Thiede et at.: Dvnamics and History ofthe Laptev Sea and its Continental Hinterland
699
Figure 2: Station map of the Laptev Sea System Project. For the past six years, a multidisciplinary working
program was carried out at almost 500 stations in the Laptev Sea and along the Siberian rivers draining into the
Laptev Sea.
Terrestrial studies
The terrestrial investigations were carried out within the scope of the Russian-German research
project "Late Quaternary Environmental Evolution of Central Taymyr" (Taymyr), which was
established in 1993. Following a pilot phase, funding by the German Ministry of Education,
Science, Research, and Technology was provided from 1994 to 1997. During these years, five
expeditions with more than fifty participants from six Russian and five German institutions
were carried out in the project study area: Norilskffaymyr 1993 (Melles et a!., 1994), Taymyr
1994 (Siegert and Bolshiyanov, 1995), Taymyr 1995 (Bolshiyanov and Hubberten, 1996),
Taymyr/Severnaya Zemlya 1996 (Melles et a!., 1997), and Norilsk 1997 (Melles et a!., in
prep.).
The overall objective of the Taymyr project was the reconstruction of the Late Quaternary
climatic and environmental history of the Taymyr Peninsula and the Severnaya Zemlya
Archipelago (Figure 3). For a number of reasons, this region is a key area for understanding the
modern and past environmental dynamics of northern Siberia.
For example, the Taymyr region is located in the transition zone between the West Siberian
marine and East Siberian continental climates. The higher precipitation in West Siberia and
Europe during Late Quaternary glacial times led to the formation of the Eurasian ice sheet,
whilst large areas in East Siberia, despite lower temperatures, remained unglaciated. The eastern
extension of the Eurasian ice sheet is still under discussion - for the Last Glacial Maximum, a
maximalistic hypothesis with almost complete ice coverage of the Taymyr region (Grosswald,
1998) contradicts with a minimalistic hypothesis with glaciations being restricted to the
699
Figure 2: Station map of the Laptev Sea System Project. For the past six years, a multidisciplinary working
program was carried out at almost 500 stations in the Laptev Sea and along the Siberian rivers draining into the
Laptev Sea.
Terrestrial studies
The terrestrial investigations were carried out within the scope of the Russian-German research
project "Late Quaternary Environmental Evolution of Central Taymyr" (Taymyr), which was
established in 1993. Following a pilot phase, funding by the German Ministry of Education,
Science, Research, and Technology was provided from 1994 to 1997. During these years, five
expeditions with more than fifty participants from six Russian and five German institutions
were carried out in the project study area: Norilskffaymyr 1993 (Melles et a!., 1994), Taymyr
1994 (Siegert and Bolshiyanov, 1995), Taymyr 1995 (Bolshiyanov and Hubberten, 1996),
Taymyr/Severnaya Zemlya 1996 (Melles et a!., 1997), and Norilsk 1997 (Melles et a!., in
prep.).
The overall objective of the Taymyr project was the reconstruction of the Late Quaternary
climatic and environmental history of the Taymyr Peninsula and the Severnaya Zemlya
Archipelago (Figure 3). For a number of reasons, this region is a key area for understanding the
modern and past environmental dynamics of northern Siberia.
For example, the Taymyr region is located in the transition zone between the West Siberian
marine and East Siberian continental climates. The higher precipitation in West Siberia and
Europe during Late Quaternary glacial times led to the formation of the Eurasian ice sheet,
whilst large areas in East Siberia, despite lower temperatures, remained unglaciated. The eastern
extension of the Eurasian ice sheet is still under discussion - for the Last Glacial Maximum, a
maximalistic hypothesis with almost complete ice coverage of the Taymyr region (Grosswald,
1998) contradicts with a minimalistic hypothesis with glaciations being restricted to the