheets indicate that inclusion of relative sea-level data in the data fit can reduce the observed ambiguity. We study the areal distributions of present day residual surface velocities in Fennoscandia and show that all three reconstructions generally over-predict velocities in southwestern Fennoscandia and that there are large differences in the fit to the observational data in Finland and northernmost Sweden and Norway. These difference may provide input to further enhancements of the ice-sheet reconstructions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 220 (1) ◽  
pp. 384-392
Author(s):  
T Pico

SUMMARY Locally, the elevation of last interglacial (LIG; ∼122 ka) sea level markers is modulated by processes of vertical displacement, such as tectonic uplift or glacial isostatic adjustment, and these processes must be accounted for in deriving estimates of global ice volumes from geological sea level records. The impact of sediment loading on LIG sea level markers is generally not accounted for in these corrections, as it is assumed that the impact is negligible except in extremely high depositional settings, such as the world's largest river deltas. Here we perform a generalized test to assess the extent to which sediment loading may impact global variability in the present-day elevation of LIG sea level markers. We numerically simulate river sediment deposition using a diffusive model that incorporates a migrating shoreline to construct a global history of sedimentation over the last glacial cycle. We then calculate sea level changes due to this sediment loading using a gravitationally self-consistent model of glacial isostatic adjustment, and compare these predictions to a global compilation of LIG sea level data. We perform a statistical analysis, which accounts for spatial autocorrelation, across a global compilation of 1287 LIG sea level markers. Though limited by uncertainties in the LIG sea level database and the precise history of river deposition, this analysis suggests there is not a statistically significant global signal of sediment loading in LIG sea level markers. Nevertheless, at sites where LIG sea level markers have been measured, local sea level predicted using our simulated sediment loading history is perturbed up to 16 m. More generally, these predictions establish the relative sensitivity of different regions to sediment loading. Finally, we consider the implications of our results for estimates of tectonic uplift rates derived from LIG marine terraces; we predict that sediment loading causes 5–10 m of subsidence over the last glacial cycle at specific locations along active margin regions such as California and Barbados, where deriving long-term tectonic uplift rates from LIG shorelines is a common practice.


1962 ◽  
Vol 4 (32) ◽  
pp. 173-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. T. Hollin

AbstractThe Antarctic Ice Sheet responds quickly to regime changes, and time lags in its fluctuations are relatively small. During the Pleistocene glacial stages of the Northern Hemisphere, world-wide temperature reductions reduced the plasticity of the ice sheet and made it thicker. The amount of thickening depended on the conditions at the ice base but it was small, for mechanical and thermal reasons. Also, during the northern stages, accumulation over Antarctica was probably less than now, but this too had little effect on the thickness of the ice sheet. The mass budget of the ice sheet alone, without the ice shelves, probably remained strongly positive; the ice sheet probably existed throughout the Pleistocene and is unlikely to disappear in the future. The area of the ice sheet is determined chiefly by the elevation of the “grounding line”, where the peripheral ice cliffs and ice shelves begin to float. During the northern stages, world-wide lowerings of sea-level displaced the grounding line downwards and northwards, and allowed the ice sheet to advance by amounts which account for nearly all the evidence for previous greater glaciations. In summary, the glacial history of most ice-free areas is governed not so much by climatic as by sea-level changes. Therefore, Antarctic glacial fluctuations were dependent on and in phase with those of the Northern Hemisphere. The field evidence from Antarctica has little bearing on the ultimate causes of glacial fluctuations, which might however be determined by field work on the planet Mars.


Geology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.A. Smith ◽  
C.-D. Hillenbrand ◽  
C. Subt ◽  
B.E. Rosenheim ◽  
T. Frederichs ◽  
...  

Because ice shelves respond to climatic forcing over a range of time scales, from years to millennia, an understanding of their long-term history is critically needed for predicting their future evolution. We present the first detailed reconstruction of the Larsen C Ice Shelf (LCIS), eastern Antarctic Peninsula (AP), based on data from sediment cores recovered from below and in front of the ice shelf. Sedimentologic and chronologic information reveals that the grounding line (GL) of an expanded AP ice sheet had started its retreat from the midshelf prior to 17.7 ± 0.53 calibrated (cal.) kyr B.P., with the calving line following ~6 k.y. later. The GL had reached the inner shelf as early as 9.83 ± 0.85 cal. kyr B.P. Since ca. 7.3 ka, the ice shelf has undergone two phases of retreat but without collapse, indicating that the climatic limit of LCIS stability was not breached during the Holocene. Future collapse of the LCIS would therefore confirm that the magnitudes of both ice loss along the eastern AP and underlying climatic forcing are unprecedented during the past 11.5 k.y.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessio Rovere ◽  
Maren Bender ◽  
Thomas Mann ◽  
Paolo Stocchi ◽  
Dominik Kneer ◽  
...  

<p>We surveyed the elevation and age (<sup>14</sup>C) of paleo sea-level indicators in five islands of the Spermonde Archipelago. We describe 24 new sea-level index points from fossil microatolls, and we compare our dataset with both previously published proxies and sea-level predictions from a set of 54 Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA) models, using different assumptions on both ice melting histories and mantle structure and viscosity. We then investigate the implications of our data and models in terms of vertical land movements in the study area, with two main results.</p><p>First, data from the heavily populated island of Barrang Lompo are significantly lower (ca. 80 cm) than those at all the other islands. In absence of instrumental data (e.g., GPS or tide gauges) in any of the islands, we advance the hypothesis that this difference may be due to groundwater extraction and loading of buildings on Barrang Lompo, that would cause this island to subside at rates in the order of ~3-11 mm/a.</p><p>Second, Common Era data (0-400 a BP) seem to indicate that the islands in the archipelago may be affected by tectonically-driven vertical land motions in the order of -0.88±0.61 mm/a (1-sigma), albeit slight uplift cannot be excluded. Different assumptions on vertical land motions affect, in turn, the assessment of which GIA model shows the best match with Late Holocene (ca. 4-5 ka) sea level data. Tectonic stability or slight uplift would favor iterations of ANICESELEN (De Boer et al., 2014), while subsidence would cause the sea level data to fit better with iterations of ICE-6G (Peltier et al., 2015).</p><p><strong>References</strong></p><p>De Boer, Bas, Paolo Stocchi, and Roderik Van De Wal. A fully coupled 3-D ice-sheet-sea-level model: algorithm and applications." Geoscientific Model Development 7.5 (2014): 2141-2156.</p><p>Peltier, W. R., D. F. Argus, and R. Drummond. Space geodesy constrains ice age terminal deglaciation: The global ICE‐6G_C (VM5a) model. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 120.1 (2015): 450-487.</p><p><strong>Acknowledgments</strong></p><p>This project is funded by SEASCHANGE (RO-5245/1-1) and HAnsea (MA-6967/2-1) from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), part of the Special Priority Program (SPP)-1889 "Regional Sea Level Change and Society". Parts of this study are under review in Climate of the Past (https://www.clim-past-discuss.net/cp-2019-63/)</p>


Author(s):  
Beth Cowan ◽  
Johnathan Carter ◽  
Donald L. Forbes ◽  
Trevor Bell

This study investigates the postglacial sea-level history of eastern Cumberland Peninsula, a region of Baffin Island, Nunavut where submerged terraces were documented in the 1970s. The gradient in elevation of emerged postglacial marine-limit deltas and fiord-head moraines led Dyke (1979) to propose a conceptual model for continuous postglacial submergence of the eastern peninsula. Multibeam mapping over the past decade has revealed eight unequivocal submerged deltas at 19-45 m below [present] sea level (bsl) and other relict shore-zone landforms (boulder barricade, spits, and sill platform) at 16-51 m bsl. Over a distance of 115 km from Qikiqtarjuaq to Cape Dyer, the submerged coastal features increase in depth toward the east, with a slope (0.36 m/km), somewhat less than that of the marine-limit shoreline previously documented (0.58-0.62 m/km). The submerged ice-proximal deltas, deglacial ice limits, and radiocarbon ages constrain the postglacial lowstand between 9.9 and 1.4 ka cal BP. The glacial-isostatic model ICE-7G_NA (VM7) (Peltier 2020) computes a lowstand relative sea level at 8.0 ka, the depth of which increases eastward at 0.28 m/km. The difference between observed and model-derived lowstand depths ranges from 1 m in the west to 10 m in the east and the predicted tilt is significantly less than observed (p=0.0008). The model results, emerging data on Holocene glacial re-advances on eastern Baffin Island, and evidence for proglacial delta formation point to a Cockburn (9.5-8.2 ka) age for the lowstand, most likely later in this range. This study confirms the 1970s conceptual model of postglacial submergence in outer Cumberland Peninsula and provides field evidence for further refinement of glacial-isostatic adjustment models.


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