Abstract
Two sediment cores retrieved from the southern Lomonosov Ridge (LR) in 2007 (core ALR07-26C from the top of the ridge, water depth 1359 m, and core ALR07-15C from the base of Geophysicists’ Spur, water depth 2500 m) were investigated for lithology (wt % > 63 μm, terrigenous lithic grains >500 μm) and microfossils. Prominent peaks of coarse-grained material in ALR07-26C represented largely by quartz and clastic rocks are regarded as inputs of ice and, especially, iceberg-rafted debris (IRD) of Eurasian origin. In accordance with previously obtained evidence from age-constrained cores from the central LR, the highest peak 4 is correlated with the MIS 6–5 boundary and the disintegration of the Saalian ice sheet. The three younger IRD peaks are provisionally correlated with the MIS 5–4, MIS 4–3, and MIS 2–1 boundaries, respectively. Small peaks of coarse-grained material in ALR07-15C dominated by various rocks in contrast represent local material transported by downslope slides mixed with some IRD. No calcareous microfossils occur in the cores, but only agglutinated benthic foraminifers are found. In ALR07-26C, they correlate with IRD-rich layers, which correspond to glacial terminations with more open-sea ice conditions and, probably, higher productivity in the sea-ice marginal zone. The Cyclammina-dominated assemblage in ALR07-26C below IRD peak 4 supports the proposed age estimate for this peak (MIS 6–5), as similar foraminiferal assemblages in other LR cores are recorded in sediments of MIS 7–9 and older. Younger assemblages show a transition from a Recurvoides-dominated assemblage in the early Late Pleistocene to a more “oligotrophic” recent assemblage with a predominance of Reophax and Rhabdammina.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Cronin, T. M., Smith, S. A., Eynaud, F., O’Regan, M., & King. J. (2008). Quaternary paleoceanography of the central Arctic based on Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Arctic Coring Expedition 302 foraminiferal assemblages. Paleoceanography 23, PAIS18, doi:10.1029/2007PA001484.
Jakobsson, M., Løvlie, R., Arnold, E. M., Backman, J., Polyak, L., Knutsen, J.-O., et al. (2001). Pleistocene stratigraphy and paleoenvironmental variation from Lomonosov Ridge sediments, central Arctic Ocean. Global Planet Change,31, 1–22.
Jakobsson, M., Nilsson, J., O’Regan, M., Backman, J., Løwemark, L., Dowdeswell, J. A., et al. (2010). An Arctic Ocean ice shelf during MIS6 constrained by new geophysical and geological data. Quaternary Science Reviews,29, 3505–3517.
Matthiessen, J., Knies, J., Nowaczyk, N. R., & Stein, R. (2001). Late Quaternary dinoflagellate cyst stratigraphy at the Eurasian continental margin, Arctic Ocean: Indications for Atlantic water inflow in the past 150,000 years. Global Planet Change,31, 65–86.
Phillips, R. L., & Grantz, A. (2001). Regional variations in provenance and abundance of ice-rafted clasts in Arctic Ocean sediments: implications for the configuration of late Quaternary oceanic and atmospheric circulation in the Arctic. Marine Geology,172, 91–115.
Spielhagen, R. F., BaumannK-H, Erlenkeuser H., Nowaczyk, N. R., Nørgaard-Pedersen, N., Vogt, C., & Weiel, D. (2004). Arctic Ocean deep-sea record of northern Eurasian ice sheet history. Quaternary Science Reviews,23, 1455–1483.
Stein, R., Boucsein, B., Fahl, K., Garcia de Oteyza, T., Knies, J., & Niessen, F. (2001). Accumulation of particulate organic carbon at the Eurasian continental margin during late Quaternary times: Controlling mechanisms and paleoenvironmental significance. Global Planet Change,31, 87–104.
Acknowledgments
This investigation was supported by the RFBR (grant 11-05-01091a).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Taldenkova, E., Nikolaev, S., Rekant, P., Chistyakova, N. (2014). Pleistocene Sediment Sequence of the Southern Lomonosov Ridge, Arctic Ocean: Preliminary Stratigraphic Subdivision Based on Iceberg-Rafted Debris and Benthic Foraminiferal Records. In: Rocha, R., Pais, J., Kullberg, J., Finney, S. (eds) STRATI 2013. Springer Geology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04364-7_252
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04364-7_252
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-04363-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-04364-7
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)