Spatial distribution of mean winter air temperatures in Siberian permafrost at 20−18 ka BP using oxygen isotope data

Abstract

Palaeotemperature reconstruction for the period of 20−18 ka BP in Siberia is here based on δ 18 O analysis and 14 C dating of large syngenetic ice wedges. Dozens of yedoma exposures, from Yamal Peninsula to Chukotka, have been studied. Snow meltwater is considered to be the main source of ice-wedge ice. The modern relationship between δ 18 O composition of ice-wedge ice and winter temperature is used as a base for reconstruction. In modern ice wedges (elementary veins that have accumulated during the last 60-100 years) δ 18 O fluctuates between −14 and −20‰ in western Siberia and between −23 and −28‰ in northern Yakutia. The trend in δ 18 O distribution in ice wedges dated at 20−18 ka BP is similar to the modern one. For example, the δ 18 O values in Late Pleistocene wedges are more negative going from west to east by 8-10‰, i.e. from −19 to −25‰ in western Siberian ice wedges to −30 to −35‰ in northern Yakutia. However, values are as high as −28 to −33‰ in north Chukotka and the central areas of the Magadan Region and even as high as −23 to −29‰ in the east of Chukotka. The same difference between the oxygen isotope composition of ice wedges in the eastern and western regions of Siberian permafrost (about 8-10‰) is also preserved from 20−18 ka BP to the present: δ 18 O values obtained from large ice wedges from the Late Pleistocene vary from −19 to −25‰ in western Siberia to −30 to −35‰ in northern Yakutia. We conclude that, at 20−18 ka BP, mean January temperatures were about 8-12°C lower (in Chukotka up to 17-18°C) than at present. Yurij

Ice wedges as archives of winter paleoclimate: A review

“…Existing δ 18 O—temperature relationships for ice wedges (Table ) are based on a spatial comparison of stable‐isotope data of modern ice veins and modern syngenetic ice wedges (ie, those formed during the last 60–100 years) and respective mean air temperatures from nearby meteorological stations. Streletskaya et al used only study sites with meteorological stations within 100 km and referred to 1961–90 as the reference period.…”

Ground-ice stable isotopes and cryostratigraphy reflect late Quaternary palaeoclimate in the Northeast Siberian Arctic (Oyogos Yar coast, Dmitry Laptev Strait)

“…relative humidity, sea surface temperature) in the moisture source region (Merlivat and Jouzel, 1979). In the last years, stable-isotope data from ice wedges have been progressively used to reconstruct past climate changes in Arctic permafrost regions in northern Siberia (Meyer et al, 2002a(Meyer et al, , b, 2015Opel et al, 2011Opel et al, , 2017aWetterich et al, , 2014Vasil'chuk and Vasil'chuk, 2014;Streletskaya et al, 2015) as well as in Alaska (Meyer et al, 2010b;Lachniet et al, 2012;Schirrmeister et al, 2016) and in Canada (Fritz et al, 2012;Porter et al, 2016) on different timescales and with different temporal resolutions.…”

Progress in Understanding the Dynamics, Internal Structure and Palaeoenvironmental Potential of Ice Wedges and Sand Wedges

“…Streletskaya et al . () and Vasil'chuk and Vasil'chuk () used δ 18 O values from ice wedges to reconstruct winter air temperatures. Modern January air temperature and the δ 18 O composition of modern ice wedges were compared in different Eurasian areas, to establish a linear regression.…”

“…() reported late Weichselian January air temperatures of around ‐40 °C near Dikson in Taymyr, Siberia. Vasil'chuk and Vasil'chuk () indicated that mean winter air temperatures across Siberia were 8–12 °C lower during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) 18–20 ka BP than at present, based on regionally distributed δ 18 O and 14 C AMS dating of ice wedges, with a clear cooling eastwards.…”

“…Ice‐wedge polygons (IWPs) occur in all permafrost lowlands, with yedoma deposits having the highest volumetric ice contents (>50%; Kanevskiy et al ., ). Large syngenetic ice wedges are also the dominant form of massive ice in northern Russia (Vasil'chuk and Vasil'chuk, ). Ice‐wedge formation has been identified as the primary cause of increasing ice content in permafrost lowlands through time (Bockheim and Hinkel, ).…”