Late Quaternary permafrost dynamics of the Beringian land bridge - Sediment and ground-ice studies on the Baldwin Peninsula (West Alaska) during spring and summer 2024
In order to investigate the late Pleistocene permafrost, landscape, and climate dynamics on the eastern side of the Beringian land bridge in the spring and summer of 2024, during the expedition “West Alaska 2024,” field studies were carried out on the Baldwin Peninsula. Holocene thermokarst and cover deposits (MIS 1), late Pleistocene Yedoma Ice Complex deposits (MIS 3/2), and older interglacial and glaciofluvial deposits (likely MIS 5e and older) were investigated. This research complements and connects earlier studies across Beringia, i.e., in north-eastern Siberia, on the Seward Peninsula, near Fairbanks, and in the Klondike. Frozen sediments and ground ice (ice wedges and intra-sedimental pore and segregated ice) were sampled and described. First analyses of the ice content were carried out during the expedition. Analyses of stable water isotopes of ground ice, stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes of organic matter, age determination (radiocarbon and optically and infrared stimulated luminescence), determination of organic matter composition, analysis of biomarkers, sediment properties, and studies of paleoecology are currently in progress. Our poster will present field data (permafrost profiles, sediment, and ground ice properties) and first laboratory results from the expedition near Kotzebue on the Baldwin Peninsula. The external conditions during the two phases of the expedition were excellent. We used snowmobiles in spring, as well as boats and four-wheeled vehicles to reach the outcrops in summer. In Kotzebue, we had very good conditions for sample processing and initial laboratory work, including freezer capacity to keep all the samples frozen.