Cryostratigraphy, sedimentology and the late Quaternary evolution of the Zackenberg Delta, Northeast Greenland
Abstract. The Zackenberg Delta is located in Northeast Greenland (74°30'N, 20°30'E) at the outlet of the Zackenberg Valley. The deltaic fill at the mouth of the valley consists of a series of terraces (ca. 2 km2) formed during a fall in relative sea level. The modern Zackenberg River has incised through the paleo-deltaic deposits creating exposures (up to 22 m in height) along the rivers banks. In addition, coastal processes have exposed sediments in 4 m – 20 m high coastal cliffs. In 2012, two 20 m long ice-bonded sediment cores were retrieved from within the deltaic deposits. The combination of river and coastal exposures with the analysis of ground ice in these cores permitted the reconstruction of the valley-fill succession and evaluation of the timing and nature of permafrost aggradation. Permafrost in the palaeo-deltaic deposits is predominantly epigenetic and aggraded following the subaerial exposure of the delta plain (beginning ca. 11 ka). The exposed deposits in the Zackenberg Valley provide a unique opportunity to investigate the relationship between depositional environments and processes, grain-size properties and cryostratigraphy in epigenetic lowland permafrost environments.