Increased terrigenous input from North America to the northern Mendeleev Ridge (western Arctic Ocean) since the mid-Brunhes Event

Abstract

Mid-Brunhes Event (MBE) occurred at approximately 420 ka between Marine Isotope Stage 11 and 12, and is considered the most pronounced climatic shift during the last ~ 800 kyrs. On the other hand, it is unclear if the MBE was global, despite being observed in the high-latitude Northern Hemispheric cryosphere in terms of climate systems. A 5.35-m long gravity core ARC5-MA01 was obtained from the northern Mendeleev Ridge in the western Arctic Ocean to track the paleoenvironmental changes in terms of the terrigenous sedimentation in response to the glacial-interglacial climate changes across the MBE. Geochemical proxies (biogenic opal, total organic carbon, C/N ratio, carbon isotope of organic matter, and calcium carbonate) of MA01 suggest that the terrigenous input was generally higher during the interglacial periods. Based on a mineralogical examination, most of the terrigenous input was attributed to the abundance of dolomite and the increased kaolinite content from North America. In particular, most paleoceanographic proxies showed that the terrigenous input from North America was enhanced distinctly during the post-MBE interglacial periods. These results suggest that the MBE in the western Arctic Ocean was a global climatic shift closely linked to cryospheric development in North America during the middle Pleistocene.

A resilient ice cover over the southernmost Mendeleev Ridge during the late Quaternary

“…2021; Park et al . 2022) from the northern Mendeleev Ridge provide information about sedimentological and organic matter properties, in addition to 230 Th xs profiles allowing for the set up of similar chronostratigraphies. As illustrated in Fig.…”

“…a situation when sedimentation was mainly governed by deep currents and/or meltwater plumes beneath the ESIS, a situation when primary productivity was extremely low. Unfortunately, aside from our study core E25, only two sites (MC11 and MA01; Not & Hillaire-Marcel 2010;Xiao et al 2020;Xu et al 2021;Park et al 2022) from the northern Mendeleev Ridge provide information about sedimentological and organic matter properties, in addition to 230 Th xs profiles allowing for the set up of similar chronostratigraphies. As illustrated in Fig.…”

“…These three components were plotted as relative percentages. Red data from the study core E25; blue data from core MA01 (Xu et al 2021;Park et al 2022); olive data from core MC11 (Not & Hillaire-Marcel 2010). For site E25, the perennial and thick ice cover (resilient ESIS) domain includes data from MIS 11 to MIS 4 (cross symbols), MIS 8/7 transition excluded, whereas data from the MIS 4/3 transition to the present (square symbols) and MIS 8/7 fall into the seasonal sea-ice domain.…”

Cryospheric and Oceanographic Evolution in the Arctic Makarov Basin Since the Early Pleistocene Revealed by Bulk Mineral Assemblages

“…Xiao et al (2021) reported that the majority of sediments in the Makarov Basin were derived predominantly from Siberian marginal sources rather than North American sources. However, during glacial and deglacial periods marked by the formation and disintegration of ice sheets, a large amount of glacier-derived sediments were transported from North America to the western Arctic Ocean due to the substantial terrigenous supply facilitated by ice-rafting from the Canadian Arctic (Dong et al, 2017;Fagel et al, 2014;Park et al, 2017Park et al, , 2022Schreck et al, 2018;Stein, Matthiessen, Niessen, Krylov, et al, 2010Ye et al, 2022). Terrigenous sediments in the Arctic Ocean are primarily derived from riverine input and coastal erosion, as well as from icebergs during glacial and deglacial periods (Stein, 2008).…”

“…In the western Arctic Ocean, detrital carbonates, particularly dolomite, have been commonly used as indicators of LIS extension in the Canadian Arctic (e.g., Dong et al, 2017;Not & Hillaire-Marcel, 2012;Park et al, 2017Park et al, , 2022Phillips & Grantz, 2001;Polyak et al, 2009;Stein, Matthiessen, Niessen, Krylov, et al, 2010). Based on the dolomite content in core 41GC, the impact of the LIS on sediment deposition in the western Arctic Ocean began at around 790 ka (MIS 19/20), corresponding to the complete termination of the MPT (Figure 3).…”