Late Cenozoic permafrost history of the Russian Arctic

The history of permafrost over the last 1.5 million years has been traced back for both the sea shelf and the adjacent land of the Russian Arctic. Maps have been constructed for four extreme climatic stages: (a) for the cool stage of the Middle Pleistocene, (b) for the warm stage of the Late Pleistocene beginning, (c) for the cool stage of the Late Pleistocene end, and (d) for the Holocene climatic optimum. The distribution pattern, temperature, and thickness of various types of permafrost (subaerial, subglacial and submarine) have been mapped. The exercise allows one to identify the principal regularities of permafrost evolution and to predict its further development. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.