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Like those at Camp I before it, our research interests at Camp II are primarily paleoclimatic.   Paleoclimates are invaluable tools to employ when trying to explain, model, and predict today's and tomorrow's climate.   Paleoclimates similar to our present climate are obviously the most beneficial, but sometimes it can be difficult to recognize and understand these paleoclimates and their dynamics.

One way to get a snapshot of past climate is to compare geologic records from polar and tropical latitudes, because to first order the pole to equator temperature gradient is used to characterize climate.   Therefore, polar regions are especially important for gaining an understanding of past climate change given a limited data base.   Arctic lithologies reveal a climate at the beginning of the Cretaceous (approximately 135 million years ago) that is disparate from the warm, greenhouse Earth that typifies this period (c.f. fossil assemblage at Camp I).   Exposures of the Deer Bay Formation on eastern Axel Heiberg Island and eastern Ellesmere Island in the High Canadian Arctic contain glendonites and rafted fossil wood. Glendonites are rare calcite pseudomorphs after ikaite (CaCO3 ï 6H20).   They form at or near the sediment water interface in near-freezing marine and continental waters of high alkalinity and high orthophosphate levels (De Lurio et al., 1999).   When used in conjunction with other paleoclimate indicators (e.g., rafted wood, paleolatitude), glendonites function as unambiguous glacio-marine climate indicators (De Lurio et al., 1999; Brandley and Krause, 1997; James, 1997).   Recent studies (e.g., Price, 1999) have attempted to correlate the occurrence of high latitude glendonites with eustasy.   However, these studies have been done only on a gross scale; they cannot be used to rigorously test the proposed correlation.   For such a rigorous test, higher resolution stratigraphy of glendonite-bearing sediments is needed.

Although the climatic conditions in which the Deer Bay Formation sediments were deposited are well understood, the time during which they were deposited is poorly constrained.   If we know the age of Deer Bay rocks, then we can compare them to coeval tropical records and determine if the Arctic sediments record a local or global signal. 

Our work is aimed at deriving a magnetostratigraphic polarity column for the Deer Bay Formation that will potentially provide such a high resolution stratigraphy.   By determining the age of the Deer Bay Formation, we hope to investigate the relationship of the glendonites to eustacy and to explore the potential mechanisms that may have caused the global cooling.   We supplement the magnetostratigraphy with ammonite and buchia biostratrigraphy.   Boreal ammonite, belemnite, and buchia assemblages in addition to paleomagnetic data constrain the Deer Bay Formation to the Upper and Lower Valanginian boundary (Earliest Cretaceous). During this time eustatic sea levels defined at tropical latitudes sites are at a Late Mesozoic minimum.   No simultaneous global tectonic events exist that can account for the observed low sea level stand.   These data suggest that the Deer Bay Formation records a global signal, with sea water trapped in polar icecaps and terrestrial glaciers.   This collection of data preclude the extremely warm global climate that developed in and dominated much of the Cretaceous. 

When complete, our age constraints will provide the resolution needed to determine sedimentation rates within the Deer Bay Formation.   First order approximations on these rates suggest that they are rapid, and therefore may be controlled by local tectonic activity.   This evidence may indicate that the cool climate of the early Cretaceous was controlled by tectonic factors, i.e. the opening of the Canada Basin with outlets to more southern waters.   A sudden supply of cold deep water originating in the paleo-Arctic ocean could have sent the Earth into a cold snap.   A similar modification of deep water formation may be responsible for other episodes of extreme cold in the Cenozoic.
 

The large central valley had not completely dried out from the winter snows.   In fact, this valley was covered by snow just a week before we arrived.   After many surface tests, in which our pilots circled above the valley floor and occasionally touched down to gauge the tundra's firmness, we finally landed.   However, the plane, loaded with our supplies and several barrels of helicopter fuel, slowly began to sink in the mud (notice the large ruts in the tundra behind the plane).
The Deer Bay Formation, a thick, very dark shale.   Rory and Allyson (the two red dots on the slope) orient drill cores.
A glendonite, our paleoclimate indicator.   This 8 cm specimen was collected stratigraphically above Rory and Allyson in the previous photograph.
A large siderite concretion cracked open showing well preserved ribbing of an ammonite.   Hammer at right for scale.
Two sides of one of the ammonites we collected from the Deer Bay Formation.   This approximately 8 cm Polyptychites keyserlingi is late Early Valanginian in age.   Sutures, morphological features, and recrystalized shell material are all well preserved in this specimen.
Sample specimens of Buchia collected from the Deer Bay Formation.
Part of the students' responsibilities on the expedition was to gather field observations so that they could draw geologic maps of the areas we visited.   Here they examine a slicken surface on a slab of Awingak sandstone.   Late Miocene to Oligiocene folding and thrusting was extensive in this region of the Arctic.
The coarse-grained Jurassic Awingak sandstone outcrops in stunning fashion up river and downsection from camp.
The Matts, Santo, and Allyson examine the transition from the Deer Bay Formation to the Isachsen Formation while John and Rory examine from behind.
A closer look at what caught Rory's attention in the previous photograph:  the deformed transition between the Deer Bay and Isachsen.
The coarse-grained quartzose sandstone of the Isachsen Formation gave the impression of being in the Southwest US rather than in High Canadian Arctic.
Another view of the Isachsen Formation, this one looking downsection.
There was a nearly perfectly circular slab of Awingak sandstone that appeared to be precariously perched on the tundra above camp.   Always quick to give local landmarks our own names, we called it cookie rock (just think of the size of the accompanying glass of milk!).   One evening we hiked up to it for a closer inspection and to get this photography.   From left to right: Matt F., Matt P., Rory, Pete, Santo, and Allyson.
In spite of our distal position to the nearest real kitchen, John created masterful meals.   Here is one the best: turkey dinner complete with mashed potatoes (real potatoes at that), corn, green beans with rosemary and sage, cranberry relish, and a cool cup of Tang.   Don't worry, we catered to vegetarian tastes, too.
Dinner, of course, meant dirty dishes.   Here the Matts team up with Pendrini and tackle the tough task of stew night.   Note Matt's mosquito headnet: he swears that this was the decisive factor in which sleeping bag to purchase.  The rest of us wished we paid similar attention to such features: the mosquitos here were a vicious, voracious, and omnipresent bunch.
A beautiful shot capturing much of the Arctic: a rugged and harsh landscape where the balance of life and death is fragile.