ALBERT

Description: Permafrost ground is one of the largest repositories of terrestrial organic carbon and might become or already is a carbon source in response to ongoing global warming. With this study of syngenetically frozen, ice-rich and organic carbon (OC)-bearing Yedoma and associated alas deposits in central Yakutia (Republic of Sakha), we aimed to assess the local sediment deposition regime and its impact on permafrost carbon storage. For this purpose, we investigated the Yukechi alas area (61.76495°N, 130.46664°E), which is a thermokarst landscape degrading into Yedoma in central Yakutia. We retrieved two sediment cores (Yedoma upland, 22.35m deep, and alas basin, 19.80m deep) in 2015 and analyzed the biogeochemistry, sedimentology, radiocarbon dates and stable isotope geochemistry. The laboratory analyses of both cores revealed very low total OC (TOC) contents (〈 0.1 wt %) for a 12m section in each core, whereas the remaining sections ranged from 0.1 wt% to 2.4 wt% TOC. The core sections holding very little to no detectable OC consisted of coarser sandy material were estimated to be between 39 000 and 18 000 BP (years before present) in age. For this period, we assume the deposition of organic-poor material. Pore water stable isotope data from the Yedoma core indicated a continuously frozen state except for the surface sample, thereby ruling out Holocene reworking. In consequence, we see evidence that no strong organic matter (OM) decomposition took place in the sediments of the Yedoma core until today. The alas core from an adjacent thermokarst basin was strongly disturbed by lake development and permafrost thaw. Similar to the Yedoma core, some sections of the alas core were also OC poor (〈 0.1 wt %) in 17 out of 28 samples. The Yedoma deposition was likely influenced by fluvial regimes in nearby streams and the Lena River shifting with climate. With its coarse sediments with low OC content (OC mean of 5.27 kg m-3), the Yedoma deposits in the Yukechi area differ from other Yedoma sites in North Yakutia that were generally characterized by silty sediments with higher OC contents (OC mean of 19 kg m-3 for the non-icewedge sediment). Therefore, we conclude that sedimentary composition and deposition regimes of Yedoma may differ considerably within the Yedoma domain. The resulting heterogeneity should be taken into account for future upscaling approaches on the Yedoma carbon stock. The alas core, strongly affected by extensive thawing processes during the Holocene, indicates a possible future pathway of ground subsidence and further OC decomposition for thawing central Yakutian Yedoma deposits.

Description: We present for the first time all 12 δ18O records obtained from ice cores drilled in the framework of the North Greenland Traverse (NGT) between 1993 and 1995 in northern Greenland. The cores cover an area of 680 km  ×  317 km, 10 % of the Greenland ice sheet. Depending on core length (100–175 m) and accumulation rate (90–200 kg m−2 a−1) the single records reflect an isotope–temperature history over the last 500–1100 years. Lowest δ18O mean values occur north of the summit and east of the main divide as a consequence of Greenland's topography. In general, ice cores drilled on the main ice divide show different results than those drilled east of the main ice divide that might be influenced by secondary regional moisture sources. A stack of all NGT records and the NGRIP record is presented with improved signal-to-noise ratio. Compared to single records, this stack represents the mean δ18O signal for northern Greenland that is interpreted as proxy for temperature. Our northern Greenland δ18O stack indicates distinctly enriched δ18O values during medieval times, about AD 1420 ± 20 and from AD 1870 onwards. The period between AD 1420 and AD 1850 has depleted δ18O values compared to the average for the entire millennium and represents the Little Ice Age. The δ18O values of the 20th century are comparable to the medieval period but are lower than that about AD 1420.

Description: To reconstruct palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironmental conditions in the northeast Siberian Arctic, we studied late Quaternary permafrost at the Oyogos Yar coast (Dmitry Laptev Strait). New infrared-stimulated uminescence ages for distinctive floodplain deposits of the Kuchchugui Suite (112.5�9.6 kyr) and thermokarst-lake deposits of the Krest Yuryakh Suite (102.4�9.7 kyr), respectively,provide new substantial geochronological data and shed light on the landscape history of the Dmitry Laptev Strait region during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5. Ground ice stable-isotope data are presented together with cryolithological information for eight cryostratigraphic units and are complemented by data from nearby Bol’shoy Lyakhovsky Island. Our combined record of ice-wedge stable isotopes as a proxy for past winter climate conditions covers about 200 000 years and is supplemented by stable isotopes of pore and segregated ice which reflect annual climate conditions overprinted by freezing processes. Our ice-wedge stable-isotope data indicate substantial variations in northeast Siberian Arctic winter climate conditions during the late Quaternary, in particular between glacial and interglacial times but also over the last millennia to centuries. Stable isotope values of ice complex ice wedges indicate cold to very cold winter temperatures about 200 kyr ago (MIS7), very cold winter conditions about 100 kyr ago (MIS5), very cold to moderate winter conditions between about 60 and 30 kyr ago, and extremely cold winter temperatures during the Last Glacial Maximum (MIS2). Much warmer winter conditions are reflected by extensive thermokarst development during MIS5c and by Holocene ice-wedge stable isotopes. Modern ice-wedge stable isotopes are most enriched and testify to the recent winter warming in the Arctic. Hence, ice-wedgebased reconstructions of changes in winter climate conditions add substantial information to those derived from paleoecological proxies stored in permafrost and allow a distinction between seasonal trends of past climate dynamics. Future progress in ice-wedge dating and an improved temporal resolution of ice-wedge-derived climate information may help to fully explore the palaeoclimatic potential of ice wedges.

Description: Understanding recent Arctic climate change requires detailed information on past changes, in particular on a regional scale. The extension of the depth–age relation of the Akademii Nauk (AN) ice core from Severnaya Zemlya (SZ) to the last 1100 yr provides new perspectives on past climate fluctuations in the Barents and Kara seas region. Here, we present the easternmost high-resolution ice-core climate proxy records (d18O and sodium) from the Arctic. Multiannual AN d18O data as near-surface air-temperature proxies reveal major temperature changes over the last millennium, including the absolute minimum around 1800 and the unprecedented warming to a double-peak maximum in the early 20th century. The long-term cooling trend in d18O is related to a decline in summer insolation but also to the growth of the AN ice cap as indicated by decreasing sodium concentrations. Neither a pronounced Medieval Climate Anomaly nor a Little Ice Age are detectable in the AN d18O record. In contrast, there is evidence of several abrupt warming and cooling events, such as in the 15th and 16th centuries, partly accompanied by corresponding changes in sodium concentrations. These abrupt changes are assumed to be related to sea-ice cover variability in the Barents and Kara seas region, which might be caused by shifts in atmospheric circulation patterns. Our results indicate a significant impact of internal climate variability on Arctic climate change in the last millennium.

Description: Wildfires and their emissions have significant impacts on ecosystems, climate, atmospheric chemistry and carbon cycling. Well-dated proxy records are needed to study the long-term climatic controls on biomass burning and the associated climate feedbacks. There is a particular lack of information about long-term biomass burning variations in Siberia, the largest forested area in the Northern Hemisphere. In this study we report analyses of aromatic acids (vanillic and para-hydroxybenzoic acids) over the past 3145 years in the Eurasian Arctic Akademii Nauk ice core. These compounds are aerosol-borne, semi-volatile organic compounds derived from lignin combustion. The analyses were made using ion chromatography with electrospray mass spectrometric detection. The levels of these aromatic acids ranged from below the detection limit (.01 to .05 ppb) to about 1 ppb, with roughly 30 % of the samples above the detection limit. In the preindustrial late Holocene, highly elevated aromatic acid levels are observed during four distinct periods (1180–660 BCE, 180–220 CE, 380–660 CE, and 1460–1660 CE). The timing of these periods coincides with the episodic pulsing of ice-rafted debris in the North Atlantic known as Bond events. Aromatic acid levels also are elevated during the onset of the industrial period from 1780 to 1860 CE, but with a different ratio of vanillic and para-hydroxybenzoic acid than is observed during the preindustrial period. This study provides the first millennial scale record of aromatic acids. It clearly demonstrates that coherent aromatic acid signals are recorded in polar ice cores that can be used as proxies for past trends in biomass burning.

Description: Wildfires and their emissions have significant impacts on ecosystems, climate, atmospheric chemistry, and carbon cycling. Well-dated proxy records are needed to study the long-term climatic controls on biomass burning and the associated climate feedbacks. There is a particular lack of information about long-term biomass burning variations in Siberia, the largest forested area in the Northern Hemisphere. In this study we report analyses of aromatic acids (vanillic and para-hydroxybenzoic acids) over the past 2600 years in the Eurasian Arctic Akademii Nauk ice core. These compounds are aerosol-borne, semi-volatile organic compounds derived from lignin combustion. The analyses were made using ion chromatography with electrospray mass spectrometric detection. The levels of these aromatic acids ranged from below the detection limit (0.01 to 0.05 ppb; 1 ppb D1000 ng L-1) to about 1 ppb, with roughly 30% of the samples above the detection limit. In the preindustrial late Holocene, highly elevated aromatic acid levels are observed during three distinct periods (650–300 BCE, 340–660 CE, and 1460–1660 CE). The timing of the two most recent periods coincides with the episodic pulsing of ice-rafted debris in the North Atlantic known as Bond events and a weakened Asian monsoon, suggesting a link between fires and large-scale climate variability on millennial timescales. Aromatic acid levels also are elevated during the onset of the industrial period from 1780 to 1860 CE, but with a different ratio of vanillic and para-hydroxybenzoic acid than is observed during the preindustrial period. This study provides the first millennial-scale record of aromatic acids. This study clearly demonstrates that coherent aromatic acid signals are recorded in polar ice cores that can be used as proxies for past trends in biomass burning.

Description: Late Quaternary permafrost of northern latitudes contains large proportions of ground ice, including pore ice, segregation ice, massive ice, buried glacier ice and in particular ice wedges. Fossil ice-wedges are remnants of polygonal patterned ground in former tundra areas, which evolved over several tens of thousands of years in non-glaciated Beringia. Ice wedges originate from repeated frost cracking of the ground in winter and subsequent crack filling by snowmelt and re-freezing in the ground in spring. Hence, the stable water isotope composition (δ18O, δD, d excess) of wedge ice derives from winter precipitation and is commonly interpreted as wintertime climate proxy. Paleoclimate studies based on ice-wedge isotope data cover different timescales and periods of the late Quaternary. (MIS 6 to MIS 1). In the long-term scale the temporal resolution is rather low and corresponds to mid- and late Pleistocene and Holocene stratigraphic units. Recent progress has been made in developing centennial Late Glacial and Holocene time series of ice-wedge stable isotopes by applying radiocarbon dating of organic remains in ice samples. Ice wedges exposed at both coasts of the Dmitry Laptev Strait (East Siberian Sea) were studied to deduce winter climate conditions since about 200 kyr. Ice wedges aligned to distinct late Quaternary permafrost strata were studied for their isotopic composition and dated by radiocarbon ages of organic matter within the wedge ice or by cosmogenic nuclide ratios (36Cl/Cl-) of the ice. The paleoclimate interpretation is furthermore based on geocryological and paleoecological proxy data and geochronological information (radiocarbon, luminescence, radioisotope disequilibria 230Th/U) from ice-wedge embedding frozen deposits. Coldest winter conditions are mirrored by most negative δ18O mean values of -37 ‰ and δD mean values of -290 ‰ from ice wedges of the Last Glacial Maximum (26 to 22 kyr BP) while late Holocene (since about 4 kyr BP) and in particular modern ice wedges (last about 20 years) capture warmest winter conditions by δ18O mean values of -25 and -21 ‰ and δD mean values of -192 ‰ and -158 ‰, respectively. Further winter-climate variability on stadial-interstadial Quaternary scale is mirrored by the isotopic composition of related ice wedges.