Changes in the Paleohydrological Conditions in the Laptev Sea during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene Based on a Study of Aquatic Palynomorphs

Abstract

Aquatic palynomorph assemblages in sediment cores obtained from the western Laptev Sea shelf make it possible to reconstruct the major phases of environmental changes related to the last postglacial global sea level rise for the time since 17.5 ka cal BP. In the time interval of 17.5–13.0 ka cal BP, in the western part of the studied sea, there was a very cold-water basin with a permanent sea ice cover; in 12.3–11.2 ka cal BP, the outer shelf was characterized by higher sedimentation from river runoff in the estuarial environment of the Anabar and Khatanga rivers; and the period of 11.2–7.0 ka cal BP was marked by the enhanced influence of Atlantic water at the continental margin of the Laptev Sea. The conditions close to present day were established in this part of the sea approximately 7.0 ka cal BP.