Mineralogy of ODP Hole 117-722B (Appendix)

Bulk mineralogy of the terrigenous fraction of 99 samples from ODP Site 722 on the Owen Ridge, western Arabian Sea, has been determined by x-ray diffraction, using an internal standard method. The sampling interval, approximately 4.3 k.y., provides a detailed mineralogic record for the past 500 k.y. Previous studies have identified important modern continental sediment sources and the mineral assemblages presently derived from each. These studies have also demonstrated that most of this material is supplied by southwest and northwest winds during the summer monsoon. A variety of marine and terrestrial records and general circulation model (GCM) simulations have indicated the importance of monsoonal circulation during the Pleistocene and Holocene and have demonstrated increased aridity during glacial times and increased humidity during inter glacials. The mineralogic data generated here were used to investigate variations in source area weathering conditions during these environmental changes. Terrigenous minerals present include smectite, illite, palygorskite, kaolinite, chlorite, quartz, plagioclase feldspar, and dolomite. This mineralogy is consistent with the compositions of source areas presently supplying sediment to the Arabian Sea. An R-mode factor analysis has identified four mineral assemblages present throughout the past 500 k.y.: quartz/chlorite/dolomite (Factor 1), kaolinite/plagioclase/illite (Factor 2), smectite (Factor 3), and palygorskite/dolomite (Factor 4). Chlorite, illite, and palygorskite are extremely susceptible to chemical weathering, and a spectral comparison of these factors with the eolian mass accumulation rate (MAR) record from Hole 722B (an index of dust source area aridity) indicates that Factors 1, 2, and 4 are directly related to changes in aridity. Because of these characteristics, Factors 1,2, and 4 are interpreted to originate from arid source regions. Factor 3 is interpreted to record more humid source conditions. Time-series of scores for the four factors are dominated by short-term (10-100 k.y.) variability, and do not correlate well to glacial/interglacial fluctuations in the time domain. These characteristics suggest that local climatic shifts were complex, and that equilibrium weathering assemblages did not develop immediately after climatic change. Spectral analysis of factor scores identifies peaks at or near the primary Milankovitch frequencies for all factors. Factor 1 (quartz/chlorite/dolomite), Factor 2 (kaolinite/plagioclase/illite), and Factor 4 (illite/palygorskite) are coherent and in phase with the MAR record over the 23, 41, and 100 k.y. bands, respectively. The reasons for coherency at single Milankovitch frequencies are not known, but may include differences in the susceptibilities of minerals to varying time scales of weathering and/or preferential development of suitable continental source environments by climatic changes at the various Milankovitch frequencies.

Stable carbon isotopes of Planulina wuellerstorfi of sediment core MD01-2444

The observation that Greenland and Antarctic temperatures have followed a specific 'asymmetrical' pattern on millennial time-scales sets rigid constraints on any viable theory of abrupt climate change. The further observation that the very same asymmetry is also reflected in planktonic and benthic d18O measurements from the Northeast Atlantic has extended this constraint to include a specific response in the ocean. Here we present records of deep-water temperature, d18O and d13C variability from the Northeast Atlantic that help to shed light on the links between overturning circulation perturbations, sea-level variability and inter-hemispheric climate change on millennial time-scales. Results indicate that while deep-water temperatures in the Northeast Atlantic have tracked Greenland climate, the d18O signature of local deepwater (d18Odw) has varied in a manner more reminiscent of Antarctic temperature variability. The previously identified correspondence of Antarctic warm events with benthic d18O minima in the Northeast Atlantic is thus found to apply specifically to d18Odw minima, and to extend beyond Marine Isotope Stage 3 to the entirety of the last 50 ka. It is impossible to reconcile completely the Iberian Margin d18Odw record with existing reconstructions of millennial sea-level variability, leading to the conclusion that a significant portion of the d18Odw record must represent local hydrographic change. This is supported by benthic d13C measurements, which suggest the incursion during Greenland stadials of a colder, low-d18O and low-d13C water-mass, of presumed Antarctic origin. These observations confirm a one-to-one coupling of inter-hemispheric climate events with changes in the Atlantic overturning circulation, but fail to rule in or out a unique mechanism by which they were triggered.

Early Eocene benthic carbon isotope data of ODP Site 208-1263

The early Eocene represents a time of major changes in the global carbon cycle and fluctuations in global temperatures on both short- and long-time scales. These perturbations of the ocean-atmosphere system have been linked to orbital forcing and changes in net organic carbon burial, but accurate age models are required to disentangle the various forcing mechanisms and assess causal relationships. Discrepancies between the employed astrochronological and radioisotopic dating techniques prevent the construction of a robust time frame between ~49 and ~54 Ma. Here we present an astronomically tuned age model for this critical time period based on a new high-resolution benthic d13C record of ODP Site 1263, SE Atlantic. First, we assess three possible tuning options to the stable long-eccentricity cycle (405-kyr), starting from Eocene Thermal Maximum 2 (ETM2, ~54 Ma). Next we compare our record to the existing bulk carbonate d13C record from the equatorial Atlantic (Demerara Rise, ODP Site 1258) to evaluate our three initial age models and compare them with alternative age models previously established for this site. Finally, we refine our preferred age model by expanding our tuning to the 100-kyr eccentricity cycle of the La2010d solution. This solution appears to accurately reflect the long- and short-term eccentricity-related patterns in our benthic d13C record of ODP Site 1263 back to at least 52 Ma and possibly to 54 Ma. Our time scale not only aims to provide a new detailed age model for this period, but it may also serve to enhance our understanding of the response of the climate system to orbital forcing during this super greenhouse period as well as trends in its background state.

(Table T1) Depths and ages of datum levels at ODP Leg 182 sites

The first and last appearances of Quaternary planktonic foraminifers in the Great Australian Bight were evaluated using datum levels from magnetostatigraphy, oxygen isotope stratigraphy, and calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy to determine whether they were synchronous or diachronous with open-ocean biostratigraphic events. The first appearance of Globorotalia truncatulinoides is diachronous at 1.6-1.7 Ma at Site 1127 and 1.1-1.2 at Sites 1129 and 1132, similar to other local appearances in high latitudes. All other datum levels, however, are synchronous with open-ocean events, including the first appearance of Globorotalia hirsuta and the last appearances of Globorotalia tosaensis and pink Globigerinoides ruber in the Indo-Pacific region. A local reappearance of Gt. hirsuta at ~0.12 Ma and the disappearance of Globorotalia crassaformis at ~0.10 Ma were found to be useful for local biostratigraphy. Age control at the bottom of all of the sections is poor at this time, but results suggest that sedimentation recommenced starting at ~1.9 Ma above the regional unconformity that marks the base of seismostratigraphic Sequence 2. Sediment accumulation is distinctly reduced in the lower Pleistocene compared to the upper Pleistocene, perhaps in part because of processes associated with several omission surfaces.

Raw data of SCADCP (self-contained Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler) from three moorings in the Eastern Weddell Sea, 2005-2008

The success of any efforts to determine the effects of climate change on marine ecosystems depends on understanding in the first instance the natural variations, which contemporarily occur on the interannual and shorter time scales. Here we present results on the environmental controls of zooplankton distribution patterns and behaviour in the eastern Weddell Sea, Southern Ocean. Zooplankton abundance and vertical migration are derived from the mean volume backscattering strength (MVBS) and the vertical velocity measured by moored acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs), which were deployed simultaneously at 64°S, 66.5°S and 69°S along the Greenwich Meridian from February, 2005, until March, 2008. While these time series span a period of full three years they resolve hourly changes. A highly persistent behavioural pattern found at all three mooring locations is the synchronous diel vertical migration (DVM) of two distinct groups of zooplankton that migrate between a deep residence depth during daytime and a shallow depth during nighttime. The DVM was closely coupled to the astronomical daylight cycles. However, while the DVM was symmetric around local noon, the annual modulation of the DVM was clearly asymmetric around winter solstice or summer solstice, respectively, at all three mooring sites. DVM at our observation sites persisted throughout winter, even at the highest latitude exposed to the polar night. Since the magnitude as well as the relative rate of change of illumination is minimal at this time, we propose that the ultimate causes of DVM separated from the light-mediated proximal cue that coordinates it. In all three years, a marked change in the migration behaviour occurred in late spring (late October/early November), when DVM ceased. The complete suspension of DVM after early November is possibly caused by the combination of two factors: (1) increased availability of food in the surface mixed layer provided by the phytoplankton spring bloom, and (2) vanishing diurnal enhancement of the threat from visually oriented predators when the illumination is quasi-continuous during the polar and subpolar summer. Zooplankton abundance in the water column, estimated as the mean MVBS in the depth range 50-300 m, was highest end of summer and lowest mid to end winter on the average annual cycle. However, zooplankton abundance varied several-fold between years and between locations. Based on satellite and in situ data of chlorophyll and sea ice as well as on hydrographic measurements, the interannual and spatial variations of zooplankton mean abundance can be explained by differences in the magnitude of the phytoplankton spring bloom, which develops during the seasonal sea ice retreat. Whereas the vernal ice melt appears necessary to stimulate the blooming of phytoplankton, it is not the determinator of the blooms magnitude, its areal extent and duration. A possible explanation for the limitation of the phytoplankton bloom in some years is top-down control. We hypothesise that the phytoplankton spring development can be curbed by grazing when the zooplankton had attained high abundance by growth during the preceding summer.

Stable carbon isotope record and geochemistry of late Miocene-early Pliocene sediments from DSDP Site 90-590 in the Tasman Sea

Biogenic components of sediment accumulated at high rates beneath frontal zones of the Indian and Pacific oceans during the late Miocene and early Pliocene. The delta13C of bulk and foraminiferal carbonate also decreased during this time interval. Although the two observations may be causally linked, and signify a major perturbation in global biogeochemical cycling, no site beneath a frontal zone has independent records of export production and delta13C on multiple carbonate phases across the critical interval of interest. Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) site 590 lies beneath the Tasman Front (TF), an eddy-generating jetstream in the southwest Pacific Ocean. To complement previous delta13C records of planktic and benthic foraminifera at this location, late Neogene records of CaCO3 mass accumulation rate (MAR), Ca/Ti, Ba/Ti, Al/Ti, and of bulk carbonate and foraminiferal delta13C were constructed at site 590. The delta13C records include bulk sediment, bulk sediment fractions (<63 µm and 5-25 µm), and the planktic foraminifera Globigerina bulloides, Globigerinoides sacculifer (with and without sac), and Orbulina universa. Using current time scales, CaCO3 MARs, Ca/Ti, Al/Ti and Ba/Ti ratios are two to three times higher in upper Miocene and lower Pliocene sediment relative to overlying and underlying units. A significant decrease also occurs in all delta13C records. All evidence indicates that enhanced export production - the 'biogenic bloom' - extended to the southwest Pacific Ocean between ca. 9 and 3.8 Ma, and this phenomenon is coupled with changes in delta13C - the 'Chron C3AR carbon shift'. However, CaCO3 MARs peak ca. 5 Ma whereas elemental ratios are highest ca. 6.5 Ma; foraminiferal delta13C starts to decrease ca. 8 Ma whereas bulk carbonate delta13C begins to drop ca. 5.6 Ma. Temporal discrepancies between the records can be explained by changes in the upwelling regime at the TF, perhaps signifying a link between changes in ocean-atmosphere circulation change and widespread primary productivity.

(Table 1) Age determination of sediment core SO139-74KL

A multiproxy record has been acquired from a piston core (SO139-74KL) taken offshore southern Sumatra, an area which is situated in the southwestern sector of the tropical Indo-Pacific Warm Pool. The high-resolution data sets (X-ray fluorescence, total organic carbon, and C37 alkenones) were used to track changes in paleoproductivity, freshwater budget, and sea surface temperature (SST) of the tropical climate system at orbital time scales over the past 300 ka. Our paleoclimatic data show that enhanced marine paleoproductivity was directly related to strengthening of coastal upwelling during periods of increased boreal summer insolation and associated SE monsoon strength with a precessional cyclicity. Changes in freshwater supply were primarily forced by precession-controlled changes in boreal NW winter monsoon rainfall enclosing an additional sea level component. SST variations of 2°-5°C occurred at eccentricity and precessional cyclicity. We suggest that the sea surface temperature variability off southern Sumatra is predominantly related to three major causes: (1) variations in upwelling intensity; (2) an elevated freshwater input into the southern Makassar Strait leading to reduced supply of warmer surface waters from the western Pacific and increased subsurface water transport via the Indonesian Throughflow into the Indian Ocean; and (3) long-term changes in the intensity or frequency of low-latitude climate phenomena, such as El Niño-Southern Oscillation.

(Table 1) Age determination of surface sediment samples from the North Atlantic

Most seafloor sediments are dated with radiocarbon, and the sediment is assumed to be zero-age (modern) when the signal of atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons is present (Fraction modern (Fm) > 1). Using a simple mass balance, we show that even with Fm > 1, half of the planktonic foraminifera at the seafloor can be centuries old, because of bioturbation. This calculation, and data from four core sites in the western North Atlantic indicate that, first, during some part of the Little Ice Age (LIA) there may have been more Antarctic Bottom Water than today in the deep western North Atlantic. Alternatively, bioturbation may have introduced much older benthic foraminifera into surface sediments. Second, paleo-based warming of Sargasso Sea surface waters since the LIA must lag the actual warming because of bioturbation of older and colder foraminifera.

(Table T1) Geochemical composition of ODP Site 177-1089 sediments

A primary objective of Ocean Drilling Program Leg 177 was to document changes in circulation and biogeochemical cycling on glacial/interglacial time scales across a wide latitudinal range of the south Atlantic Ocean. One of the more northerly sites drilled, Site 1089 (41°S, 10°E), is located within the present-day Subantarctic Zone, south of the Subtropical Front. The drilling site itself is located in the southern Cape Basin at a water depth of 4620 m. Pleistocene sediments at this site are dominated by interbedded carbonate and opal oozes. Initial shipboard stratigraphy identified the opal-rich sediments as deposited during glacial intervals and the carbonate-rich sediments as deposited during interglacial intervals (Gersonde, Hodell, Blum, et al., 1999, doi:10.2973/odp.proc.ir.177.1999). Postcruise isotopic stratigraphy, however, verified that this site displayed a Pacific Pleistocene sedimentation pattern with glacial intervals marked by high carbonate content (Hodell and Charles, 1999). To assess changes in biological productivity and terrigenous inputs at this site, a number of geochemical indicators were determined. Phosphorus concentrations and P/metal ratios were determined to assess changes in export production on glacial/interglacial time scales. Metal concentrations, along with elemental ratios, were used to assess terrigenous inputs. Sediment geochemistry allows us to identify changes in the lithologic component using elemental data based on Fe, Al, and Ti concentrations. Records of concentrations and ratios of biologically related elements identify changes in export production. The P and metal results are important to assess the glacial/interglacial changes in P burial and the relationships between a major nutrient such as P with metals (and possibly trace nutrients) like Fe.

(Table 1) Age determination of sediment core MD01-2404

We analyzed the high-resolution foraminifer isotope records, total organic carbon (TOC), and opal content from an Okinawa Trough core MD012404 in order to estimate the monsoon hydrography and productivity changes in the East China Sea (ECS) of the tropical western Pacific over the past 100,000 years. The variability shown in the records on orbital time scales indicates that high TOC intervals coincide with the increases of boreal May-September insolation driven by precession cycles (~21 ka), implying a strong connection to the variations in monsoons. We also observed possibly nearly synchronous, millennial-scale changes of the ECS surface hydrography (mainly driven by salinity changes but also by temperature effects) and productivity coincident with monsoon events in the Hulu/Dongge stalagmite isotope records. We found that increased freshening and high productivity correlate with high monsoon intensity in interstadials. This study suggests that the millennial-scale changes in monsoon hydrography and productivity in the ECS are remarkable and persistent features over the past 100,000 years.

Event layer chronology from Lake Suigetsu (Japan, SG06 Project) for the last 40 kyr

Event layers in lake sediments are indicators of past extreme events, mostly the results of floods or earthquakes. Detailed characterisation of the layers allows the discrimination of the sedimentation processes involved, such as surface runoff, landslides or subaqueous slope failures. These processes can then be interpreted in terms of their triggering mechanisms. Here we present a 40 kyr event layer chronology from Lake Suigetsu, Japan. The event layers were characterised using a multi-proxy approach, employing light microscopy and µXRF for microfacies analysis. The vast majority of event layers in Lake Suigetsu was produced by flood events (362 out of 369), allowing the construction of the first long-term, quantitative (with respect to recurrence) and well dated flood chronology from the region. The flood layer frequency shows a high variability over the last 40 kyr, and it appears that extreme precipitation events were decoupled from the average long-term precipitation. For instance, the flood layer frequency is highest in the Glacial at around 25 kyr BP, at which time Japan was experiencing a generally cold and dry climate. Other cold episodes, such as Heinrich Event 1 or the Late Glacial stadial, show a low flood layer frequency. Both observations together exclude a simple, straightforward relationship with average precipitation and temperature. We argue that, especially during Glacial times, changes in typhoon genesis/typhoon tracks are the most likely control on the flood layer frequency, rather than changes in the monsoon front or snow melts. Spectral analysis of the flood chronology revealed periodic variations on centennial and millennial time scales, with 220 yr, 450 yr and a 2000 yr cyclicity most pronounced. However, the flood layer frequency appears to have not only been influenced by climate changes, but also by changes in erosion rates due to, for instance, earthquakes.