ALBERT

Description: Deglacial (12.8–10.7 ka) sea-level history on the East Siberian continental shelf/upper continental slope was reconstructed using new geophysical records and sediment cores taken during Leg 2 of the 2014 SWERUS-C3 expedition. The focus of this study is two cores from Herald Canyon, piston core SWERUS-L2-4-PC1 (4-PC) and multicore SWERUS-L2-4-MC1 (4-MC1) and a gravity core from an East Siberian Sea Transect, SWERUS-L2-20-GC1 (20-GC). Cores 4-PC1 and 20-GC were taken at 120 m and 115 m modern water depth, respectively, only a few meters above the global last glacial maximum (LGM, ~ 24 kiloannum (ka)) minimum sea level of ~ 125–130 meters below sea level (mbsl). Using calibrated radiocarbon ages mainly on molluscs for chronology and the ecology of benthic foraminifera and ostracode species to estimate paleo-depths, the data reveal dominance of river-proximal species during the early part of the Younger Dryas event (YD, Greenland Stadial GS-1) followed by a rise in river-intermediate species in the late Younger Dryas or the early Holocene (Preboreal) period. A rapid relative sea-level rise beginning roughly 11.4 to 10.8 ka (~ 400 cm core depth) during is indicated by a sharp faunal change and unconformity or condensed zone of sedimentation. Regional sea level at this time was about 108 mbsl at the 4-PC1 site and 102 mbsl at 20-GC. Regional sea-level during the YD was about 40 to 50 meters lower than those predicted by geophysical models corrected for glacio-isostatic adjustment. This discrepancy could be explained by delayed isostatic adjustment caused by a greater volume and/or geographical extent of glacial-age land ice and/or ice shelves in the western Arctic Ocean and adjacent Siberian land areas.