Rock magnetic records and geochemical methods of sediment cores off NW Africa

Two gravity cores retrieved off NW Africa at the border of arid and subtropical environments (GeoB 13602-1 and GeoB 13601-4) were analyzed to extract records of Late Quaternary climate change and sediment export. We apply End Member (EM) unmixing to 350 acquisition curves of isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM). Our approach enables to discriminate rock magnetic signatures of aeolian and fluvial material, to determine biomineralization and reductive diagenesis. Based on the occurrence of pedogenically formed magnetic minerals in the fluvial and aeolian EMs, we can infer that goethite formed in favor to hematite in more humid climate zones. The diagenetic EM dominates in the lower parts of the cores and within a thin near-surface layer probably representing the modern Fe**2+/Fe**3+ redox boundary. Up to 60% of the IRM signal is allocated to a biogenic EM underlining the importance of bacterial magnetite even in siliciclastic sediments. Magnetosomes are found well preserved over most of the record, indicating suboxic conditions. Temporal variations of the aeolian and fluvial EMs appear to faithfully reproduce and support trends of dry and humid conditions on the continent. The proportion of aeolian to fluvial material was dramatically higher during Heinrich Stadials, especially during Heinrich Stadial 1. Dust export from the Arabian-Asian corridor appears to vary contemporaneous to increased dust fluxes on the continental margin of NW Africa emphasizing that melt-water discharge in the North Atlantic had an enormous impact on atmospheric dynamics.

Radiocarbon data, oxygen isotopic composition in foraminifera, freshwater diatoms data, and salinity estimations from ODP Holes 167-1019C and 167-1019D

Massive discharges of freshwater from the glacial lake Missoula to the northeast Pacific Ocean are thought to have sculpted the Channeled Scablands of eastern Washington and debouched via the Columbia River near 46°N. The dynamics and timing of these events and their impact on northeast Pacific circulation remain uncertain. Here we date marine records of anomalous freshwater inputs to the ocean based on freshwater diatoms, oxygen isotopes in foraminifera, and radiocarbon data. Low-salinity plumes from the Columbia River reduced sea-surface salinities by as much as 6 psu (practical salinity units) more than 400 km away between 16 and 31 cal (calendar) ka B.P. Anomalously high abundances of freshwater diatoms in marine sediments from the region precede generally accepted dates for the existence of glacial Lake Missoula, implying that large flooding or freshwater routing events were common during the advance of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet and that such events require multiple sources.