δ18O and δD variations in Holocene massive ice in the Sabettayakha river mouth, northern Yamal Peninsula

Abstract

The conditions of formation of massive ice near the South Tambey gas-condensate field in northern Yamal Peninsula are studied. It is shown that massive ice bodies up to 4.5 m thick occur in the Holocene deposits of the high laida and the first terrace. Therefore, they cannot be the remains of glaciers; they are ground ice formations. All three types of massive ice have quite various isotopic compositions: the values of δD range from–107 to–199.7, and δ¹⁸O from–15.7 to–26.48‰. Such a significant differentiation in isotopic composition is a result of cryogenic fractionation in a freezing water-saturated sediment. The most negative isotope values are even lower in this Holocene massive ice than in the Late Pleistocene ice-wedge ice of Yamal Peninsula.