(Table 2) Age determination of brock-red sandy mud beds and detrital carbonate beds in the Scotian margin

Piston cores from the continental margin off Nova Scotia show up to four discrete intervals of "brick-red sandy mud", which are up to 20 cm thick. The ages of these intervals are bracketed by several radiocarbon dates, and three fall in the range 12.5-14.1 ka (radiocarbon years with -0.4 kyr reservoir correction). The youngest dates from ~10.4 ka, placing it within the Younger Dryas. The distribution of the beds and their petrographic character indicate a source in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The grain size of these beds suggests that they comprise a coarse component transported by ice rafting that diminishes distally and a fine component that represents suspension fallout from a surface plume and resulting nepheloid layers. Graded brick-red beds in some cores were probably redeposited from turbidity currents. The lowermost bed on the Laurentian Fan and East Scotian Rise is immediately overlain by a carbonate-rich interval that can be identified all around the margin of the Grand Banks. This interval is correlated with detrital carbonate bed DC-1 in the Labrador Sea and Heinrich event H1 in the North Atlantic. The sequential occurrence of the two beds suggests that they may be a response to the same trigger, probably sea level rise, but that the Gulf of Saint Lawrence source was more easily destabilized.

Sedimentology of core GeoTu_SL110 from the eastern Mediterranean Sea

Clay mineral assemblages in a sediment core from the distal Nile discharge plume off Israel have been used to reconstruct the late Quaternary Nile sediment discharge into the Eastern Mediterranean Sea (EMS). The record spans the last ca. 140 ka. Smectite abundances indicate the influence of the Blue Nile and Atbara that have their headwaters in the volcanic rocks of the Ethiopian highlands. Kaolinite abundances indicate the influence of wadis, which contribute periodically to the suspension load of the Nile. Due to the geographical position, the climate and the sedimentary framework of the EMS is controlled by two climate systems. The long-term climate regime was governed by the African monsoon that caused major humid periods with enhanced sediment discharge at 132 to <126 ka (AHP5), 116 to 99 ka (AHP4), and 89 to 77 ka (AHP3). They lasted much longer than the formation of the related sapropel layers S5 (>2 ka), S4 (3.5 ka) and S3 (5 ka). During the last glacial period (MIS 4-2) the long-term changes of the monsoonal system were superimposed by millennial-scale changes of an intensified mid-latitude glacial system. This climate regime caused short but pronounced drought periods in the Nile catchment, which are linked to Heinrich Events and alternate with more humid interstadials. The clay mineral record further implies that feedback mechanisms between vegetation cover and sediment discharge of the Nile are detectable but of minor importance for the sedimentary record in the southeastern Mediterranean Sea during the investigated African Humid Periods.

(Table S1) Geochemistry for sediment core MD02-2515

A high-resolution, 55-kyr long record of chalcophile and redox-sensitive trace element accumulation (Ag, Cd, Re, Mo) from MD02-2515, western Guaymas Basin, is investigated in conjunction with patterns in stratigraphy and productivity. High opal concentrations (~58 wt. %), representing increased diatom production, coincide with laminated sediments, and dilute the concentrations of organic carbon (Corg) and metals. A similarity between opal and normalized Corg, Ag and Cd concentrations suggests delivery to the sediments by diatom export production, while patterns in normalized Re and Mo accumulation suggest a different emplacement mechanism. Although Mo enrichment in organic-rich, laminated sediments typically represents anoxic conditions at other locations, Mo (and Re) in Guaymas Basin is enriched in nonlaminated and bioturbated sediments that are representative of oxygenated conditions. Adsorption onto Fe- and/or Mn-oxyhydroxide surfaces during oxygenation inadequately explains both the Re and Mo enrichments. Thus, recently published mechanisms invoking direct Re and Mo removal from the water column and bioturbation-assisted irrigation of Re into the sediments are used to explain the counterintuitive observations in Guaymas Basin. The MD02-2515 stratigraphic and proxy records are also different from other records in the northeast Pacific in that there is little correspondence with Greenland Dansgaard-Oeschger interstadials. There is some correlation with Heinrich events, suggesting that ventilation of intermediate waters and/or reduced productivity may be important in controlling stratigraphy and trace element accumulation. The results question whether MD02-2515 records can be compared to northeast Pacific open-margin records, especially before 17 kyr BP.

Sea surface temperature reconstruction for the middle Pleistocene from sediment core MD03-2699

Past sea surface water conditions of the western Iberian Margin were reconstructed based on biomarker analyses of a marine deep sea core MD03-2699 from the Estremadura Spur north off Lisbon, providing new insights into orbital and suborbital-scale climate variability between marine isotope stage (MIS) 15 to MIS 9 (580 to 300 ka). We use biomarker-based proxy records such as the alkenone unsaturated index to estimate sea surface temperature (SST), the total alkenone concentration to reconstruct phytoplankton productivity, and terrestrial biomarkers to evaluate the continental input. The results extend the existing biomarker record, namely the SST for the Iberian Margin, back to the sixth climatic cycle (580 ka). A general trend of stable interglacials contrasts with glacial periods and glacial inceptions which are marked by high-frequency variability. Thus, several short-lived climatic coolings were identified by large SST decreases, the occurrence of ice-rafted detritus and high percentages of the tetraunsaturated alkenone C 37:4. Some of these events were extremely cold and similar in their general trends to the well-known Heinrich events of the last glaciation. We identified eight Heinrich-type events between 580 and 300 ka. The general deglaciation pattern detected between MIS 15 and MIS 9 is similar in their general trends to that characterizing the more recent climatic cycles, i.e., marked by two coolings separated by a short warming episode which may reflect the southward, northward, and southward migration of the Polar Front.

Sea surface temperature and export productivity reconstructions of sediments off the western Iberian margin

Present day hydrographic conditions along the western Iberian margin are characterized by seasonal upwelling with filaments that can penetrate more than 200 km into the open ocean and constitute areas of cold and highly productive waters. In order to investigate spatial and temporal gradients in temperature and productivity conditions during the last 150 ky, high-resolution proxy records were generated in 3 cores (SU92-03, MD95-2040, MD95-2042), located along the Iberian coast between 43°12'N and 37°48'N and forming a N-S profile. In all cores, planktonic foraminifera census counts are used to reconstruct summer sea surface temperature (SSTsu) and export productivity (Pexpsu) using the modern analog technique SIMMAX 28. SSTsu and Pexpsu values similar to the present are observed throughout the Holocene and MIS 5e periods for each site, respectively, indicating fairly stable conditions equivalent to the modern ones. On glacial/interglacial timescales, SSTsu increases by 2-3 °C from the northern to southernmost site. Pexpsu, on the other hand, shows a decrease of 30-40 gC/m**2/yr from North to South at present time and during interglacial periods, and no significant variation (90-100 gC/m**2/yr) during glacial periods. The northernmost core SU92-03 reveals the coldest conditions with records more similar to MD95-2040 than to MD95-2042, the later of which is, as at present, more affected by subtropical waters. Core SU92-03 shows higher interglacial productivity similar to open ocean mid- to high latitude sites, while the other two cores monitor higher glacial productivity conform with other upwelling sites off NW Africa. A boundary between differences in glacial/interglacial productivity appears to be present in our study between 43°12'N and 40°35'N. Especially north of 40°N, coldest SSTsu and lowest Pexpsu are found during Heinrich events (H)1-H8 and H10-H11. In contrast, lowest Pexpsu do not coincide with these events at site MD95-2042, but appear to be related to the presence of relatively warm and nutrient-poor subtropical Eastern North Atlantic Central Water advected with the Azores Current.

Geochemical investigations of sediment profiles in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea

High-, i.e. 15-140-yr-resolution climate records from sediment cores 23071, 23074, and PS2644 from the Nordic Seas were used to recon:;truct changes in the surface and deep water circulation during marine isotope stages 1-5.1, i.e. the last 82 000 yr. From this the causal links between the paleoceanographic signals and the Dansgaard-Oeschger events 1-21 revealed in 0180-ice-core records from Greenland were determined. The stratigraphy of the cores is based on the planktic 0180 curves, the minima of which were directly correlated with the GISP2-0180 record, numerous AMS 14C ages, and some ash layers. The planktic d18O and dl3C curves of all three cores reveal numerous meltwater events, the most pronounced of which were assigned to the Heinrich events 1-6. The meltwater events, among other things also accompanied by cold sea surface temperatures and high IRD concentration, correlate with the stadial phases of the Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles and in the western Iceland Sea also to colder periods or abrupt drops in 0180 within a few longer interstadials. Besides being more numerous, the meltwater events also show isotope values lighter in the Iceland Sea than in the central Norwegian Sea, especially if compared to core 23071. This implies a continuous inflow of relative warm Atlantic water into the Norwegian Sea and a cyclonic circulation regime.