Age determination, Beryllium analysis, and mineral composition of two sediment cores of the Arctic Ocean covering the past 350 kyr

Records of 10Be, 9Be, mineralogy and grain size were obtained from two cores collected by the Polarstern Expedition 1991 in the southern Nansen Basin (PS2213-6) and the Yermak Plateau (PS2208-2). The accumulation of sediments examined started from about 350 kyr (BP), and includes relatively well defined trends of Be isotopes coincident with interglacial/glacial climatic cycles. Sediment accumulation rates (g/cm2/kyr) were higher during glacial periods and our estimates of 1.0 and 2.5 cm/kyr sedimentation rates during the Holocene agree with other estimates for the southern Nansen Basin and the Yermak Plateau, respectively. The variations in 10Be concentration (atoms/g) and flux (atoms/cm2/kyr) are inverse to sediment flux, where high 10Be concentration and flux are associated with generally low sedimentation/accumulation rates during interglacial periods. We hypothesize that climate plays an important role in 10Be records from the Arctic sediments, reflecting the intensity and distribution of the ice mass on land and the ocean.