East Siberian Arctic Research Articles

Active multibeam sonar-derived bubble plume fluxes and dynamics.

By their nature, seeps are spatially and temporally variable and episodic; thus, effective emissions’ quantification presents significant challenges because local measurements likely are unrepresentative. A multibeam sonar system was developed to observe ebullition spatially and used to study water column bubble plume processes, as well as subsurface migration processes for seepage from the Coal Oil Point seep field and the East Siberian Arctic Sea is presented. The system is designed for deep-sea application related to hydrates as part of a benthic observatory.

Late-Pleistocene (MIS 3-2) palaeoenvironments as recorded by sediments, palaeosols, and ground-squirrel nests at Duvanny Yar, Kolyma lowland, northeast Siberia

A detailed study of the Duvanny Yar section in the Kolyma Lowland (Yakutia) provides the most extensive knowledge to date about late-Pleistocene soil formation processes and environments in the North–East Siberian Arctic. Late-Quaternary palaeoenvironmental changes were reconstructed using paleopedological data and a range of palaeoecological bio-indicators (palynomorphs, plant macrofossils and insects). The frozen sediments representing marine isotope stage 3 (MIS-3), which encompasses the Karginsky interstadial, include profiles of four palaeosols of different ages. The oldest palaeosol is early Karginskian, and three overlying soil horizons represent a late-Karginskian pedocomplex. Palaeopedological data indicate a change of from synlithogenic soil formation processes to epigenic ones during these intervals. The intervening periods of synlithogenic pedogenesis were accompanied by active accumulation of eolian deposits. The Earlier Karginskian period of pedogenesis occurred in the absence of eolian sedimentation and when summer conditions were warm. The wide spectrum of peaty and peaty-gley soils observed in the late-Karginskian deposits developed under conditions of progressive cooling. The structure and content of fossil rodent burrows dated to approximately 30 000 yr BP from frozen late-Pleistocene deposits at Duvanny Yar indicate an arid and severe climate, a depth of active layer of 60–80 cm, and a wide distribution of disturbed habitats with pioneer and steppe vegetation.

Methane from the East Siberian Arctic Shelf

In their Report “Extensive methane venting to the atmosphere from sediments of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf” (5 March, p. [1246][1]), N. Shakhova et al. write that methane (CH4) release resulting from thawing Arctic permafrost “is a likely positive feedback to climate warming.” They add

Methane from the East Siberian Arctic Shelf—Response

We thank Petrenko et al. for bringing attention to the community that, despite worrisome trends of warming in the Arctic with postulated positive climate-biogeochemistry feedback processes ([ 1 ][1]), there are still very few studies that can be cited for studying potentially relevant phenomena over

Geochemical and geophysical evidence of methane release over the East Siberian Arctic Shelf

The East Siberian Arctic Shelf (ESAS), which includes the Laptev Sea, the East Siberian Sea, and the Russian part of the Chukchi Sea, has not been considered to be a methane (CH4) source to hydrosphere or atmosphere because subsea permafrost, which underlies most of the ESAS, was believed, first, not to be conducive to methanogenesis and, second, to act as an impermeable lid, preventing CH4 escape through the seabed. Here recent observational data obtained during summer (2005–2006) and winter (2007) expeditions indicate the ubiquitous presence of elevated dissolved CH4 and an elevated atmospheric CH4 mixing ratio. The CH4 data were also analyzed together with high resolution seismic (HRS) data obtained by means of a “Sonic M‐141” system consisting of a high‐resolution profiler and side‐scan sonar mounted in a towed fish during the Transdrift‐X Expedition (2004) onboard the R/V Yakov Smirnitskiy. Results show anomalously high concentrations of dissolved CH4 (up to 5 μM) and an episodically (nongradually) increasing atmospheric mixing ratio of CH4 (up to 8.2 ppm) in some areas of the ESAS. A most likely source is year‐round CH4 release through taliks (columns of thawed sediments within permafrost) from seabed CH4 reservoirs such as shallow hydrates and geological sources. Such releases occur not only within the areas underlain by fault zones but also outside of them. This points to permafrost's failure to further preserve CH4 deposits in the ESAS. The total amount of carbon preserved within the ESAS as organic matter and ready to release CH4 from seabed deposits is predicted to be ∼1400 Gt. Release of only a small fraction of this reservoir, which was sealed with impermeable permafrost for thousands of years, would significantly alter the annual CH4 budget and have global implications, because the shallowness of the ESAS allows the majority of CH4 to pass through the water column and escape to the atmosphere.

METHANE FROM ARCTIC OCEAN

FAR MORE OF the greenhouse gas methane is seeping from seabed deposits in the Arctic shelf into the atmosphere than previously thought, a new study shows. The finding not only adds to growing evidence that Arctic oceanic outgassing is an important source of atmospheric methane but also adds a new variable for climate-change modelers as they consider the potential effects of oceanic warming. Natalia Shakhova and Igor Semiletov, research professors at the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and their colleagues spent more than five years monitoring dissolved methane in the water column of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf, as well as methane venting from the ocean to the atmosphere. They found that the amounts of outgassed methane are greater than was thought to be emitted by the entire world’s oceans ( Science 2010, 327, 1246). Methane is the third most prevalent greenhouse gas and has been known to seep from ...

Extensive Methane Venting to the Atmosphere from Sediments of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf

Remobilization to the atmosphere of only a small fraction of the methane held in East Siberian Arctic Shelf (ESAS) sediments could trigger abrupt climate warming, yet it is believed that sub-sea permafrost acts as a lid to keep this shallow methane reservoir in place. Here, we show that more than 5000 at-sea observations of dissolved methane demonstrates that greater than 80% of ESAS bottom waters and greater than 50% of surface waters are supersaturated with methane regarding to the atmosphere. The current atmospheric venting flux, which is composed of a diffusive component and a gradual ebullition component, is on par with previous estimates of methane venting from the entire World Ocean. Leakage of methane through shallow ESAS waters needs to be considered in interactions between the biogeosphere and a warming Arctic climate.

East Siberian Shelf Study Alleviates Scarcity of Observations

The East Siberian Arctic Shelf (ESAS) is the world's largest continental shelf and also the most understudied part of the Arctic Ocean. Composed of the Laptev Sea, the East Siberian Sea, and the Russian section of the Chukchi Sea, the ESAS is characterized by tundra discharge through the Lena, Indigirka, and Kolyma rivers; coastal erosion; methane seeps from subsea permafrost reservoirs; and the formation of water masses that spread throughout the Arctic Ocean.

Deep-seated pegmatites of the Emiytas mafic-ultramafic complex on Big Lyakhov Island, New Siberian Islands, and their age: 40Ar/39Ar and SHRIMP data

Pegmatites of the Emiytas basic-ultrabasic metamorphic complex have a granodiorite-granite composition. Their genetic relations with the host amphibolites follow from the low initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0.7028 and from the P-T conditions (650°C and 10 kbar), which are close to those of the host rocks. Amphibole, biotite, and muscovite megacrysts analyzed by the 40Ar/39Ar method yielded plateau ages of 209.7 ± 0.9, 203.0 ± 0.9, and 178.5 ± 1.5 Ma, respectively. The former two minerals contain excess Ar, whereas the K-Ar system of the muscovite is undisturbed. The cooling of the complex to the closure temperature of this system was likely controlled by its exhumation to a shallower depth level. Zircons from the Emiytas pegmatites occur as polyhedral equant crystals with weakly contrasting sectorial zoning, very low concentrations of U (4–8 ppm in the enriched domains), and low Th/U ratios (0.002–0.003), which suggest that the mineral crystallized at significant depth in the presence of fluid. Tentative SHRIMP II measurements (five analyses) yielded a zircon age of 202 ± 17 Ma. The applying a specialized approach to the analysis of young low-U zircons on an ion probe is discussed. In spite of the small number of analyses, new geochronologic data leave no doubt that the crystallization age of the pegmatites is Late Triassic-Early Jurassic and invalidate earlier ideas that the Emiytas complex is Precambrian-Early Paleozoic. This conclusion makes the Emiytas amphibolites to be one of the various oceanic and suprasubduction complexes related to the Mesozoic South Anyui suture, which is important for reconstructions of the tectonic evolution of the East Siberian Arctic shelf.

Continental climate in the East Siberian Arctic during the last interglacial: Implications from palaeobotanical records

To evaluate the consequences of possible future climate changes and to identify the main climate drivers in high latitudes, the vegetation and climate in the East Siberian Arctic during the last interglacial are reconstructed and compared with Holocene conditions. Plant macrofossils from permafrost deposits on Bol'shoy Lyakhovsky Island, New Siberian Archipelago, in the Russian Arctic revealed the existence of a shrubland dominated by Duschekia fruticosa, Betula nana and Ledum palustre and interspersed with lakes and grasslands during the last interglacial. The reconstructed vegetation differs fundamentally from the high arctic tundra that exists in this region today, but resembles an open variant of subarctic shrub tundra as occurring near the tree line about 350 km southwest of the study site. Such difference in the plant cover implies that, during the last interglacial, the mean summer temperature was considerably higher, the growing season was longer, and soils outside the range of thermokarst depressions were drier than today. Our pollen-based climatic reconstruction suggests a mean temperature of the warmest month (MTWA) range of 9–14.5 °C during the warmest interval of the last interglacial. The reconstruction from plant macrofossils, representing more local environments, reached MTWA values above 12.5 °C in contrast to today's 2.8 °C. We explain this contrast in summer temperature and soil moisture with a combination of summer insolation higher than present and climatic continentality in arctic Yakutia stronger than present as result of a considerably less inundated Laptev Shelf during the last interglacial.

Methane anomalies in the near-water atmospheric layer above the shelf of East Siberian Arctic shelf

Simultaneous measurements of methane in the nearwater atmospheric layer and in the surface water layer were carried out for the first time in a shallow-water region of the East Siberian shelf. It follows from the data obtained that the regions of anomalously high values of methane concentration in the air (up to 8 ppm) spatially coincide with the patches of anomalously high concentrations of methane dissolved in water (up to 5 · 10 2 nM). The analysis of possible sources allowed us to formulate a hypothesis that the genesis of the distinguished anomalies can may be related to the deep sources of methane anomalies. Deep sources of methane include modern methane and/or ancient methane accumulated in the deposits of natural gas and methane gas hydrates. During warm interglacial epochs, the high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere deliver methane into the atmosphere maintaining methane concentrations in the Arctic atmosphere higher by 8‐10% than that in the Antarctica atmosphere. During cold glacier epochs, this gradient decreases to practically insignificant levels [1]. Land ecosystems are considered the main sources of methane in the arctic region. A special role belongs to wetlands and thermal karst sink lakes underlining yearround by non-freezing talics regions. The total contribution of such ecosystems in the global methane cycle is estimated at 27‐28% (140‐145 Tg, where 1 Tg = 10 12 g) [2]. It is known that the Barrow atmospheric monitoring station in Barrow (Alaska, United States) annually records increased concentrations of methane in the atmosphere. Their maximums are continue from the summer season to the autumnal‐winter interseasonal period, when the production of land Arctic ecosystems decreases gradually and terminates [3]. Hence, the source maintaining high methane emission in the autumn‐winter period should possess a potential related to the influence of the other factors that are endemic for the Arctic region. Thus far, the role of marine Arctic ecosystems as methane sources has been considered insignificant. At the same time, data in [4, 5] indicate that the role of the Arctic Ocean (AO) is significantly underestimated. For example, the total flux contribution of methane into the atmosphere from the shallow-water part of the shelf only in the Russian seas of to the arctic region can reach the values comparable with the contribution of all continental seas the World Ocean [4]. In our opinion, the East Siberian Arctic shelf should be considered with special attention.

Seismic investigation of the El’gygytgyn impact crater lake (Central Chukotka, NE Siberia): preliminary results

The 12 km wide and about 175 m deep El’gygytgyn crater lake in Central Chukotka, NE Siberia, is of special interest for investigation as it could provide the first undisturbed 3.6 Ma terrestrial record from the Arctic realm, reaching back a million years before the first major glaciation of the Northern Hemisphere. A single-channel seismic survey was carried out on an expedition to the lake in 2000, in which both high resolution and deep penetration data were acquired. Seismic data suggest an impact crater structure in Cretaceous volcanic bedrock, indicated by velocities of >5000 m s−1, whose upper 500–600 m is brecciated. The lake is filled with two units of sediments, the upper one well stratified and the lower one massive. In the center of the lake, the combined thickness of the two sedimentary units is estimated to be 320–350 m. The upper unit is draped over the location of an interpreted central peak and is locally intercalated with debris flows, mainly in the western part of the lake and at the lake margins. Most of the lower unit is obscured by multiples as a result of high reflection coefficients in the upper unit. As at least the upper unit appears to be undisturbed by glaciation, the lake should yields unique information on the paleoclimatic development of the East Siberian Arctic.

Sedimentary geochemistry of core PG1351 from Lake El’gygytgyn—a sensitive record of climate variability in the East Siberian Arctic during the past three glacial–interglacial cycles

The ca. 13 m long sediment core PG1351, recovered in 1998 from the central part of Lake El’gygytgyn, NE Siberia, was investigated for lithostratigraphy, water content, dry bulk density (DBD), total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), total sulphur (TS) and biogenic silica (opal) contents, and for TOC stable isotope ratios (δ13CTOC). The event stratigraphy recorded in major differences in sediment composition match variations in regional summer insolation, thus confirming a new age model for this core, which suggests that it spans the last 250 ka BP. Four depositional units of contrasting lithological and biogeochemical composition have been distinguished, reflecting past environmental conditions associated with relatively warm, peak warm, cold and dry, and cold but more moist climate modes. A relatively warm climate, resulting in complete summer melt of the lake ice cover and seasonal mixing of the water column, prevailed during the Holocene and Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 3, 5.1, 5.3, 6.1, 6.3, 6.5, 7.1–7.3, 7.5, 8.1 and 8.3. MIS 5.5 (Eemian) was characterized by significantly enhanced aquatic primary production and organic matter supply from the catchment, indicating peak warm conditions. During MIS 2, 5.2, 5.4, 6.2 and 6.4 the climate was cold and dry, leading to perennial lake ice cover, little regional snowfall, and a stagnant water body. A cold but more moist climate during MIS 4, 6.6, 7.4, 8.2 and 8.4 is thought to have produced more snow cover on␣the perennial ice, strongly reducing light penetration and biogenic primary production in␣the lake. While the cold–warm pattern during␣the past three glacial–interglacial cycles is probably controlled by changes in regional summer insolation, differences in the intensity of the warm phases and in the degree of aridity (changing snowfall) during cold phases likely were due to changes in atmospheric circulation patterns.

Methane release and coastal environment in the East Siberian Arctic shelf

In this paper we present 2 years of data obtained during the late summer period (September 2003 and September 2004) for the East Siberian Arctic shelf (ESAS). According to our data, the surface layer of shelf water was supersaturated up to 2500% relative to the present average atmospheric methane content of 1.85 ppm, pointing to the rivers as a strong source of dissolved methane which comes from watersheds which are underlain with permafrost. Anomalously high concentrations (up to 154 nM or 4400% supersaturation) of dissolved methane in the bottom layer of shelf water at a few sites suggest that the bottom layer is somehow affected by near-bottom sources. The net flux of methane from this area of the East Siberian Arctic shelf can reach up to 13.7 × 10 4 g CH 4 km − 2 from plume areas during the period of ice free water, and thus is in the upper range of the estimated global marine methane release. Ongoing environmental change might affect the methane marine cycle since significant changes in the thermal regime of bottom sediments within a few sites were registered. Correlation between calculated methane storage within the water column and both integrated salinity values ( r = 0.61) and integrated values of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) ( r = 0.62) suggest that higher concentrations of dissolved methane were mostly derived from the marine environment, likely due to in-situ production or release from decaying submarine gas hydrates deposits. The calculated late summer potential methane emissions tend to vary from year to year, reflecting most likely the effect of changing hydrological and meteorological conditions (temperature, wind) on the ESAS rather than riverine export of dissolved methane. We point out additional sources of methane in this region such as submarine taliks, ice complex retreat, submarine permafrost itself and decaying gas hydrates deposits.

New insights into the Weichselian environment and climate of the East Siberian Arctic, derived from fossil insects, plants, and mammals

Multidisciplinary study of a key section on the Laptev Sea Coast (Bykovsky Peninsula, east Lena Delta) in 1998–2001 provides the most complete record of Middle and Late Weichselian environments in the East Siberian Arctic. The 40-m high Mamontovy Khayata cliff is a typical Ice Complex section built of icy silts with a network of large syngenetic polygonal ice wedges, and is richly fossiliferous. In combination with pollen, plant macrofossil and mammal fossils, a sequence of ca 70 insect samples provides a new interpretation of the environment and climate of the area between ca 50 and 12 ka. The large number of radiocarbon dates from the section, together with an extensive 14C database on mammal bones, allows chronological correlation of the various proxies. The Bykovsky record shows how climate change, and the Last Glacial Maximum in particular, affected terrestrial organisms such as insects and large grazing mammals. Both during the presumed “Karginsky Interstadial” (MIS 3) and the Sartanian Glacial (MIS 2), the vegetation remained a mosaic arctic grassland with relatively high diversity of grasses and herbs and dominance of xeric habitats: the tundra-steppe type. This biome was supported by a constantly very continental climate, caused by low sea level and enormous extension of shelf land. Variations within the broad pattern were caused mainly by fluctuations in summer temperature, related to global trends but overprinted by the effect of continentality. No major changes in humidity were observed nor were advances of modern-type forest or forest-tundra recorded, suggesting a major revision of the “Karginsky Interstadial” paradigm. The changing subtypes of the tundra-steppe environment were persistently favourable for mammalian grazers, which inhabited the shelf lowlands throughout the studied period. Mammal population numbers were lowered during the LGM, especially toward its end, and then flourished in a short, but impressive peak in the latest Weichselian, just before the collapse of the tundra-steppe biome. Throughout MIS 3 and MIS 2, the climate remained very favourable for the aggradation of permafrost. No events of regional permafrost degradation were observed in the continuous Bykovsky sequence until the very end of the Pleistocene.

Palaeobotanical evidence for warm summers in the East Siberian Arctic during the last cold stage

Plant macrofossils from the “Mamontovy Khayata” permafrost sequence (71°60′N, 129°25′E) on the Bykovsky Peninsula reflect climate and plant biodiversity in west Beringia during the last cold stage. 70 AMS and 20 conventional 14C dates suggest sediment accumulation between about 60,000 and 7500 14C yr B.P. The plant remains prove that during the last cold-stage arctic species ( Minuartia arctica, Draba spp., Kobresia myosuroides) coexisted with aquatic ( Potamogeton vaginatus, Callitriche hermaphroditica), littoral ( Ranunculus reptans, Rumex maritimus), meadow ( Hordeum brevisubulatum, Puccinellia tenuiflora) and steppe taxa ( Alyssum obovatum, Silene repens, Koeleria cristata, Linum perenne). The reconstructed vegetation composition is similar to modern vegetation mosaics in central and northeast Yakutian relict steppe areas. Thus, productive meadow and steppe communities played an important role in the Siberian Arctic vegetation during the late Pleistocene and could have served as food resource for large populations of herbivores. The floristic composition reflects an extremely continental, arid climate with winters colder and summers distinctly warmer than at present. Holocene macrofossil assemblages indicate a successive paludification possibly connected with marine transgression, increased oceanic influence and atmospheric humidity. Although some steppe taxa were still present in the early Holocene, they disappeared completely before ∼2900 14C yr B.P.

Climate impacts of an ice sheet in East Siberia during the Last Glacial Maximum

Recent evaluations of geomorphological evidence in East Siberia strongly suggest that no ice sheet existed on the East Siberian Arctic Shelf during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), contrary to the hypothesis of some authors. Because most general circulation model (GCM) simulations of the LGM have included such an ice sheet, the impact of an East Siberian ice sheet is crucial for understanding previous model simulations of the LGM. The experiments in this study use the Global Environmental and Ecological Simulation of Interactive Systems (GENESIS) 2.0 GCM and the Equilibrium Vegetation Ecology (EVE) vegetation model to simulate the LGM climate with (previously published simulation) and without (new simulation) an East Siberian ice sheet. Most LGM simulations have shown increased southerly advection into Beringia resulting from the dynamics of the continental ice sheets, which acts to alleviate the hemispheric-glacial cooling in Beringia. The East Siberian ice sheet provides a secondary source of warm-air advection into Beringia. In the simulation with an East Siberian ice sheet a glacial anticyclone develops over the ice sheet during winter, resulting in subsidence of air flowing off the ice sheet, increased southerly advection along the western margin of the ice sheet, and warming to the south of the ice sheet. During summer the ice sheet blocks northerly flow from the arctic, also resulting in warming south of the ice sheet. The primary vegetation difference is in the ratio of tundra to polar desert. The more mild climate with the ice sheet present produces more tundra and less polar desert.

Terminal Pleistocene—Early Holocene occupation in northeast Asia and the Zhokhov assemblage

A knowledge of the history of ancient human occupation in the eastern Siberian Arctic differs distinctly from that of areas south of the Arctic Circle, where numerous sites are located (Fig. 1). A study of the latter provided a basis for a framework of cultural development, which was later applied to the archaeological materials of the arctic regions of eastern Siberia. Accordingly, the ideas on the chronology and the cultural interpretation of the northern sites are based essentially on the southern materials. The number of sites representing different stages of the Polar Stone Age is extremely small compared to that of the southern regions. If there are some dozens of Neolithic sites in the continental regions of the East Siberian Arctic, the early sites are significantly rare. Thus, there are very few sites presumed to be of the Dyuktai or Sumnagin culture, and the connection of these sites with the Late Paleolithic (or the Mesolithic) culture is rather questionable. The Late Pleistocene stage of human occupation of northeast Asia is considered to be related to a spreading and development of the Paleolithic Dyuktai culture.

Challenging established ritual concerning bereavement services in a combined intensive and coronary care unit

The cycling of carbon on the Arctic shelves, including outgassing of CO2 to the atmosphere, is not clearly understood. Degradation of terrestrial organic carbon (OCter) has recently been shown to be pronounced over the East Siberian Arctic Shelf (ESAS), i.e. the Laptev and East Siberian Seas, producing dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). To further explore the processes affecting DIC, an extensive suite of shelf water samples were collected during the summer of 2008, and assessed for the stable carbon isotopic composition of DIC (δ13CDIC). The δ13CDIC values varied between −7.2‰ to +1.6‰ and strongly deviated from the compositions expected from only mixing between river water and seawater. Model calculations suggest that the major processes causing these deviations from conservative mixing were addition of (DIC) by degradation of OCter, removal of DIC during primary production, and outgassing of CO2. All waters below the halocline in the ESAS had δ13CDIC values that appear to reflect mixing of river water and seawater combined with additions of on average 70 ± 20 μM of DIC, originating from degradation of OCter in the coastal water column. This is of the same magnitude as the recently reported deficits of DOCter and POCter for the same waters. The surface waters in the East Siberian Sea had higher δ13CDIC values and lower DIC concentrations than expected from conservative mixing, consistent with additions of DIC from degradation of OCter and outgassing of CO2. The outgassing of CO2 was equal to loss of 123 ± 50 μM DIC. Depleted δ13CPOC values of −29‰ to −32‰ in the mid to outer shelf regions are consistent with POC from phytoplankton production. The low δ13CPOC values are likely due to low δ13CDIC of precursor DIC, which is due to degradation of OCter, rather than reflecting terrestrial input compositions. Overall, the δ13CDIC values confirm recent suggestions of substantial degradation of OCter over the ESAS, and further show that a large part of the CO2 produced from degradation has been outgassed to the atmosphere.

Sediments in Arctic sea ice: Implications for entrainment, transport and release

Despite the Arctic sea ice cover's recognized sensitivity to environmental change, the role of sediment inclusions in lowering ice albedo and affecting ice ablation is poorly understood. Sea ice sediment inclusions were studied in the central Arctic Ocean during the Arctic 91 expedition and in the Laptev Sea (East Siberian Arctic Region Expedition 1992). Results from these investigations are here combined with previous studies performed in major areas of ice ablation and the southern central Arctic Ocean. This study documents the regional distribution and composition of particle-laden ice, investigates and evaluates processes by which sediment is incorporated into the ice cover, and identifies transport paths and probable depositional centers for the released sediment. In April 1992, sea ice in the Laptev Sea was relatively clean. The sediment occasionally observed was distributed diffusely over the entire ice column, forming turbid ice. Observations indicate that frazil and anchor ice formation occurring in a large coastal polynya provide a main mechanism for sediment entrainment. In the central Arctic Ocean sediments are concentrated in layers within or at the surface of ice floes due to melting and refreezing processes. The surface sediment accumulation in central Arctic multi-year sea ice exceeds by far the amounts observed in first-year ice from the Laptev Sea in April 1992. Sea ice sediments are generally fine grained, although coarse sediments and stones up to 5 cm in diameter are observed. Component analysis indicates that quartz and clay minerals are the main terrigenous sediment particles. The biogenous components, namely shells of pelecypods and benthic foraminiferal tests, point to a shallow, benthic, marine source area. Apparently, sediment inclusions were resuspended from shelf areas before and incorporated into the sea ice by suspension freezing. Clay mineralogy of ice-rafted sediments provides information on potential source areas. A smectite maximum in sea ice sediment samples repeatedly occurred between 81°N and 83°N along the Arctic 91 transect, indicating a rather stable and narrow smectite rich ice drift stream of the Transpolar Drift. The smectite concentrations are comparable to those found in both Laptev Sea shelf sediments and anchor ice sediments, pointing to this sea as a potential source area for sea ice sediments. In the central Arctic Ocean sea ice clay mineralogy is significantly different from deep-sea clay mineral distribution patterns. The contribution of sea ice sediments to the deep sea is apparently diluted by sedimentary material provided by other transport mechanisms.