New Evidence for the Age of the Gubik Formation Alaskan North Slope

1983 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 356-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles A. Repenning
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Warm Water ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
North Slope ◽  
The Arctic Ocean ◽  
Alaskan North Slope ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Teshekpuk Lake

AbstractAt several Alaskan North Slope localities south of the shore of the Arctic Ocean the Gubik Formation, herein regarded as latest Pliocene and Pleistocene in age, contains a marine unit at its base. Near Ocean Point and near Teshekpuk Lake this basal unit, or the lowest exposed marine unit, of the Gubik contains unusual, relatively warm-water marine mammals. Although these mammals have poorly known fossil histories, consideration of what is known suggests that the basal marine unit near Ocean Point is of latest Pliocene age, between 2.2 and 1.7 my old, and that the marine unit near Teshekpuk Lake is probably late Pleistocene, most likely correlating with the Sangamon Interglaciation and about 120,000 yr old.

scholarly journals Retention of ice-associated amphipods: possible consequences for an ice-free Arctic Ocean

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 1012-1015 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Berge ◽  
Ø. Varpe ◽  
M. A. Moline ◽  
A. Wold ◽  
P. E. Renaud ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
Ocean Currents ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Sea ◽  
The Arctic Ocean ◽  
Deep Ocean Currents

Recent studies predict that the Arctic Ocean will have ice-free summers within the next 30 years. This poses a significant challenge for the marine organisms associated with the Arctic sea ice, such as marine mammals and, not least, the ice-associated crustaceans generally considered to spend their entire life on the underside of the Arctic sea ice. Based upon unique samples collected within the Arctic Ocean during the polar night, we provide a new conceptual understanding of an intimate connection between these under-ice crustaceans and the deep Arctic Ocean currents. We suggest that downwards vertical migrations, followed by polewards transport in deep ocean currents, are an adaptive trait of ice fauna that both increases survival during ice-free periods of the year and enables re-colonization of sea ice when they ascend within the Arctic Ocean. From an evolutionary perspective, this may have been an adaptation allowing success in a seasonally ice-covered Arctic. Our findings may ultimately change the perception of ice fauna as a biota imminently threatened by the predicted disappearance of perennial sea ice.

scholarly journals Modern incursions of tropical Radiolaria into the Arctic Ocean

2012 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kjell R. Bjørklund ◽  
Svetlana B. Kruglikova ◽  
O. Roger Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Atlantic Water ◽  
Warm Water ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Species Number ◽  
Norwegian Sea ◽  
The Arctic Ocean ◽  
Area North ◽  
To Come ◽  
Norwegian Polar Institute

Abstract. Plankton samples obtained by the Norwegian Polar Institute (August, 2010) in an area north of Svalbard contained an unusual abundance of tropical and subtropical radiolarian taxa (98 in 145 total observed taxa), not typically found at these high latitudes. A detailed analysis of the composition and abundance of these Radiolaria suggests that a pulse of warm Atlantic water entered the Norwegian Sea and finally entered into the Arctic Ocean, where evidence of both juvenile and adult forms suggests they may have established viable populations. Among radiolarians in general, this may be a good example of ecotypic plasticity. Radiolaria, with their high species number and characteristic morphology, can serve as a useful monitoring tool for pulses of warm water into the Arctic Ocean. Further analyses should be followed up in future years to monitor the fate of these unique plankton assemblages and to determine variation in northward distribution and possible penetration into the polar basin. The fate of this tropical fauna (persistence, disappearance, or genetic intermingling with existing taxa) is presently unknown. The current event may not be unique, nor a consequence of global warming, because analyses of sediment samples suggest that several natural pulses of warm water of this kind occurred in the prior century and, indeed, there may be more in years to come.

Evironmental threats to marine mammals in the Canadian Arctic

Polar Record ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 21 (134) ◽  
pp. 433-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Stirling ◽  
Wendy Calvert
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
Ursus Maritimus ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
Alopex Lagopus ◽  
Arctic Foxes ◽  
The Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean is the home of three major groups of mammals that depend on the sea for survival and show varying degrees of adaptation for maritime life. Most fully adapted are the whales (Cetacea), which never leave the water, and the seals and walruses (Pinnipedia) that feed entirely at sea but emerge onto land or ice for pupping and basking. Less exclusively marine are two species of the order Carnivora—Polar Bears (Ursus maritimus), that seldom live far from the sea because they feed almost entirely upon seals, and Arctic Foxes (Alopex lagopus), some of which move out onto the sea ice during the winter, mainly to scavenge on the remains of seals killed by Polar Bears.

Kealoha in the Arctic

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Rosenthal
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
North Slope ◽  
The North ◽  
The Arctic Ocean ◽  
One Year ◽  
Tropical Climates

From 1848 to 1876, most Hawaiian whale workers engaged in the icy climes of the Arctic Ocean. Chapter three begins with the story of Kealoha, a Hawaiian whale worker who in the 1870s lived among the Inupiat of Alaska’s North Slope for over one year. Bodies—both cetacean and human—are a central category of analysis for understanding Hawaiian experiences of Arctic whaling. In the Arctic Ocean, Hawaiian men interacted not only with ice, wind, cold, and snow, but also became intimate with whale anatomy as well as their own bodies through work. European and Euro-American discourses on the “kanaka” body held that Hawaiian men were not fit for work in non-tropical climates, but Kealoha and thousands of other Native men challenged these racialized ideas, proving their fitness and their manliness in the “cold seas” of the North.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document