TY - JOUR

T1 - Fluvial and permafrost history of the lower Lena River, north-eastern Siberia, over late Quaternary time

AU - Schwamborn, Georg

AU - Schirrmeister, Lutz

AU - Mohammadi, Ali

AU - Meyer, Hanno

AU - Kartoziia, Andrei

AU - Maggioni, Flavio

AU - Strauss, Jens

N1 - Funding Information: The financial and logistical support from AWI (Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam) is highly appreciated. We thank colleagues from AARI (Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, St. Petersburg), IPGG (Trofimuk Institute for Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk), and MPI‐Y (Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Yakutsk) for making this drilling successful. ITU (Istanbul Technical University) supported the project through a BAP grant (ID: 42610 MAB‐2021‐42610). Loeka Jongejans, Mikhail Grigoriev, Dmitry Bolshiyanov, Paul Overduin, Antje Eulenburg, Mikaela Weiner, Justin Lindemann, Emin Çiftçi and Gültekin Topuz are thanked a lot, since they helped at various stages of sample processing. Comments of two reviewers (G. Fedorov and anonymous) on the first draft helped to improve the manuscript. The authors declare no conflict of interest with regard to this manuscript. We acknowledge support by the Open Access Publication Funds of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research. Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors. Sedimentology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Association of Sedimentologists.

PY - 2023/1/1

Y1 - 2023/1/1

N2 - Arctic warming and permafrost thaw visibly expose changes in the landscape of the Lena River delta, the largest Arctic delta. Determining the past and modern river regime of thick deltaic deposits shaping the Lena River mouth in north-eastern Siberia is critical for understanding the history of delta formation and carbon sequestration. Using a 65 m long sediment core from the delta apex a set of sedimentological techniques is applied to aid in reconstructing the Lena River history. The analysis includes: (i) grain-size measurements and the determination of the bedload composition; (ii) X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffractometry, and magnetic susceptibility measurements and heavy mineral analysis for tracking mineral change; (iii) pH, electrical conductivity, ionic concentrations, and the δ18O and δD stable isotope composition from ground ice for reconstructing permafrost formation. In addition; (iv) total and dissolved organic carbon is assessed. Chronology is based on; (vi) radiocarbon dating of organic material (accelerator mass spectrometry and conventional) and is complemented by two infrared – optically stimulated luminescence dates. The record stretches back approximately to Marine Isotope Stage 7. It holds periods from traction, over saltation, to suspension load sedimentation. Minerogenic signals do not indicate provenance change over time. They rather reflect the change from high energy to a lower energy regime after Last Glacial Maximum time parallel to the fining-up grain-size trend. A prominent minimum in the ground ice stable isotope record at early Holocene highlights that a river arm migration and an associated refreeze of the underlying river talik has altered the isotopic composition at that time. Fluvial re-routing might be explained by internal dynamics in the Lena River lowland or due to a tectonic movement, since the study area is placed in a zone of seismic activity. At the southern Laptev Sea margin, onshore continental compressional patterns are bordering offshore extensional normal faults.

AB - Arctic warming and permafrost thaw visibly expose changes in the landscape of the Lena River delta, the largest Arctic delta. Determining the past and modern river regime of thick deltaic deposits shaping the Lena River mouth in north-eastern Siberia is critical for understanding the history of delta formation and carbon sequestration. Using a 65 m long sediment core from the delta apex a set of sedimentological techniques is applied to aid in reconstructing the Lena River history. The analysis includes: (i) grain-size measurements and the determination of the bedload composition; (ii) X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffractometry, and magnetic susceptibility measurements and heavy mineral analysis for tracking mineral change; (iii) pH, electrical conductivity, ionic concentrations, and the δ18O and δD stable isotope composition from ground ice for reconstructing permafrost formation. In addition; (iv) total and dissolved organic carbon is assessed. Chronology is based on; (vi) radiocarbon dating of organic material (accelerator mass spectrometry and conventional) and is complemented by two infrared – optically stimulated luminescence dates. The record stretches back approximately to Marine Isotope Stage 7. It holds periods from traction, over saltation, to suspension load sedimentation. Minerogenic signals do not indicate provenance change over time. They rather reflect the change from high energy to a lower energy regime after Last Glacial Maximum time parallel to the fining-up grain-size trend. A prominent minimum in the ground ice stable isotope record at early Holocene highlights that a river arm migration and an associated refreeze of the underlying river talik has altered the isotopic composition at that time. Fluvial re-routing might be explained by internal dynamics in the Lena River lowland or due to a tectonic movement, since the study area is placed in a zone of seismic activity. At the southern Laptev Sea margin, onshore continental compressional patterns are bordering offshore extensional normal faults.

KW - Lena River

KW - north-eastern Siberia

KW - palaeoenvironment

KW - permafrost

KW - Quaternary

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85138965553&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/7a52ac68-89ab-38ec-a84a-7e1ba2b51955/

U2 - 10.1111/sed.13037

DO - 10.1111/sed.13037

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85138965553

VL - 70

SP - 235

EP - 258

JO - Sedimentology

JF - Sedimentology

SN - 0037-0746

IS - 1

ER -