Evidence for ice-free summers in the late Miocene central Arctic Ocean

Stein, Rüdiger; Fahl, Kirsten; Schreck, Michael; Knorr, Gregor; Niessen, Frank; Forwick, Matthias; Gebhardt, Catalina; Jensen, Laura; Kaminski, Michael A.; Kopf, Achim J; Matthießen, Jens; Jokat, Wilfried; Lohmann, Gerrit

doi:10.1038/ncomms11148

Cited by 112 publications

(110 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Mega-scale and multi-phase slide complexes are described from many areas worldwide, often located in areas of high risk because of dense populations. The Arctic Ocean is also influenced by slope instabilities (e.g., refs 4 and 5), however, so far, just one megaslide has been described678. Methane ebullition and the presence of gas hydrates have been reported from the Laptev and East Siberian Seas910 but not yet from the shelves to the north of Svalbard.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Arctic megaslide at presumed rest

Geissler

Gebhardt

Groß

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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Slope failure like in the Hinlopen/Yermak Megaslide is one of the major geohazards in a changing Arctic environment. We analysed hydroacoustic and 2D high-resolution seismic data from the apparently intact continental slope immediately north of the Hinlopen/Yermak Megaslide for signs of past and future instabilities. Our new bathymetry and seismic data show clear evidence for incipient slope instability. Minor slide deposits and an internally-deformed sedimentary layer near the base of the gas hydrate stability zone imply an incomplete failure event, most probably about 30000 years ago, contemporaneous to or shortly after the Hinlopen/Yermak Megaslide. An active gas reservoir at the base of the gas hydrate stability zone demonstrate that over-pressured fluids might have played a key role in the initiation of slope failure at the studied slope, but more importantly also for the giant HYM slope failure. To date, it is not clear, if the studied slope is fully preconditioned to fail completely in future or if it might be slowly deforming and creeping at present. We detected widespread methane seepage on the adjacent shallow shelf areas not sealed by gas hydrates.

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confidence: 99%

Arctic megaslide at presumed rest

Geissler

Gebhardt

Groß

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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“…The similarity between these records and our results suggests that westerly derived moisture supply could have been the dominant player in middle to late Miocene lake expansions in North Tibet. Ã 100-kyr eccentricity control on Atlantic temperature ( Figure 5e) and the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during this period also require important climatic teleconnections between the Southern Hemisphere and the Northern Hemisphere, because very little ice existed in the Northern Hemisphere before 7 Ma (Stein et al, 2016). Ã 100-kyr eccentricity control on Atlantic temperature ( Figure 5e) and the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during this period also require important climatic teleconnections between the Southern Hemisphere and the Northern Hemisphere, because very little ice existed in the Northern Hemisphere before 7 Ma (Stein et al, 2016).…”

Section: Higher Westerly Derived Moisture Penetration During the Miocmentioning

confidence: 99%

Middle to Late Miocene Eccentricity Forcing on Lake Expansion in NE Tibet

Wang

Huang

Licht

et al. 2019

Geophysical Research Letters

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The East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) variability on orbital time scale has been extensively investigated in Quaternary loess and speleothems. However, EASM variability during pre‐Quaternary time remains poorly understood. Here we report a continuous upper Miocene cyclostratigraphic record from lake deposits of the Tianshui basin, Northeast Tibet, to reconstruct past variations of the regional hydrological cycle. Our results, combined with previously published cyclostratigraphic records from Northeast Tibet, show that regional lake expansion cycles have been consistently dominated by ~100‐kyr eccentricity forcing over most of the middle to late Miocene. These ~100 kyr cycles corroborate a significant forcing of the East Asian hydrological cycle by Antarctic ice sheet variations at that time. It is, however, unclear if this forcing affected EASM intensity or westerly derived moisture supply to the far east. Regardless of the nature of the main source of precipitation in Northeast Tibet during the Miocene, these results emphasize the existence of a strong teleconnection between Antarctic ice sheet modulations and the continental climate of Asia.

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“…In a pioneering study by Belt et al (), the ability to (semi‐)quantitatively reconstruct paleo‐sea ice distributions has been significantly improved by a biomarker approach based on determination of a highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) with 25 carbons (C 25 HBI monoene = IP 25 ). This biomarker is only biosynthesized by specific diatoms living within the Arctic sea ice (Brown et al , ) and appears to be a specific, sensitive and stable proxy for Arctic sea ice in sedimentary sections representing Late Miocene to Recent times (Stein et al , , ; Belt and Müller, ; Stein and Fahl, ; Knies et al , ). The presence of IP 25 in the studied sediments is direct evidence for the presence of sea ice.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Holocene variability in sea ice cover, primary production, and Pacific‐Water inflow and climate change in the Chukchi and East Siberian Seas (Arctic Ocean)

Stein

Fahl

Schade

et al. 2017

J Quaternary Science

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In this study, we present new detailed biomarker‐based sea ice records from two sediment cores recovered in the Chukchi Sea and the East Siberian Sea. These new biomarker data may provide new insights on processes controlling recent and past sea ice changes. The biomarker proxy records show (i) minimum sea ice extent during the Early Holocene, (ii) a prominent Mid‐Holocene short‐term high‐amplitude variability in sea ice, primary production and Pacific‐Water inflow, and (iii) significantly increased sea ice extent during the last ca. 4.5k cal a BP. This Late Holocene trend in sea ice change in the Chukchi and East Siberian Seas seems to be contemporaneous with similar changes in sea ice extent recorded from other Arctic marginal seas. The main factors controlling the millennial variability in sea ice (and surface‐water productivity) are probably changes in surface water and heat flow from the Pacific into the Arctic Ocean as well as the long‐term decrease in summer insolation. The short‐term centennial variability observed in the high‐resolution Middle Holocene record is probably related to solar forcing. Our new data on Holocene sea ice variability may contribute to synoptic reconstructions of regional to global Holocene climate change based on terrestrial and marine archives.

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Evidence for ice-free summers in the late Miocene central Arctic Ocean

Cited by 112 publications

References 68 publications

Arctic megaslide at presumed rest

Arctic megaslide at presumed rest

Middle to Late Miocene Eccentricity Forcing on Lake Expansion in NE Tibet

Holocene variability in sea ice cover, primary production, and Pacific‐Water inflow and climate change in the Chukchi and East Siberian Seas (Arctic Ocean)

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