Analytical results from sediment core MD03-2698

It is well established that orbital scale sea-level changes generated larger transport of sediments into the deep-sea during the last glacial maximum than the Holocene. However, the response of sedimentary processes to abrupt millennial-scale climate variability is rather unknown. Frequency of distal turbidites and amounts of advected detrital carbonate are estimated off the Lisbon-Setúbal canyons, within a chronostratigraphy based on radiometric ages, oxygen isotopes and paleomagnetic key global anomalies. We found that: 1) Higher frequency of turbidites concurred with Northern Hemisphere coldest temperatures (Greenland Stadials [GS], including Heinrich [H] events). But more than that, an escalating frequency of turbidites starts with the onset of global sea-level rising (and warming in Antarctica) and culminates during H events, at the time when rising is still in its early-mid stage, and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is re-starting. This short time span coincides with maximum gradients of ocean surface and bottom temperatures between GS and Antarctic warmings (Antarctic Isotope Maximum; AIM 17, 14, 12, 8, 4, 2) and rapid sea-level rises. 2) Trigger of turbidity currents is not the only sedimentary process responding to millennial variability; land-detrital carbonate (with a very negative bulk d18O signature) enters the deep-sea by density-driven slope lateral advection, accordingly during GS. 3) Possible mechanisms to create slope instability on the Portuguese continental margin are sea-level variations as small as 20 m, and slope friction by rapid deep and intermediate re-accommodation of water masses circulation. 4) Common forcing mechanisms appear to drive slope instability at both millennial and orbital scales.

A sedimentological, faunal, and isotopic record of the middle-to-late Pliocene transition at DSDP Hole 80-548

Hydraulic piston coring at DSDP Site 548, on the upper continental slope southwest of Ireland, recovered a nearly complete Pliocene section spanning 103 m of sediment. The sediments are greenish gray carbonate-rich hemipelagites containing abundant nannofossils and foraminifers. Grain-size analysis demonstrates that the texture of the section is fairly constant, with most of the variation occurring in 63- to 32-µm and < 2-µm fractions. Previous research has shown that the middle-to-late Pliocene transition in the North Atlantic was marked by the appearance of the planktonic foraminiferal species Globorotalia inflata and by the first occurrence of significant quantities of ice-rafted sediment grains in deep-sea sediments. The latter is taken to represent the first important development of Northern Hemisphere glaciation. The first appearance of G. inflata is carefully documented for Site 548 and is demonstrated to be an evolutionary datum at this site, rather than an ecologically controlled first appearance. Surface ocean conditions represented in the sediment section spanning the appearance of G. inflata were strongly cyclic, resulting in large periodic changes in the abundances of Globorotalia puncticulata and N. acostaensis. The benthic foraminiferal population was studied in detail over the middle-to-upper Pliocene transition to establish the nature and behavior of the intermediate-depth water mass in the northeastern Atlantic at the time of ice-sheet growth in the Northern Hemisphere. This water mass is presently warm and saline, having its source in the Mediterranean Sea. The benthic data show that the intermediate-depth water mass was undergoing a series of progressive changes over the interval including the first appearance of G. inflata. These changes are particularly reflected in the relative abundances of Globocassidulina subglobosa (Brady), Uvigerina, and Ehrenbergina. Also, the mean size of individuals in the G. subglobosa populations shows systematic variation, indicating changing intermediate-depth water properties. Oxygen-isotope analyses show that the intermediate-depth water mass was cold during the middle-to-late Pliocene transition. This interpretation is supported by the relative abundances of benthic foraminiferal species. Hence, the intermediate-depth northeastern Atlantic water mass of the middle to late Pliocene was considerably different from the intermediate-depth water mass of the present.