Response of the bering sea to Heinrich Event 11

Abstract

The present paper addresses the issue of the existence of inferred hiatus on the Shirshov Ridge in the western Bering Sea, which is represented by a sand layer allegedly produced by intensification of the bottom current at the penultimate glacial/last interglacial boundary. Intensification of current velocity near the ocean floor likely provoked washout of the light fine fraction and enrichment of the sediment with heavy coarse particles. Comparison of our and published data on the western Bering Sea and North Atlantic revealed that the sand layer in sediments of the western Bering Sea at the penultimate glacial/last interglacial boundary is related to ice rafting and serves to some extent an analog of Heinrich Event 11 in the North Atlantic.