Sea Ice And Iceberg Sedimentation In The Ocean

This reference book for researchers working on glacial sediments provides a complete overview of the various glacial deposits in the ocean. It presents a collection of worldwide data on glacio-marine phenomena.

ICe in the Ocean examines sea ice and icebergs and their role in the global climate system. It is comprehensive textbook suitablefor students, pure and applied researchers, and anyone interested in the polar oceans; the distribution of sea ice; the mechanisms of growth, development and decay; the thermodynamics and dynamics of sea ice; sea ice defo

Although it is generally accepted that the Arctic Ocean is a very sensitive and important region for changes in the global climate, this region is the last major physiographic province of the earth whose short-and long-term geological history is much less known in comparison to other ocean regions. This lack of knowledge is mainly caused by the major technological/logistic problems in reaching this harsh, ice-covered region with normal research vessels and in retrieving long and undisturbed sediment cores. During the the last about 20 years, however, several international and multidisciplinary ship expeditions, including the first scientific drilling on Lomonosov Ridge in 2004, a break-through in Arctic research, were carried out into the central Artic and its surrounding shelf seas. Results from these expeditions have greatly advanced our knowledge on Arctic Ocean paleoenvironments. Published syntheses about the knowledge on Arctic Ocean geology, on the other hand, are based on data available prior to 1990. A comprehensive compilation of data on Arctic Ocean paleoenvironment and its short-and long-term variability based on the huge amount of new data including the ACEX drilling data, has not been available yet. With this book, presenting (1) detailed information on glacio-marine sedimentary processes and geological proxies used for paleoenvironmental reconstructions, and (2) detailed geological data on modern environments, Quaternary variability on different time scales as well as the long-term climate history during Mesozoic-Tertiary times, this gap in knowledge will be filled. *Aimed at specialists and graduates *Presents background research, recent developments, and future trends *Written by a leading scholar and industry expert

The book reflects the results of the study of sedimentation history, paleoclimatology, and paleoceanography of the Arctic and Subarctic during the last 130 ka. The main objects under consideration are marine basins of the West Subarctic (Iceland, Norwegian, and Greenland Seas), the Arctic Ocean (Barents, Pechora, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi Seas and deep-sea Arctic Ocean proper), East Subarctic (Bering and Okhotsk Seas). The modern environment and geological history of water- (ice-) sheds and marine basins have been studied for each region, using different sedimentological and geochemical proxies. Mainly results of the authors' own studies are represented, with special emphasis on glacial/interglacial variability and land-ocean interaction. The book is aimed at sedimentologists, quaternary and marine geologists, paleoclimatologists and paleoceanographers, as well as being of great interest to students in the related fields.

This volume of 18 papers describes the glacial-marine sedimentary environment in a variety of temporal and spatial settings. The volume's primary emphasis is the characteri zation of Quaternary glacial-marine sedimentation to show (1) the significant differences that exist between glacial marine environments in different geographic settings and (2) their resulting glacial-marine deposits and facies. Addi tionally, papers describing ancient glacial-marine environ ments are also presented to illustrate lithified analogs of the Quaternary deposits. With the Doctrine of Uniformitarianism in mind (the present is the key to the past), it is hoped that this volume will serve to expand the horizons of geologists working on the rock record, especially those whose primary criteria for recognition of ancient glacial-marine environments is the presence of dropstones in a finer-grained matrix. As the papers presented here show, diamictite is only one of many types of deposits that form in the glacial-marine sedimentary environment. Papers presented in this volume examine the Quaternary glacia1-marine sedimentary picture in subarctic Alaska, Antarctica, the Arctic Ocean, the Kane Basin, Baffin Island, the Puget-Fraser Lowland of Washington and British Columbia, and the North Atlantic Ocean. Ancient glacia1-marine depos its described are the Neogene Yakataga Formation of southern Alaska, the Late Paleozoic Dwyka Formation of the Karoo Basin of South Africa, and the Precambrian Mineral Fork Formation of Utah. For continuity, a paper summar1z1ng the temporal and spatial occurrences of glacial-marine deposits is also presented.

The papers in this collection are based on a symposium held at the 1988 annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, with the objective of identifying sedimentary criteria and facies models that can be used to characterize the glacial-climate setting of ancient sedimentary sequences. Includes papers on Antarctica, Alaska, and Ellesmere Island, and a brief literature review.

Sea ice, which covers up to 7% of the planet’s surface, is a major component of the world’s oceans, partly driving ocean circulation and global climate patterns. It provides a habitat for a rich diversity of marine organisms, and is an extremely valuable source of information in studies of global climate change and the evolution of present day life forms. Increasingly sea ice is being used as a proxy for extraterrestrial ice covered systems. Sea Ice provides a comprehensive review of our current available knowledge of polar pack ice, the study of which is severely constrained by the logistic difficulties of working in such harsh and remote regions of the earth. The book’s editors, Drs Thomas and Dieckmann have drawn together an impressive group of international contributing authors, providing a well-edited and integrated volume, which will stand for many years as the standard work on the subject. Contents of the book include details of the growth, microstructure and properties of sea ice, large-scale variations in thickness and characteristics, its primary production, micro-and macrobiology, sea ice as a habitat for birds and mammals, sea ice biogeochemistry, particulate flux, and the distribution and significance of palaeo sea ice. Sea Ice is an essential purchase for oceanographers and marine scientists, environmental scientists, biologists, geochemists and geologists. All those involved in the study of global climate change will find this book to contain a wealth of important information. All libraries in universities and research establishments where these subjects are studied and taught will need multiple copies on their shelves. David Thomas is at the School of Ocean Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor, UK. Gerhard Dieckmann is at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany