Correlation of marine and continental glacial and interglacial events, Arctic Ocean and Banks Island

Correlation of Pleistocene glacial and interglacial sediments deposited on land with sediments deposited synchronously in the ocean basins is rarely accomplished1–3. A significant exception is the correlation of continental shelf Bay of Biscay interglacial deposits with interglacial sediments from north-east France using δ18O and pollen4. In the Arctic Ocean, the definition of a partial magnetic stratigraphy for a Pleistocene sequence on Banks Island, western Arctic Archipelago5, permits correlation with magnetically defined marine sediment of the Chukchi–Alpha Ridge6–8 (Fig. 1). We report here the details of this first Arctic Ocean glacial-marine to continental-glacial deposit correlation, and its climatic interpretation. Arctic Ocean sediment texture is climatically controlled and fine-grained textured sediment was deposited in the ocean at the same time as interglacial deposits formed on the adjacent land. The occurrence of coarse-grained Arctic Ocean sediment on the other hand is synchronous with glacial advances on land and also represents periods of deglaciation.