Stable water isotope composition and radiocarbon dates of permafrost ice wedges from Bol'shoy Lyakhovsly Island (New Siberian Archipelago)

Seven profiles of permafrost ground ice (i.e. ice wedges) were sampled in 1999, 2007 and 2014 either by chainsaw or by ice screw at coastal bluffs east and west of the Zimov'e River mouth (73.33°N, 141.35°E) at the southern coast of Bol'shoy Lyakhovsky Island (New Siberian Archipelago) in north-eastern Siberia. The local dataset contains stable isotope (δ18O, δD) data of permafrost wedge ice and Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates of organic remains found within the wedge ice. The water isotope analyzes were performed at the Stable Isotope Facility of the Alfred Wegener Institute (head: Hanno Meyer). Melted ice-wedge samples were analysed for oxygen (δ18O) and hydrogen (δD) stable isotopes using a Finnigan MAT Delta-S mass spectrometer (1σ < 0.1‰ for δ18O, 1σ < 0.8‰ for δD). The values are reported as per mil (‰) difference from the SMOW (Standard Mean Ocean Water). The deuterium excess (d) is calculated as d = δD – 8*δ18O. In total, 357 samples from seven ice wedges were analysed for their stable water isotope composition. The ice-wedge chronology contains seven ages obtained from seven ice-wedge records, and covers MIS 3-2 between 49.200 +2.400/-1.850 ka BP and 19.885 ± 0.230 ka BP. The dataset contributes to the study of climate conditions during the Last Glacial Maximum in north-eastern Siberia.