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Iceberg discharge to the Chukchi shelf during the Younger Dryas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Jenna C. Hill  and
Neal W. Driscoll
Jenna C. Hill*
Affiliation:
Burroughs & Chapin Center for Marine & Wetland Studies, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC, USA
Neal W. Driscoll
Affiliation:
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
*
⁎Corresponding author. E-mail address:[email protected] (J.C. Hill).
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Abstract

The extent of glaciation in northwestern Alaska, the source of sediment supply to the Chukchi shelf and slope, and the movement of sea ice and icebergs across the shelf during the last glacial maximum (LGM) remain poorly constrained. Here we present geophysical and geological data from the outer Chukchi margin that reveal a regionally extensive, heavily ice-scoured surface ∼ 5–8 m below the modern seafloor. Radiocarbon dating of this discrete event yields age estimates between 10,600 and 11,900 14C yr BP, indicating the discharge event occurred during the Younger Dryas. Based on mineralogy of the ice-rafted debris, the icebergs appear to be sourced from the northwestern Alaskan margin, which places important constraints on the ice extent in northern Alaska during the LGM as well as existing circulation models for the region.

Keywords

Marine GeologyChukchi shelfIceberg dischargeYounger DryasGlaciation
Type
Short Paper
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 74 , Issue 1 , July 2010 , pp. 57 - 62
Copyright
University of Washington

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