The 3.6 Ma sediment record of Lake El'gygytgyn, Far East Russian Arctic, represents the longest continuous climate archive of the terrestrial Arctic. Its elemental composition monitored by X-ray fluorescence scanning exhibits significant changes since the Mid-Pliocene caused by climate driven variations in the primary production, postsedimentary diagenetic processes, and current activity in the lake as well as weathering processes in its catchment.

During the Mid to Late Pliocene, warmer and wetter climatic conditions are reflected by elevated Si / Ti ratios, indicating enhanced diatom production in the lake. Prior to 3.3 Ma, this signal is highly masked by intensified detrital input from the catchment, visible in maxima of clastic-related proxies such as the K concentration. In addition, calcite formation in the early lake history points to enhanced nutrient flux into the lake caused by intensified weathering in its catchment. Its termination at ca. 3.3 Ma is supposed to be linked to the development of permafrost in the region triggered by a first cooling in the Mid-Pliocene.

After ca. 3.0 Ma the elemental data suggest a gradual transition to Quaternary-style glacial / interglacial cyclicity. In the early Pleistocene, the cyclicity was first dominated by variations on the 41 ka obliquity band but experienced a change to a 100 ka eccentricity dominance after the Middle Pleistocene Transition at ca. 1.2 to 0.7 Ma. This clearly demonstrates the sensitivity of the Lake El'gygytgyn record to orbital forcing.

A successive decrease of the baseline-levels of the redox-sensitive Mn / Fe ratio and magnetic susceptibility between 2.3 to 1.8 Ma reflects an overall change in the bottom water oxygenation due to an intensified occurrence of pervasive glacial episodes in the early Quaternary. The coincidence with major changes in the North Pacific and Bering Sea paleoceanography at ca. 1.8 Ma implies that the change in lake hydrology was caused by regional cooling and/or changes in the ocean-land moisture transport. Further rising TOC and TN values after ca. 1.6 Ma are attributed to a progressive intensification of the glacial intensity.

In the course of the Quaternary glacial/interglacial sequence eight so-called "super-interglacials" occur. Their exceptional warm conditions are reflected by extreme Si / Ti peaks accompanied by lows in Ti, K, and Fe, thus indicating an extraordinary high lake productivity

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Abstract. The 3.6 Ma sediment record of Lake El'gygytgyn/NE Russia, Far East Russian Arctic, represents the longest continuous climate archive of the terrestrial Arctic. Its elemental composition as determined by X-ray fluorescence scanning exhibits significant changes since the mid-Pliocene caused by climate-driven variations in primary production, postdepositional diagenetic processes, and lake circulation as well as weathering processes in its catchment. During the mid- to late Pliocene, warmer and wetter climatic conditions are reflected by elevated Si / Ti ratios, indicating enhanced diatom production in the lake. Prior to 3.3 Ma, this signal is overprinted by intensified detrital input from the catchment, visible in maxima of clastic-related proxies, such as K. In addition, calcite formation in the early lake history points to enhanced Ca flux into the lake caused by intensified weathering in the catchment. A lack of calcite deposition after ca. 3.3 Ma is linked to the development of permafrost in the region triggered by cooling in the mid-Pliocene. After ca. 3.0 Ma the elemental data suggest a gradual transition to Pleistocene-style glacial–interglacial cyclicity. In the early Pleistocene, the cyclicity was first dominated by variations on the 41 kyr obliquity band but experienced a change to a 100 kyr eccentricity dominance during the middle Pleistocene transition (MPT) at ca. 1.2–0.6 Ma. This clearly demonstrates the sensitivity of the Lake El'gygytgyn record to orbital forcing. A successive decrease of the baseline levels of the redox-sensitive Mn / Fe ratio and magnetic susceptibility between 2.3 and 1.8 Ma reflects an overall change in the bottom-water oxygenation due to an intensified occurrence of pervasive glacial episodes in the early Pleistocene. The coincidence with major changes in the North Pacific and Bering Sea paleoceanography at ca. 1.8 Ma implies that the change in lake hydrology was caused by a regional cooling in the North Pacific and the western Beringian landmass and/or changes in the continentality. Further increases in total organic carbon and total nitrogen content after ca. 1.6 Ma are attributed to reduced organic matter decay in the sediment during prolonged anoxic periods. This points to more extensive periods of perennial ice coverage, and thus, to a progressive shifts towards more intense peak glacial periods. In the course of the Pleistocene glacial–interglacial sequence eight so-called "super-interglacials" occur. Their exceptionally warm conditions are reflected by extreme Si / Ti peaks accompanied by lows in Ti, K, and Fe, thus indicating extraordinary high lake productivity.

Abstract. Geochemical analyses were performed on sediments recovered by deep drilling at Lake El'gygytgyn in central Chukotka, northeastern Russia (67 • 30 N; 172 • 05 E). Major and rare element concentrations were determined using X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) on the < 250 µm fraction from 617 samples dated to ca. 440 and 125 ka, which approximates marine isotope stages (MIS) 11 to 6. The inorganic geochemistry indicates significant variations in elemental composition between glaciations and interglaciations. Interglacial sediments are characterized by high contents of SiO 2 , Na 2 O, CaO, K 2 O, and Sr and are depleted in Al 2 O 3 , Fe 2 O 3 , TiO 2 , and MgO. An extreme SiO 2 enrichment during MIS 11.3 and 9.3 was caused by an enhanced flux of biogenic silica (BSi). The geochemical structure of MIS 11 shows similar characteristics as seen in MIS 11 records from Lake Baikal (southeastern Siberia) and Antarctic ice cores, thereby arguing for the influence of global forcings on these records. High sediment content of TiO 2 , Fe 2 O 3 , MgO, Al 2 O 3 , LOI, Ni, Cr, and Zr typifies glacial stages, with the most marked increases during MIS 7.4 and 6.6. Reducing conditions during glacial times are indicated by peaks in the Fe 2 O 3 content and coinciding low Fe 2 O 3 /MnO ratios. This conclusion also is supported by P 2 O 5 and MnO enrichment, indicating an increased abundance of authigenic, fine-grained vivianite. Elemental ratios (CIA, CIW, PIA, and Rb/Sr) indicate that glacial sediments are depleted in mobile elements, like Na, Ca, K and Sr. This depletion was caused by changes in the sedimentation regime and thus reflects environmental changes.

Diatom, rock magnetic, geochemical, and