Description Although it is generally accepted that the Arctic Ocean is a very sensitive and important region for changes in the global climate, this
region is the last major physiographic province of the earth whose short-and long-term geological history is much less known in comparison
to other ocean regions. This lack of knowledge is mainly caused by the major technological/logistic problems in reaching this harsh,
ice-covered region with normal research vessels and in retrieving long and undisturbed sediment cores. During the the last about 20 years,
however, several international and multidisciplinary ship expeditions, including the first scientific drilling on Lomonosov Ridge in
2004, a break-through in Arctic research, were carried out into the central Artic and its surrounding shelf seas. Results from these
expeditions have greatly advanced our knowledge on Arctic Ocean paleoenvironments.
Published syntheses about the knowledge on Arctic
Ocean geology, on the other hand, are based on data available prior to 1990. A comprehensive compilation of data on Arctic Ocean paleoenvironment
and its short-and long-term variability based on the huge amount of new data including the ACEX drilling data, has not been available
yet. With this book, presenting (1) detailed information on glacio-marine sedimentary processes and geological proxies used for paleoenvironmental
reconstructions, and (2) detailed geological data on modern environments, Quaternary variability on different time scales as well as
the long-term climate history during Mesozoic-Tertiary times, this gap in knowledge will be filled.
Contents CONTENTS
Preface ix
List of Abbreviations xiii
Part 1: Introduction and Background
1. Introduction to the Arctic: Significance and History
3
1.1. The Arctic Ocean and Its Significance for the Earth?s Climate System 3
1.2. History of Arctic Ocean Research 9
1.3. Plate Tectonic
Evolution and Palaeogeography 22
1.4. Glaciations in Earth?s History 30
2. Modern Physiography, Hydrology, Climate, and Sediment Input
35
2.1. Bathymetry and Physiography 35
2.2. Oceanic Circulation Pattern and Water-Mass Characteristics 40
2.3. Sea-Ice Cover: Extent,
Thickness, and Variability 48
2.4. Primary Production and Vertical Carbon Fluxes in the Arctic Ocean 55
2.5. River Discharge 63
2.6.
Permafrost 76
2.7. Coastal Erosion 78
2.8. Aeolian Input 82
2.9. Modern Sediment Input: A Summary 84
Part 2: Processes and Proxies
3.
Glacio-Marine Sedimentary Processes 87
3.1. Sea-Ice Processes: Sediment Entrainment and Transport 88
3.2. Ice Sheet- and Iceberg-Related
Processes 95
3.3. Sediment Mass-Wasting Processes 101
3.4. Turbidite Sedimentation in the Central Arctic Ocean 126
4. Proxies Used for
Palaeoenvironmental Reconstructions in the
Arctic Ocean 133
4.1. Lithofacies Concept 133
4.2. Grain-Size Distribution 139
4.3. Proxies
for Sources and Transport Processes of Terrigenous Sediments 146
4.4. Trace Elements Used for Palaeoenvironmental Reconstruction 167
vii
4.5. Micropalaeontological Proxies and Their (Palaeo-) Environmental
and Stratigraphical Significance 170
4.6. Stable Isotopes of
Foraminifers 201
4.7. Organic-Geochemical Proxies for Organic-Carbon Source and
Palaeoenvironment 205
Part 3: The Marine-Geological Record
5. Modern Environment and Its Record in Surface Sediments 247
5.1. Terrigenous (Non-Biogenic) Components in Arctic Ocean Surface
Sediments:
Implications for Provenance and Modern Transport Processes 247
5.2. Organic-Carbon Content: Terrigenous Supply versus Primary Production
273
6. Quaternary Variability of Palaeoenvironment and Its Sedimentary
Record 287
6.1. The Stratigraphic Framework of Arctic Ocean Sediment
Cores:
Background, Problems, and Perspectives 287
6.2. Variability of Quaternary Ice Sheets and Palaeoceanographic
Characteristics: Terrestrial,
Model, and Eurasian Continental
Margin Records 317
6.3. Circum-Arctic Glacial History, Sea-Ice Cover, and
Surface-Water Characteristics:
Quaternary Records from the
Central Arctic Ocean 369
6.4. Accumulation of Particulate Organic Carbon at the Arctic Continental
Margin
and Deep-Sea Areas During Late Quaternary Times 409
7. Mesozoic to Cenozoic Palaeoenvironmental Records of High
Northern Latitudes 439
7.1. Mesozoic High-Latitude Palaeoclimate and Arctic Ocean
Palaeoenvironment 439
7.2. Cenozoic High-Latitude Palaeoclimate and Arctic
Ocean
Palaeoenvironment 457
8. Open Questions and Future Geoscientific Arctic Ocean Research 497
8.1. Quaternary and Neogene Climate
Variability on Sub-Millennial to
Milankovich Time Scales 498
8.2. The Mesozoic?Cenozoic History of the Arctic Ocean 500
References 507
Index 587
viii Contents
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