The genesis of Yedoma Ice Complex permafrost – grain-size endmember modeling analysis from Siberia and Alaska

Schirrmeister, Lutz; Dietze, Elisabeth; Matthes, Heidrun; Grosse, Guido; Strauss, Jens; Laboor, Sebastian; Ulrich, Mathias; Kienast, Frank; Wetterich, Sebastian

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-69-33-2020

Articles | Volume 69, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-69-33-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-69-33-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 69, issue 1

Research article

|

25 May 2020

Research article |

| 25 May 2020

The genesis of Yedoma Ice Complex permafrost – grain-size endmember modeling analysis from Siberia and Alaska

Lutz Schirrmeister, Elisabeth Dietze, Heidrun Matthes, Guido Grosse, Jens Strauss, Sebastian Laboor, Mathias Ulrich, Frank Kienast, and Sebastian Wetterich

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-69-33-2020-supplement

Data sets

Cryolitholgical, biogeochemical and geochronological data from Byk_98_Mkh, Bykovsky Peninsula in 1998 L. Schirrmeister https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.877882

Cryolitholgical, biogeochemical and geochronological data from Byk_99_Mkh, Bykovsky Peninsula in 1999 L. Schirrmeister https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.877886

Sedimentological, biogeochemical and geochronological data from the Lena Delta 2000 L. Schirrmeister, G. Grosse, V. V. Kunitsky, and C. Siegert https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.884072

OSL age determination and sedimentological characteristics of the Batagay thaw slump, Northeastern Siberia K. Ashastina, L. Schirrmeister, M. C. Fuchs, and F. Kienast https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.877346

Grain size distribution of the Batagay thaw slump, Northeastern Siberia K. Ashastina, L. Schirrmeister, D. Scheidemann, M. C. Fuchs, and F. Kienast https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.877345

Sedimentological, biogeochemical and geochronological data from permafrost deposit Nagym L. Schirrmeister, G. Grosse, V. V. Kunitsky, and C. Siegert https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.884063

Documentation of sediment profile Kha-3 L. Schirrmeister https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.611549

Documentation of outcrop Mamontovy Khayata L. Schirrmeister https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.615798

Sediment, ground ice, geochronological and paleoecological data from polygon cores in the Siberian Arctic L. Schirrmeister, A. A. Bobrov, E. Raschke, and S. Wetterich https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.887933

Characteristics of samples obtained during Pokhodsk 2012-2013 campaigns in the joint Russian-German POLYGON Project L. Schirrmeister, L. A. Pestryakova, A. Schneider, and S. Wetterich https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.858643

Sedimentological, biogeochemical and geochronological data from permafrost exposures of the Bol'shoy Lyakhovsky Island (Expedition 1999), site 1TZ L. Schirrmeister, G. Grosse, V. V. Kunitsky, and C. Siegert https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.880929

Sedimentological, biogeochemical and geochronological data from permafrost exposures of the Bol'shoy Lyakhovsky Island (Expedition 1999), site 3TZ L. Schirrmeister, G. Grosse, V. V. Kunitsky, and C. Siegert https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.880931

Sedimentological, biogeochemical and geochronological data from permafrost exposures of the Bol'shoy Lyakhovsky Island (Expedition 1999), site R8+50 L. Schirrmeister, G. Grosse, V. V. Kunitsky, and C. Siegert https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.880951

Sediment data from polygon core in the Siberian Arctic L. Schirrmeister, A. A. Bobrov, E. Raschke, and S. Wetterich https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.887931

Sedimentological, biogeochemical and geochronological data from permafrost deposit Kurungnakh L. Schirrmeister, G. Grosse, V. V. Kunitsky, and C. Siegert https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.884069

Short summary

Late Pleistocene Yedoma deposits of Siberia and Alaska are prone to degradation with warming temperatures. Multimodal grain-size distributions of >700 samples indicate varieties of sediment production, transport, and deposition. These processes were disentangled using robust endmember modeling analysis. Nine robust grain-size endmembers characterize these deposits. The data set was finally classified using cluster analysis. The polygenetic Yedoma origin is proved.