Holocene paleoenvironmental change based on diatom records from the continental shelf of the Chukchi Sea in the Arctic Ocean

Abstract

Diatom assemblages from ARA2B-1A taken in the Chukchi Sea shelf were analyzed to reconstruct paleoenvironmental changes during the last 10 ka BP. The main factors controlling the distribution of diatom in the Chukchi Sea are the relatively warm and nutrient-rich Pacific water inflow after the opening of the Bering Strait. Based on the selected diatoms, three diatom assemblage zones are identified. The diatom assemblage zone I shows a rare or very low abundance, which corresponds to the early Holocene (10–8 ka BP). The diatom assemblage zone II corresponds to the mid-to-late Holocene (8–2 ka BP). It is a seasonal sea-ice environment with relatively abundant diatom valves and Chaetoceors resting spores, as well as sea-ice species, cold-water species, coastal species, and upwelling species. The diatom assemblage zone III corresponds to the late Holocene (2–0 ka BP), and the the sea-ice species generally decreased compared to zone II, while the coastal species Paralia sulcata occurred abundantly. In particular, the Thalassiosira antarctica, a cold-water species, increased distinctly during this time interval. After ∼2 ka BP, T. antarctica rapidly increased while sea-ice species rarely appeared, indicating limited open-marine environments. In particular, after 1 ka BP, T. antarctica decreased while the sea-ice species increased, suggesting that the sea-ice increased again before the recent global warming of the Arctic, the late Holocene.