Deglacial and Holocene sediment dynamics and provenances off Lancaster Sound: Implications for paleoenvironmental conditions in northern Baffin Bay

Emmanuel Okuma; Johanna Hingst; Jens Weiser; Lina Madaj; Jürgen Titschack; Christoph Vogt; Markus Kienast; Claude Hillaire-Marcel; Dierk Hebbeln; Simone A. Kasemann

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108101

Deglacial and Holocene sediment dynamics and provenances off Lancaster Sound: Implications for paleoenvironmental conditions in northern Baffin Bay

Emmanuel Okuma^*, Johanna Hingst, Jens Weiser, Lina Madaj, Jürgen Titschack, Christoph Vogt, Markus Kienast, Claude Hillaire-Marcel, Dierk Hebbeln, Simone A. Kasemann

^*Corresponding author for this work

Earth and Climate

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Since the last deglaciation, Baffin Bay between Greenland and Canada developed from an isolated marginal sea to a major Arctic-Atlantic throughflow closely linked to the North Atlantic circulation. While the initial steps of gateway openings through Lancaster Sound and Nares Strait to northern Baffin Bay are reasonably well documented, far less is known about related regional deglacial-to-Holocene changes in sediment sources and depositional processes due to a lack of continuous and well-dated paleoenvironmental records from northern Baffin Bay. Sedimentological, mineralogical, and radiogenic isotope data of the well-dated sediment core GeoB22336-4 from the mouth of Lancaster Sound provide new insights on the impacts of ice-sheet retreat and opening of the gateways to the Arctic Ocean on the depositional setting. Basal subglacial till deposits point to a grounded ice stream at the mouth of Lancaster Sound before ∼14.5 ka BP. Subsequent glaciomarine sedimentation is characterized by the input of ice-rafted detritus (IRD), bioturbation traces, and foraminifera shells. Decreasing sediment supply and input of IRD through time reflects a period of ice-sheet recession to predominantly land-terminating positions during the Early Holocene. Changes in radiogenic isotope signatures reveal the openings of Lancaster Sound between ∼10.4 and 9.9 ka BP and of Nares Strait between 8.5 and 8.2 ka BP, in alignment with earlier studies. The rapid mid-Holocene (up to ∼5.8 ka BP) deposition of fine-grained sediments is most likely caused by enhanced sea ice-rafted sediment input released under a strong West Greenland Current influence. Finally, a slight increase in IRD input during the last ∼2 ka BP is linked to the neoglacial re-advance of regional glaciers.

Original language	English
Article number	108101
Pages (from-to)	1-15
Number of pages	15
Journal	Quaternary Science Reviews
Volume	309
Early online date	5 May 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108101
Publication status	Published - 1 Jun 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We gratefully acknowledge the master and crew of the R/V Maria S. Merian for their work during cruise MSM66. Sample material has been provided by the GeoB Core Repository at the MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Germany. We gratefully acknowledge Klinikum Bremen-Mitte and Christian Timann and Arne-Jörn Lemke for supporting the CT measurements in their facilities. Thanks to Ruediger Stein and the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research for providing sediment samples from Core PS72/287-3 recovered during Polarstern Expedition ARK-XXIII/3 in 2008. We also thank the XRD Lab Team of Johannes Birkenstock, Ella Schmidt, and Reinhard Fischer for keeping the XRD machines always online. This project was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Bonn, Germany) through the International Research Training Group “Processes and impacts of climate change in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Canadian Arctic” (IRTG 1904 ArcTrain).

Funding Information:
While at first glance, such a change in provenance might also be a reason for the observed increase in sediment accumulation, this appears rather unlikely here as towards the end of Unit 4, sedimentation rates decrease by ∼50% without any major change in sediment composition (Figs. 3 and 5). Consequently, the sedimentation rates of Unit 4, which are associated with over 85 vol% of fine-grained sediments, most likely reflect a change in the dominant sedimentation process. Interestingly, such increases in sedimentation rates by 2 to >5 fold are a common feature in Northern Baffin Bay during this time window (Fig. S1), which roughly coincided with the regional Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM; broadly spanning from ∼8.5 to ∼5 ka BP; Kaufman et al., 2004; Jennings et al., 2011; Gajewski, 2015; Briner et al., 2016). Accordingly, St-Onge and St-Onge (2014) attributed similar observations of predominately fine-grained sediments in core 42 PC to sedimentation from suspension settling (hemipelagic origin). This interpretation may be supported by warmer and wetter Arctic conditions during the mid-Holocene (Thomas et al., 2018; Chen et al., 2022). Such environmental conditions would have favored increased terrestrial freshwater runoffs, resulting in enhanced delivery of suspended sediments (suspension cloud) mainly to the nearby fjords and shelves around northern Baffin Bay, as observed today along the west Greenland coastline (Overeem et al., 2017). However, the bordering LIS, IIS, and GIS approached their minimum areal extent after 8.5 ka BP (Dyke et al., 2003; Funder et al., 2011; Dalton et al., 2020), coinciding with decreasing Arctic summer solar insolation (Laskar et al., 2004) and low melting rates (e.g., Agassiz melt record, Fisher et al., 2012) (Fig. 5). Thus, resulting low amounts of meltwater and, hence, reduced sediment discharge is clearly in conflict with the above interpretation.We gratefully acknowledge the master and crew of the R/V Maria S. Merian for their work during cruise MSM66. Sample material has been provided by the GeoB Core Repository at the MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Germany. We gratefully acknowledge Klinikum Bremen-Mitte and Christian Timann and Arne-Jörn Lemke for supporting the CT measurements in their facilities. Thanks to Ruediger Stein and the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research for providing sediment samples from Core PS72/287-3 recovered during Polarstern Expedition ARK-XXIII/3 in 2008. We also thank the XRD Lab Team of Johannes Birkenstock, Ella Schmidt, and Reinhard Fischer for keeping the XRD machines always online. This project was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Bonn, Germany) through the International Research Training Group “Processes and impacts of climate change in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Canadian Arctic” (IRTG 1904 ArcTrain).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors

Keywords

Baffin Bay
Computed tomography
Deglaciation
Detrital carbonate
Holocene
Lancaster Sound
Radiogenic isotopes
Sedimentology
X-ray diffraction

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Okuma, E., Hingst, J., Weiser, J., Madaj, L., Titschack, J., Vogt, C., Kienast, M., Hillaire-Marcel, C., Hebbeln, D., & Kasemann, S. A. (2023). Deglacial and Holocene sediment dynamics and provenances off Lancaster Sound: Implications for paleoenvironmental conditions in northern Baffin Bay. Quaternary Science Reviews, 309, 1-15. Article 108101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108101

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title = "Deglacial and Holocene sediment dynamics and provenances off Lancaster Sound: Implications for paleoenvironmental conditions in northern Baffin Bay",

abstract = "Since the last deglaciation, Baffin Bay between Greenland and Canada developed from an isolated marginal sea to a major Arctic-Atlantic throughflow closely linked to the North Atlantic circulation. While the initial steps of gateway openings through Lancaster Sound and Nares Strait to northern Baffin Bay are reasonably well documented, far less is known about related regional deglacial-to-Holocene changes in sediment sources and depositional processes due to a lack of continuous and well-dated paleoenvironmental records from northern Baffin Bay. Sedimentological, mineralogical, and radiogenic isotope data of the well-dated sediment core GeoB22336-4 from the mouth of Lancaster Sound provide new insights on the impacts of ice-sheet retreat and opening of the gateways to the Arctic Ocean on the depositional setting. Basal subglacial till deposits point to a grounded ice stream at the mouth of Lancaster Sound before ∼14.5 ka BP. Subsequent glaciomarine sedimentation is characterized by the input of ice-rafted detritus (IRD), bioturbation traces, and foraminifera shells. Decreasing sediment supply and input of IRD through time reflects a period of ice-sheet recession to predominantly land-terminating positions during the Early Holocene. Changes in radiogenic isotope signatures reveal the openings of Lancaster Sound between ∼10.4 and 9.9 ka BP and of Nares Strait between 8.5 and 8.2 ka BP, in alignment with earlier studies. The rapid mid-Holocene (up to ∼5.8 ka BP) deposition of fine-grained sediments is most likely caused by enhanced sea ice-rafted sediment input released under a strong West Greenland Current influence. Finally, a slight increase in IRD input during the last ∼2 ka BP is linked to the neoglacial re-advance of regional glaciers.",

keywords = "Baffin Bay, Computed tomography, Deglaciation, Detrital carbonate, Holocene, Lancaster Sound, Radiogenic isotopes, Sedimentology, X-ray diffraction",

author = "Emmanuel Okuma and Johanna Hingst and Jens Weiser and Lina Madaj and J{\"u}rgen Titschack and Christoph Vogt and Markus Kienast and Claude Hillaire-Marcel and Dierk Hebbeln and Kasemann, {Simone A.}",

note = "Funding Information: We gratefully acknowledge the master and crew of the R/V Maria S. Merian for their work during cruise MSM66. Sample material has been provided by the GeoB Core Repository at the MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Germany. We gratefully acknowledge Klinikum Bremen-Mitte and Christian Timann and Arne-J{\"o}rn Lemke for supporting the CT measurements in their facilities. Thanks to Ruediger Stein and the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research for providing sediment samples from Core PS72/287-3 recovered during Polarstern Expedition ARK-XXIII/3 in 2008. We also thank the XRD Lab Team of Johannes Birkenstock, Ella Schmidt, and Reinhard Fischer for keeping the XRD machines always online. This project was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Bonn, Germany) through the International Research Training Group “Processes and impacts of climate change in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Canadian Arctic” (IRTG 1904 ArcTrain). Funding Information: While at first glance, such a change in provenance might also be a reason for the observed increase in sediment accumulation, this appears rather unlikely here as towards the end of Unit 4, sedimentation rates decrease by ∼50% without any major change in sediment composition (Figs. 3 and 5). Consequently, the sedimentation rates of Unit 4, which are associated with over 85 vol% of fine-grained sediments, most likely reflect a change in the dominant sedimentation process. Interestingly, such increases in sedimentation rates by 2 to >5 fold are a common feature in Northern Baffin Bay during this time window (Fig. S1), which roughly coincided with the regional Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM; broadly spanning from ∼8.5 to ∼5 ka BP; Kaufman et al., 2004; Jennings et al., 2011; Gajewski, 2015; Briner et al., 2016). Accordingly, St-Onge and St-Onge (2014) attributed similar observations of predominately fine-grained sediments in core 42 PC to sedimentation from suspension settling (hemipelagic origin). This interpretation may be supported by warmer and wetter Arctic conditions during the mid-Holocene (Thomas et al., 2018; Chen et al., 2022). Such environmental conditions would have favored increased terrestrial freshwater runoffs, resulting in enhanced delivery of suspended sediments (suspension cloud) mainly to the nearby fjords and shelves around northern Baffin Bay, as observed today along the west Greenland coastline (Overeem et al., 2017). However, the bordering LIS, IIS, and GIS approached their minimum areal extent after 8.5 ka BP (Dyke et al., 2003; Funder et al., 2011; Dalton et al., 2020), coinciding with decreasing Arctic summer solar insolation (Laskar et al., 2004) and low melting rates (e.g., Agassiz melt record, Fisher et al., 2012) (Fig. 5). Thus, resulting low amounts of meltwater and, hence, reduced sediment discharge is clearly in conflict with the above interpretation.We gratefully acknowledge the master and crew of the R/V Maria S. Merian for their work during cruise MSM66. Sample material has been provided by the GeoB Core Repository at the MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Germany. We gratefully acknowledge Klinikum Bremen-Mitte and Christian Timann and Arne-J{\"o}rn Lemke for supporting the CT measurements in their facilities. Thanks to Ruediger Stein and the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research for providing sediment samples from Core PS72/287-3 recovered during Polarstern Expedition ARK-XXIII/3 in 2008. We also thank the XRD Lab Team of Johannes Birkenstock, Ella Schmidt, and Reinhard Fischer for keeping the XRD machines always online. This project was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Bonn, Germany) through the International Research Training Group “Processes and impacts of climate change in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Canadian Arctic” (IRTG 1904 ArcTrain). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors",

year = "2023",

month = jun,

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doi = "10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108101",

language = "English",

volume = "309",

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Okuma, E, Hingst, J, Weiser, J, Madaj, L, Titschack, J, Vogt, C, Kienast, M, Hillaire-Marcel, C, Hebbeln, D & Kasemann, SA 2023, 'Deglacial and Holocene sediment dynamics and provenances off Lancaster Sound: Implications for paleoenvironmental conditions in northern Baffin Bay', Quaternary Science Reviews, vol. 309, 108101, pp. 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108101

TY - JOUR

T1 - Deglacial and Holocene sediment dynamics and provenances off Lancaster Sound

T2 - Implications for paleoenvironmental conditions in northern Baffin Bay

AU - Okuma, Emmanuel

AU - Hingst, Johanna

AU - Weiser, Jens

AU - Madaj, Lina

AU - Titschack, Jürgen

AU - Vogt, Christoph

AU - Kienast, Markus

AU - Hillaire-Marcel, Claude

AU - Hebbeln, Dierk

AU - Kasemann, Simone A.

N1 - Funding Information: We gratefully acknowledge the master and crew of the R/V Maria S. Merian for their work during cruise MSM66. Sample material has been provided by the GeoB Core Repository at the MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Germany. We gratefully acknowledge Klinikum Bremen-Mitte and Christian Timann and Arne-Jörn Lemke for supporting the CT measurements in their facilities. Thanks to Ruediger Stein and the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research for providing sediment samples from Core PS72/287-3 recovered during Polarstern Expedition ARK-XXIII/3 in 2008. We also thank the XRD Lab Team of Johannes Birkenstock, Ella Schmidt, and Reinhard Fischer for keeping the XRD machines always online. This project was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Bonn, Germany) through the International Research Training Group “Processes and impacts of climate change in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Canadian Arctic” (IRTG 1904 ArcTrain). Funding Information: While at first glance, such a change in provenance might also be a reason for the observed increase in sediment accumulation, this appears rather unlikely here as towards the end of Unit 4, sedimentation rates decrease by ∼50% without any major change in sediment composition (Figs. 3 and 5). Consequently, the sedimentation rates of Unit 4, which are associated with over 85 vol% of fine-grained sediments, most likely reflect a change in the dominant sedimentation process. Interestingly, such increases in sedimentation rates by 2 to >5 fold are a common feature in Northern Baffin Bay during this time window (Fig. S1), which roughly coincided with the regional Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM; broadly spanning from ∼8.5 to ∼5 ka BP; Kaufman et al., 2004; Jennings et al., 2011; Gajewski, 2015; Briner et al., 2016). Accordingly, St-Onge and St-Onge (2014) attributed similar observations of predominately fine-grained sediments in core 42 PC to sedimentation from suspension settling (hemipelagic origin). This interpretation may be supported by warmer and wetter Arctic conditions during the mid-Holocene (Thomas et al., 2018; Chen et al., 2022). Such environmental conditions would have favored increased terrestrial freshwater runoffs, resulting in enhanced delivery of suspended sediments (suspension cloud) mainly to the nearby fjords and shelves around northern Baffin Bay, as observed today along the west Greenland coastline (Overeem et al., 2017). However, the bordering LIS, IIS, and GIS approached their minimum areal extent after 8.5 ka BP (Dyke et al., 2003; Funder et al., 2011; Dalton et al., 2020), coinciding with decreasing Arctic summer solar insolation (Laskar et al., 2004) and low melting rates (e.g., Agassiz melt record, Fisher et al., 2012) (Fig. 5). Thus, resulting low amounts of meltwater and, hence, reduced sediment discharge is clearly in conflict with the above interpretation.We gratefully acknowledge the master and crew of the R/V Maria S. Merian for their work during cruise MSM66. Sample material has been provided by the GeoB Core Repository at the MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Germany. We gratefully acknowledge Klinikum Bremen-Mitte and Christian Timann and Arne-Jörn Lemke for supporting the CT measurements in their facilities. Thanks to Ruediger Stein and the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research for providing sediment samples from Core PS72/287-3 recovered during Polarstern Expedition ARK-XXIII/3 in 2008. We also thank the XRD Lab Team of Johannes Birkenstock, Ella Schmidt, and Reinhard Fischer for keeping the XRD machines always online. This project was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Bonn, Germany) through the International Research Training Group “Processes and impacts of climate change in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Canadian Arctic” (IRTG 1904 ArcTrain). Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors

PY - 2023/6/1

Y1 - 2023/6/1

N2 - Since the last deglaciation, Baffin Bay between Greenland and Canada developed from an isolated marginal sea to a major Arctic-Atlantic throughflow closely linked to the North Atlantic circulation. While the initial steps of gateway openings through Lancaster Sound and Nares Strait to northern Baffin Bay are reasonably well documented, far less is known about related regional deglacial-to-Holocene changes in sediment sources and depositional processes due to a lack of continuous and well-dated paleoenvironmental records from northern Baffin Bay. Sedimentological, mineralogical, and radiogenic isotope data of the well-dated sediment core GeoB22336-4 from the mouth of Lancaster Sound provide new insights on the impacts of ice-sheet retreat and opening of the gateways to the Arctic Ocean on the depositional setting. Basal subglacial till deposits point to a grounded ice stream at the mouth of Lancaster Sound before ∼14.5 ka BP. Subsequent glaciomarine sedimentation is characterized by the input of ice-rafted detritus (IRD), bioturbation traces, and foraminifera shells. Decreasing sediment supply and input of IRD through time reflects a period of ice-sheet recession to predominantly land-terminating positions during the Early Holocene. Changes in radiogenic isotope signatures reveal the openings of Lancaster Sound between ∼10.4 and 9.9 ka BP and of Nares Strait between 8.5 and 8.2 ka BP, in alignment with earlier studies. The rapid mid-Holocene (up to ∼5.8 ka BP) deposition of fine-grained sediments is most likely caused by enhanced sea ice-rafted sediment input released under a strong West Greenland Current influence. Finally, a slight increase in IRD input during the last ∼2 ka BP is linked to the neoglacial re-advance of regional glaciers.

AB - Since the last deglaciation, Baffin Bay between Greenland and Canada developed from an isolated marginal sea to a major Arctic-Atlantic throughflow closely linked to the North Atlantic circulation. While the initial steps of gateway openings through Lancaster Sound and Nares Strait to northern Baffin Bay are reasonably well documented, far less is known about related regional deglacial-to-Holocene changes in sediment sources and depositional processes due to a lack of continuous and well-dated paleoenvironmental records from northern Baffin Bay. Sedimentological, mineralogical, and radiogenic isotope data of the well-dated sediment core GeoB22336-4 from the mouth of Lancaster Sound provide new insights on the impacts of ice-sheet retreat and opening of the gateways to the Arctic Ocean on the depositional setting. Basal subglacial till deposits point to a grounded ice stream at the mouth of Lancaster Sound before ∼14.5 ka BP. Subsequent glaciomarine sedimentation is characterized by the input of ice-rafted detritus (IRD), bioturbation traces, and foraminifera shells. Decreasing sediment supply and input of IRD through time reflects a period of ice-sheet recession to predominantly land-terminating positions during the Early Holocene. Changes in radiogenic isotope signatures reveal the openings of Lancaster Sound between ∼10.4 and 9.9 ka BP and of Nares Strait between 8.5 and 8.2 ka BP, in alignment with earlier studies. The rapid mid-Holocene (up to ∼5.8 ka BP) deposition of fine-grained sediments is most likely caused by enhanced sea ice-rafted sediment input released under a strong West Greenland Current influence. Finally, a slight increase in IRD input during the last ∼2 ka BP is linked to the neoglacial re-advance of regional glaciers.

KW - Baffin Bay

KW - Computed tomography

KW - Deglaciation

KW - Detrital carbonate

KW - Holocene

KW - Lancaster Sound

KW - Radiogenic isotopes

KW - Sedimentology

KW - X-ray diffraction

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SN - 0277-3791

VL - 309

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JO - Quaternary Science Reviews

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M1 - 108101

ER -

Deglacial and Holocene sediment dynamics and provenances off Lancaster Sound: Implications for paleoenvironmental conditions in northern Baffin Bay

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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