Articles | Volume 13, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-511-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-511-2017
Research article
 | 
23 May 2017
Research article |  | 23 May 2017

Sedimentary record from the Canada Basin, Arctic Ocean: implications for late to middle Pleistocene glacial history

Linsen Dong, Yanguang Liu, Xuefa Shi, Leonid Polyak, Yuanhui Huang, Xisheng Fang, Jianxing Liu, Jianjun Zou, Kunshan Wang, Fuqiang Sun, and Xuchen Wang

Abstract. Sediment core ARC4-BN05 collected from the Canada Basin, Arctic Ocean, covers the late to middle Quaternary (Marine Isotope Stage – MIS – 1–15, ca. 0.5–0.6 Ma) as estimated by correlation to earlier proposed Arctic Ocean stratigraphies and AMS14C dating of the youngest sediments. Detailed examination of clay and bulk mineralogy along with grain size, content of Ca and Mn, and planktic foraminiferal numbers in core ARC4–BN05 provides important new information about sedimentary environments and provenance. We use increased contents of coarse debris as an indicator of glacier collapse events at the margins of the western Arctic Ocean, and identify the provenance of these events from mineralogical composition. Notably, peaks of dolomite debris, including large dropstones, track the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) discharge events to the Arctic Ocean. Major LIS inputs occurred during the stratigraphic intervals estimated as MIS 3, intra-MIS 5 and 7 events, MIS 8, and MIS 10. Inputs from the East Siberian Ice Sheet (ESIS) are inferred from peaks of smectite, kaolinite, and chlorite associated with coarse sediment. Major ESIS sedimentary events occurred in the intervals estimated as MIS 4, MIS 6 and MIS 12. Differences in LIS vs. ESIS inputs can be explained by ice-sheet configurations at different sea levels, sediment delivery mechanisms (iceberg rafting, suspension plumes, and debris flows), and surface circulation. A long-term change in the pattern of sediment inputs, with an apparent step change near the estimated MIS 7–8 boundary (ca. 0.25 Ma), presumably indicates an overall glacial expansion at the western Arctic margins, especially in North America.

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Short summary
In this manuscript, we present the results of our study conducted for a sediment core (ARC4-BN05) collected in the Arctic Ocean. Detailed examination of clay and bulk mineralogy along with grain size, content of Ca and Mn, and planktonic foraminiferal numbers in core ARC4–BN05 provides important new information about sedimentary environments and provenance. Based on these proxies, we try to reveal late to middle Pleistocene glacial history.