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Composition of Late Holocene Deposits in the Southern Chukchi Sea

  • MARINE GEOLOGY
  • Published:
Oceanology Aims and scope

Abstract

The objective of the work was a comprehensive study of Late Holocene bottom sediments from the southern Chukchi Sea and reconstruction of their accumulation conditions. Analytical methods included macroscopic description with smear slides, 210Pb dating of sediments, determination of biogenic components, magnetic susceptibility measurements, and grain size distribution, palynological, and mineral analyses. The modern sedimentation rate established at the study point is 8–10 mm/year. Sediments are mainly represented by silts. In the upper part of the core, there are elevated concentrations of SiO2biog, Corg, and Ntot and decreased magnetic susceptibility values. This is probably due to the increased bioproductivity of the Chukchi Sea in recent years, caused by current climate warming. The palynological composition of the studied deposits reflects the tundra and forest–tundra vegetation on land adjacent to the Chukchi Sea. The presence of Neogene pollen in Late Holocene sediments is evidence of their transfer from eroded ancient sediments.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to the captain and crew of the R/V Akademik M.A. Lavrentyev, cosupervisors of the expedition A.A. Bosin and Hu Limin, and colleagues from POI FEB RAS for their help in carrying out expeditionary work; I. Brunner (EAWAG), and to E.G. Polyakova, and O.N. Shestakova (IEC SB RAS) for analytical work. They also thank Dr. (Minerol.–Geol.) Sci. A.G. Matul and the anonymous reviewer for constructive comments and recommendations that allowed them to improve the content of the article.

Funding

The study was financed by the Russian Science Foundation (project no. 21-17-00081). Expeditionary works were carried out with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (project АААА-А17-117030110033-0) and a grant from Shandong Province for the National Laboratory of Marine Science and Technology in Qingdao (Grant 2018SDKJ0104-3). Equipment of the Central Collective Use Center “Geodynamics and Geochronology” of the Institute of the Earth’s Crust SB RAS of was partially utilized in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of the Earth’s Crust, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Irkutsk, Russia

    E. G. Vologina & N. V. Kulagina

  2. Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Dubendorf, Switzerland

    M. Sturm

  3. Il’ichev Pacific Oceanological Institute, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia

    K. I. Aksentov

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  1. E. G. Vologina
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  4. K. I. Aksentov
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Correspondence to E. G. Vologina.

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Vologina, E.G., Sturm, M., Kulagina, N.V. et al. Composition of Late Holocene Deposits in the Southern Chukchi Sea. Oceanology 63, 74–83 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001437023010162

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