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Chlorine-36 and 14C chronology support a limited last glacial maximum across central Chukotka, northeastern Siberia, and no Beringian ice sheet

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Julie Brigham-Grette*
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
Lyn M. Gualtieri
Affiliation:
Quaternary Research Center, Box 351360, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1360, USA
Olga Yu Glushkova
Affiliation:
Northeast Interdisciplinary Research Institute, Far Eastern Branch Russian Academy of Sciences, 16 Portovaya St., Magadan 685000 Russia
Thomas D. Hamilton
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, 4200 University Drive, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA
David Mostoller
Affiliation:
Weston & Sampson Engineers, Inc., 195 Hanover Street, Suite 28, Portsmouth, NH 03801, USA
Anatoly Kotov
Affiliation:
Chukotka Science Center, Anadyr, Chukotka Region, Russia
*
*Corresponding author. Email Address:[email protected]

Abstract

The Pekulney Mountains and adjacent Tanyurer River valley are key regions for examining the nature of glaciation across much of northeast Russia. Twelve new cosmogenic isotope ages and 14 new radiocarbon ages in concert with morphometric analyses and terrace stratigraphy constrain the timing of glaciation in this region of central Chukotka. The Sartan Glaciation (Last Glacial Maximum) was limited in extent in the Pekulney Mountains and dates to ∼20,000 yr ago. Cosmogenic isotope ages > 30,000 yr as well as non-finite radiocarbon ages imply an estimated age no younger than the Zyryan Glaciation (early Wisconsinan) for large sets of moraines found in the central Tanyurer Valley. Slope angles on these loess-mantled ridges are less than a few degrees and crest widths are an order of magnitude greater than those found on the younger Sartan moraines. The most extensive moraines in the lower Tanyurer Valley are most subdued implying an even older, probable middle Pleistocene age. This research provides direct field evidence against Grosswald’s Beringian ice-sheet hypothesis.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Elsevier Science (USA)

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