S. O. Razumov, V. B. Spektor, and M. N. Grigoriev
Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Merzlotnaya 36, Yakutsk, 677010 Russia
e-mail: razum55@mail.ru, vspektor@mail.ru, migri@mail.ru
Received September 26, 2012; in final form, April 15, 2013
Abstract—The analysis of the structure of the cryolithozone, facies, and thicknesses of the Quaternary sedi-
ments and the results of the physicochemical mathematical modeling of the modern shelf of the western part of
the Laptev Sea support the influence of the Late Pleistocene glaciations on the heat conditions and the distribu-
tion of the permafrost in the area. A ~200-m thick glacier formed under aerial conditions from atmospheric pre-
cipitation represented the metamorphosed snow cover. According to the modeling, the long-living (from 60–50
to 10–4 ky) glacier reduced the thickness of the permafrost rocks in the reviewed shelf area for 280–360 m. The
Holocene marine transgression additionally decreased the thickness from 50–140 m on the inner shelf to 220–
350 m on the outer shelf. The modern submarine cryolithozone 450–0 m thick is widespread in the studied
region from the coast to the shelf boundary (isobaths of 130–140 m), where it pinches out at a distance of ~380
km from the coast at a depth of ~250 m above the sea level.
DOI: 10.1134/S0001437014040092
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