Oceanography The Official Magazine of
The Oceanography Society
Volume 24 Issue 03

View Issue TOC
Volume 24, No. 3
Pages 52 - 64

OpenAccess

Quaternary Sedimentation in the Arctic Ocean: Recent Advances and Further Challenges

By Leonid Polyak  and Martin Jakobsson  
Jump to
Article Abstract Citation References Copyright & Usage
Article Abstract

This paper reviews current knowledge of sedimentation patterns in the Arctic Ocean during the pronounced climatic cycles of the last several hundred thousand years, an especially relevant time period that provides long-term context for present climate change. The review is largely based on data collected during recent research icebreaker cruises to the Arctic Ocean, with a focus on the 2005 Healy-Oden TransArctic Expedition (HOTRAX) and 2007 Lomonosov Ridge Off Greenland (LOMROG) expedition. The sediment cores and geophysical seafloor mapping data collected enable reconstruction of past oceanic environments. Evaluation of these data suggests that the two major Arctic Ocean circulation systems, the Trans-Polar Drift and the Beaufort Gyre, persisted throughout most of the Late to Middle Quaternary, approximately the last 0.5 to 0.7 million years. Extreme conditions, nonanalogous to modern environments, also occurred in the past, especially during Pleistocene glacial intervals. Some of these intervals likely featured much thickened and/or concentrated sea ice and incursions of ice shelves and armadas of megasized icebergs from the margins to the center of the Arctic Ocean. In contrast, much warmer conditions with reduced sea ice extent existed during interglacial periods. Characterization of ice conditions during these intervals is critical for evaluating the present and projected future reduction of Arctic sea ice.

Citation

Polyak, L., and M. Jakobsson. 2011. Quaternary sedimentation in the Arctic Ocean: Recent advances and further challenges. Oceanography 24(3):52–64, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2011.55.

References

Adler, R.E., L. Polyak, J.D. Ortiz, D.S. Kaufman, J.E.T. Channell, C. Xuan, A.G. Grottoli, E. Sellen, and K.A. Crawford. 2009. Sediment record from the western Arctic Ocean with an improved Late Quaternary age resolution: HOTRAX core HLY0503-8JPC, Mendeleev Ridge. Global and Planetary Change 68:18–29, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2009.03.026.

Anderson, J.B., S.S. Shipp, A.L. Lowe, J.S. Wellner, and A.B. Mosola. 2002. The Antarctic Ice Sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum and its subsequent retreat history: A review. Quaternary Science Reviews 21:49–70, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(01)00083-X.

Backman, J., M. Jakobsson, R. Løvlie, L. Polyak, and L.A. Febo. 2004. Is the central Arctic Ocean a sediment starved basin? Quaternary Science Reviews 23:1,435–1,454, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2003.12.005.

Backman, J., and K. Moran. 2009. Expanding the Cenozoic paleoceanographic record in the Central Arctic Ocean: IODP Expedition 302 Synthesis. Central European Journal of Geosciences 1:157–175, https://doi.org/10.2478/v10085-009-0015-6.

Backman, J., K. Moran, D.B. McInroy, L.A. Mayer, and Expedition 302 Scientists. 2006. Expedition 302 of the Mission-Specific Drilling Platform from and to Tromsø, Norway, Sites M0001–M0004, 7 August 2004–13 September 2004. Integrated Ocean Drilling Program, Management International Inc., https://doi.org/10.2204/iodp.proc.302.2006.

Belt, S.T., G. Masse, S.J. Rowland, M. Poulin, C. Michel, and B. LeBlanc. 2007. A novel chemical fossil of palaeo sea ice: IP25. Organic Geochemistry 38:16–27, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2006.09.013.

Bischof, J., D.L. Clark, and J. Vincent. 1996. Origin of ice-rafted debris: Pleistocene paleoceanography in the western Arctic Ocean. Paleoceanography 11:743–756, https://doi.org/10.1029/96PA02557.

Clark, D.L., R.R. Whitman, K.A. Morgan, and S.D. Mackey. 1980. Stratigraphy and glacial marine sediments of the Amerasian Basin, Central Arctic Ocean. Geological Society of America Special Paper 181, 57 pp.

Clark, P.U., D. Archer, D. Pollard, J.D. Blum, J.A. Rial, V. Brovkin, A.C. Mix, N.G. Pisias, and M. Roy. 2006. The middle Pleistocene transition: Characteristics, mechanisms, and implications for long-term changes in atmospheric pCO2. Quaternary Science Reviews 25:3,150–3,184, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2006.07.008.

Cooke, M.P., B.E. van Dongen, H.M. Talbot, I. Semiletov, N. Shakhova, L. Guo, and Ö. Gustafsson. 2009. Bacteriohopanepolyol biomarker composition of organic matter exported to the Arctic Ocean by seven of the major Arctic rivers. Organic Geochemistry 40:1,151–1,159, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2009.07.014.

Darby, D., M. Jakobsson, and L. Polyak. 2005. Icebreaker expedition collects key Arctic seafloor and ice data. Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union 86:549–556, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005EO520001.

Darby, D.A., J.D. Ortiz, L. Polyak, S. Lund, M. Jakobsson, and R.A. Woodgate. 2009. The role of currents and sea ice in both slowly deposited central Arctic and rapidly deposited Chukchi-Alaskan margin sediments. Global and Planetary Change 68:58–72, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2009.02.007.

Dowdeswell, J.A., M. Jakobsson, K.A. Hogan, M. O’Regan, D. Antony, J. Backman, D. Darby, B. Eriksson, D.J.A. Evans, B. Hell, and others. 2010. High-resolution geophysical observations from the Yermak Plateau and northern Svalbard margin: Implications for ice-sheet grounding and deep-keeled icebergs. Quaternary Science Reviews 29:3,518–3,531, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.06.002.

Dyke, A.S., J.T. Andrews, P.U. Clark, J.H. England, G.H. Miller, J. Shaw, and J.J. Veillette. 2002. The Laurentide and Innuitian Ice Sheets during the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews 21:9–31, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(01)00095-6.

Edwards, M.H., and B.J. Coakley. 2003. SCICEX Investigations of the Arctic Ocean System. Chemie der Erde 63:281–328, https://doi.org/10.1078/0009-2819-00039.

Engels, J.L., M.H. Edwards, L. Polyak, and P.D. Johnson. 2008. Seafloor evidence for ice shelf flow across the Alaska/Beaufort margin of the Arctic Ocean. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 33:1,047–1,063, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.1601.

Fitzpatrick, J.J., R.B. Alley, J. Brigham-Grette, G.H. Miller, L. Polyak, and J.W.C. White. 2010. Arctic paleoclimate synthesis thematic papers: Introduction. Quaternary Science Reviews 29:1,674–1,678, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.09.016.

Griffiths, S.D., and W.R. Peltier. 2008. Megatides in the Arctic Ocean under glacial conditions. Geophysical Research Letters 35, L08605, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL033263.

Griffiths, S.D., and W.R. Peltier. 2009. Modeling of polar ocean tides at the Last Glacial Maximum: Amplification, sensitivity, and climatological implications. Journal of Climate 22:2,905–2,924, https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JCLI2540.1.

Hall, J.K. 1970. Arctic Ocean Geophysical Studies: The Alpha Cordillera and Mendeleev Ridge. Office of Naval Research, Technical Report No. CU-2-70, Washington, DC, 105 pp.

Hanslik, D. 2011. Late Quaternary biostratigraphy and paleoceanography of the central Arctic Ocean. PhD Thesis, Stockholm University.

Hanslik, D., M. Jakobsson, J. Backman, S. Björck, E. Sellén, M. O’Regan, E. Fornaciari, and G. Skog. 2010. Quaternary Arctic Ocean sea ice variations and radiocarbon reservoir age corrections. Quaternary Science Reviews 29:3,430–3,441, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.06.011.

He, Y., Z. Gao, J. Luo, S. Luo, and X. Liu. 2008. Characteristics of internal-wave and internal-tide deposits and their hydrocarbon potential. Petroleum Science 5:37–44, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12182-008-0006-4.

Jakobsson, M. 1999. First high-resolution chirp sonar profiles from the central Arctic Ocean reveal erosion of Lomonosov Ridge sediments. Marine Geology 158:111–123, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0025-3227(98)00186-8.

Jakobsson, M., J.V. Gardner, P.R. Vogt, L.A. Mayer, A. Armstrong, J. Backman, R. Brennan, B. Calder, J.K. Hall, and B. Kraft. 2005. Multibeam bathymetric and sediment profiler evidence for ice grounding on the Chukchi Borderland, Arctic Ocean. Quaternary Research 63:150–160, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2004.12.004.

Jakobsson, M., R. Løvlie, H. Al-Hanbali, E. Arnold, J. Backman, and M. Mörth. 2000. Manganese color cycles in Arctic Ocean sediments constrain Pleistocene chronology. Geology 28:23–26, https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2000)28<23:MACCIA>2.0.CO;2.

Jakobsson, M., R. Løvlie, E.M. Arnold, J. Backman, L. Polyak, J.-O. Knutsen, and E. Musatov. 2001. Pleistocene stratigraphy and paleoenvironmental variation from Lomonosov Ridge sediments, Central Arctic Ocean. Global and Planetary Change 31:1–22, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-8181(01)00110-2.

Jakobsson, M. 2002. Hypsometry and volume of the Arctic Ocean and its constituent seas. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 3:1–18, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001GC000302.

Jakobsson, M., R. Macnab, L. Mayer, R. Anderson, M. Edwards, J. Hatzky, H.W. Schenke, and P. Johnson. 2008a. An improved bathymetric portrayal of the Arctic Ocean: Implications for ocean modeling and geological, geophysical and oceanographic analyses. Geophysical Research Letters 35, L07602, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL033520.

Jakobsson, M., C. Marcussen, and LOMROG Scientific Party. 2008b. Lomonosov Ridge off Greenland 2007 (LOMROG): Cruise Report. Special Publication, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Copenhagen, Denmark, 122 pp.

Jakobsson, M., L. Polyak, M. Edwards, J. Kleman, and B. Coakley. 2008c. Glacial geomorphology of the Central Arctic Ocean: The Chukchi Borderland and the Lomonosov Ridge. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 33:526–545, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.1667.

Jakobsson, M., A. Long, Ó. Ingólfsson, K.H. Kjær, and R.F. Spielhagen. 2010a. New insights on Arctic Quaternary climate variability from palaeo-records and numerical modelling. Quaternary Science Reviews 29:3,349–3,358, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.08.016.

Jakobsson, M., J. Nilsson, M. O’Regan, J. Backman, L. Löwemark, J.A. Dowdeswell, L. Mayer, L. Polyak, F. Colleoni, L. Anderson, and others. 2010b. An Arctic Ocean ice shelf during MIS 6 constrained by new geophysical and geological data. Quaternary Science Reviews 29:3,505–3,517, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.03.015.

Kristoffersen, Y., B. Coakley, W. Jokat, M. Edwards, H. Brekke, and J. Gjengedal. 2004. Seabed erosion on the Lomonosov Ridge, central Arctic Ocean: A tale of deep draft icebergs in the Eurasia Basin and the influence of Atlantic water inflow on iceberg motion? Paleoceanography 19, PA3006, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003PA000985.

Kristoffersen, Y., J.K. Hall, K. Hunkins, J. Ardai, B.J. Coakley, J.R. Hopper, and Healy 2005 Seismic Team. 2008. Extensive local seabed disturbance, erosion and mass wasting on Alpha Ridge, Central Arctic Ocean: Possible evidence for an extra-terrestrial impact? Norwegian Journal of Geology 88:313–320.

Löwemark, L., M. Jakobsson, M. Mörth, and J. Backman. 2008. Arctic Ocean manganese contents and sediment colour cycles. Polar Research 27:105–113.

Mayer, L.A. 2003. USCGC Icebreaker Healy (WAGB-20) US Law of the Sea Cruise to Map the Foot of the Slope and 2500-m Isobath of the US Arctic Ocean Margin. Cruises HE-0302. Cruise Report, University of New Hampshire, 19 pp.

Mayer, L.A. 2004. USCGC Icebreaker Healy (WAGB-20) US Law of the Sea Cruise to Map the Foot of the Slope and 2500-m Isobath of the US Arctic Ocean Margin. Cruises HE-0405. Cruise Report, University of New Hampshire, 47 pp.

Mayer, L.A., and A. Armstrong. 2007. USCGC Icebreaker Healy (WAGB-20) US Law of the Sea Cruise to Map the Foot of the Slope and 2500-m Isobath of the US Arctic Ocean Margin. Cruises HE-0703. Cruise Report, University of New Hampshire, 182 pp.

Mayer, L.A., and A. Armstrong. 2008. USCGC Icebreaker Healy (WAGB-20) U.S. Law of the Sea Cruise to Map the Foot of the Slope and 2500-m Isobath of the US Arctic Ocean Margin. Cruises HE-0805. Cruise Report, University of New Hampshire, 179 pp.

Moran, K., J. Backman, H. Brinkhuis, S.C. Clemens, T. Cronin, G.R. Dickens, F. Eynaud, J. Gattacceca, M. Jakobsson, R.W. Jordan, and others. 2006. The Cenozoic palaeoenvironment of the Arctic Ocean. Nature 441:601–605, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04800.

Műller, J., G. Masse, R. Stein, and S.T. Belt. 2009. Variability of sea-ice conditions in the Fram Strait over the past 30,000 years. Nature Geoscience 2:772–776, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo665.

Nørgaard-Pedersen, N., R.F. Spielhagen, H. Erlenkeuser, P.M. Grootes, J. Heinemeier, and J. Knies. 2003. Arctic Ocean during the Last Glacial Maximum: Atlantic and polar domains of surface water mass distribution and ice cover. Paleoceanography 18, 1063, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002PA000781.

Nørgaard-Pedersen, N., N. Mikkelsen, and Y. Kristoffersen. 2007. Arctic Ocean record of last two glacial-interglacial cycles off North Greenland/Ellesmere Island: Implications for glacial history. Marine Geology 244:93–108.

O’Regan, M., J. King, J. Backman, M. Jakobsson, H. Pälike, K. Moran, C. Heil, T. Sakamoto, T.M. Cronin, and R. Jordan. 2008. Constraints on the Pleistocene chronology of sediments from the Lomonosov Ridge. Paleoceanography 23, PA1S19, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007PA001551.

O’Regan, M., K. St. John, K. Moran, J. Backman, J. King, B.A. Haley, M. Jakobsson, M. Frank, and U. Röhl. 2010. Plio-Pleistocene trends in ice rafted debris on the Lomonosov Ridge. Quaternary International 219:168–176.

Ottesen, D., J.A. Dowdeswell, and L. Rise. 2005. Submarine landforms and the reconstruction of fast-flowing ice streams within a large Quaternary ice sheet: The 2500-km-long Norwegian-Svalbard margin (57°–80°N). Geological Society of America Bulletin 117:1,033–1,050, https://doi.org/10.1130/B25577.1.

Phillips, R.L., and A. Grantz. 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, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0025-3227(00)00101-8.

Polyak, L., R.B. Alley, J.T. Andrews, J. Brigham-Grette, T.M. Cronin, D.A. Darby, A.S. Dyke, J.J. Fitzpatrick, S. Funder, M. Holland, and others. 2010. History of sea ice in the Arctic. Quaternary Science Reviews 29:1,757–1,778, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.02.010.

Polyak, L., J. Bischof, J.D. Ortiz, D.A. Darby, J.E.T. Channell, C. Xuan, D.S. Kaufman, R. Løvlie, D.A. Schneider, D.D. Eberl, and others. 2009. Late Quaternary stratigraphy and sedimentation patterns in the western Arctic Ocean. Global and Planetary Change 68:5–17, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2009.03.014.

Polyak, L., W.B. Curry, D.A. Darby, J. Bischof, and T.M. Cronin. 2004. Contrasting glacial/interglacial regimes in the western Arctic Ocean as exemplified by a sedimentary record from the Mendeleev Ridge. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 203:73–93, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-0182(03)00661-8.

Polyak, L., D.A. Darby, J. Bischof, and M. Jakobsson. 2007. Stratigraphic constraints on late Pleistocene glacial erosion and deglaciation of the Chukchi margin, Arctic Ocean. Quaternary Research 67:234–245, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2006.08.001.

Polyak, L., M.H. Edwards, B.J. Coakley, and M. Jakobsson. 2001. Ice shelves in the Pleistocene Arctic Ocean inferred from glaciogenic deep-sea bedforms. Nature 410:453–459, https://doi.org/10.1038/35068536.

Sellén, E., M. Jakobsson, and M. O’Regan. 2010. Spatial and temporal Arctic Ocean depositional regimes: A key to the evolution of ice drift and current patterns. Quaternary Science Reviews 29:3,644–3,664, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.06.005.

Spielhagen, R., K. Baumann, H. Erlenkeuser, N. Nowaczyk, N. Nørgaard-Pedersen, C. Vogt, and D. Weiel. 2004. Arctic Ocean deep-sea record of northern Eurasian ice sheet history. Quaternary Science Reviews 23:1,455–1,483, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2003.12.015.

Stein, R. 2008. Arctic Ocean Sediments: Processes, Proxies, and Paleoenvironment. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 592 pp.

Stein, R., J. Matthiessen, and F. Niessen. 2010a. Re-coring at Ice Island T3 site of key core FL-224 (Nautilus Basin, Amerasian Arctic): Sediment characteristics and stratigraphic framework. Polarforschung 79:81–96.

Stein, R., J. Matthiessen, F. Niessen, A. Krylov, S. Nam, E. Bazhenova, and Shipboard Geology Group. 2010b. Towards a better (litho-) stratigraphy and reconstruction of Quaternary paleoenvironment in the Amerasian Basin (Arctic Ocean). Polarforschung 79:97–121.

Svendsen, J.I., H. Alexanderson, V.I. Astakhov, I. Demidov, J.A. Dowdeswell, S. Funder, V. Gataullin, M. Henriksen, C. Hjort, M. Houmark-Nielsen, and others. 2004. Late Quaternary ice sheet history of northern Eurasia. Quaternary Science Reviews 23:1,229–1,271, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2003.12.008.

Timmermans, M.-L., H. Melling, and L. Rainville. 2007. Dynamics in the deep Canada Basin, Arctic Ocean, inferred by thermistor chain time series. Journal of Physical Oceanography 37:1,066–1,076, https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO3032.1.

Vogt, P.R., K. Crane, and E. Sundvor. 1994. Deep Pleistocene iceberg plowmarks on the Yermak Plateau: Sidescan and 3.5 kHz evidence for thick calving ice fronts and a possible marine ice sheet in the Arctic Ocean. Geology 22:403–406, https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1994)022<0403:DPIPOT>2.3.CO;2.

Wang, M., and J.E. Overland. 2009. A sea ice free summer Arctic within 30 years? Geophysical Research Letters 36, L07502, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL037820.

Weber, J.R., and E.F. Roots. 1990. Historical background: Exploration, concepts, and observations. Pp. 5–36 in The Arctic Ocean Region. A. Grantz, G.L. Johnson, and J.F. Sweeney, eds, The Geology of North America, vol. L, Geological Society of America, Boulder.

Wynn, R.B., and D.A.V. Stow. 2002. Classification and characterisation of deep-water sediment waves. Marine Geology 192:7–22, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0025-3227(02)00547-9.

Yamamoto, M., and L. Polyak. 2009. Changes in terrestrial organic matter input to the Mendeleev Ridge, western Arctic Ocean, during the Late Quaternary. Global and Planetary Change 68:30–37, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2009.03.012.

Yurco, L.N., J.D. Ortiz, L. Polyak, D.A. Darby, and K.A. Crawford. 2010. Clay mineral cycles identified by diffuse spectral reflectance in Quaternary sediments from the Northwind Ridge: Implications for glacial-interglacial sedimentation patterns in the Arctic Ocean. Polar Research 29:176–197, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-8369.2010.00160.x.

Copyright & Usage

This is an open access article made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format as long as users cite the materials appropriately, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate the changes that were made to the original content. Images, animations, videos, or other third-party material used in articles are included in the Creative Commons license unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If the material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission directly from the license holder to reproduce the material.