Multiphase glaciations in East Siberia during the late Quaternary revealed by Arctic zircon U-Pb ages

The Northern Hemisphere ice sheets have undergone significant periodic changes during the Quaternary. These changes not only influence global sea-level fluctuations but also drive global climate evolution. Consequently, reconstructing the evolution of these ice sheets has been a key objective in Earth science. Over recent decades, tracking the sources of ice-rafted debris (IRD) in the Arctic Ocean's deep-sea sediments has enabled researchers to systematically reconstruct the histories of the North American and Eurasian ice sheets. However, due to the lack of diagnostic provenance tracers specific to the East Siberian Ice Sheet, its evolution remains highly controversial. To address this gap, we conducted a provenance analysis based on a comprehensive detrital zircon U-Pb age dataset. This dataset comprises 10,111 new ages from both surface sediments on the circum-Arctic shelves and IRD in deep-sea cores from the central Arctic Ocean. Our results reveal distinct zircon age distributions across different circum-Arctic shelf regions. Notably, a prominent age peak at ~90–110 Ma serves as a diagnostic fingerprint for sediments derived from the East Siberian continent and shelf. Central Arctic Ocean sediments from at least four glacial intervals contain coarse zircon grains bearing this diagnostic ~90–110 Ma peak, strongly indicating iceberg transport from East Siberia. This implies that the East Siberian continent and shelf experienced multiple glaciations, likely within the past three glacial-interglacial cycles. The repeated glaciation of East Siberia likely exerted significant, though still poorly quantified, influences on both polar and global climates during the late Quaternary. Our findings provide new insights into the history of Northern Hemisphere glaciation and propose a valuable approach for reconstructing ice sheet evolution.