Millennial-Scale Arctic Climate Change of the Last 3.6 Million Years: Scientific Drilling at Lake El'gygytgyn, Northeast Russia

Abstract

Successful deep drilling at Lake El'gygytgyn (67°30'N, 172°05'E), in the center of western Beringia, recovered 315 m of sediment, representing the longest time-continuous sediment record of past climate change in the terrestrial Arctic. The core was taken using the DOSECC GLAD800 (Global Lake Drilling 800 m) hydraulic/rotary system engineered for extreme weather, using over-thickened lake ice as a drilling platform. El'gygytgyn is a Yup'ik name that has been variously translated as "the white lake" or "the lake that never thaws." Today, the lake maintains an ice cover nine to 10 months per year.

Keywords

• Arctic Ocean
• International Polar Year
• IPY
• lake drilling
• Lake El'gygytgyn
• climate change