Collaborative Research: SCICEX/SCAMP Mapping of the Arctic Ocean Floor to Test the Hypothesis of the Pleistocene Arctic Ice Sheet

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AbstractOPP-9813532EdwardsOPP-9813535PolyakThis is a collaborative project by Principal Investigators from the University of Hawaii, Mapping Research Group, and Ohio State University. The Principal Investigators propose to test the existence of the Arctic Ocean Ice Sheet during the glacial maxima which is a major uncertainty in Quaternary history. The only reliable way of testing this controversial hypothesis is to investigate the relatively shallow portions of the Arctic Ocean seafloor for traces of glacial impact. The use of the Seafloor Characterization and Mapping Pod (SCAMP) in the SCICEX program provides a unique opportunity to perform this research. Backscatter, swath bathymetry, and subbottom profiler records across the rises and ridges of the Chukchi Borderland, parts of the Lomonsov Ridge, and possibly the Canadian continental margin will be collected. The Principal Investigators will concentrate on the location and tracing of subglacial and ice-marginal seafloor features, iceberg plow marks, and potentially glacier-related debris flows. Findings of glacial-sole marks and ice-marginal indicators would provide strong evidence for the existing of a thick ice shelf over the Arctic Ocean in the past. In the absence of direct subglacial features, the depth range of iceberg plowmarks will provide critical information on the thickness of the ice over the Arctic Ocean during the Quaternary. Mapping the plowmark orientation will enable reconstruction of Arctic paleo-circulation patterns. The processed seafloor images will be compared with existing glacial features from the continental margin. Future sediment cores and boreholes will provide stratigraphic constraints on the mapped glacial seafloor features and provide further understanding of associated paleoceanographic environments.