(Table 1) Mineralogy at DSDP Leg 81 Holes

This X-ray mineralogy study of Tertiary samples recovered from Rockall sites permitted the definition of four mineralogical units and the tracing of the paleoenvironmental evolution in this region.

Stable carbon and oxygen isotope records of Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi in DSDP and ODP sites in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean

Carbon isotopic records from benthic foraminifera are used to map patterns of deep ocean circulation between 3 and 2 million years ago, the interval when significant northern hemisphere glaciation began. The delta18O and delta13C data from four Atlantic sites (552, 607, 610, and 704) and one Pacific site (677) show that global cooling over this interval was associated with increased suppression of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) formation. However, the relative strength of NADW production was always greater than is observed during late Pleistocene glaciations when extreme decreases in NADW are observed in the deep North Atlantic. Our data indicate that an increase in the equator-to-pole temperature gradient associated with the onset of northern hemisphere glaciation did not intensify deepwater production in the North Atlantic but rather the opposite occurred. This is not unexpected as it is the "warm high-salinity" characteristic, rather than the "low temperature", of thermocline waters that is critical to the deepwater formation process in this region today.

Stable oxygen and carbon isotope ratios of Pliocene benthic foraminifera in the Atlantic Ocean

Large changes in benthic foraminiferal delta180 and delta13C occurred during the Pliocene (between 3.0 and 2.0 Ma) at Hole 665A. Oxygen isotopic compositions increased to maximum values at 2.4 Ma, correlating with an 18O enrichment observed at Hole 552A and other locations (Shackleton et al., 1984). As at Hole 606 (Keigwin, 1986), however, maximum delta180 values at 2.4 Ma were not as great as at Hole 552A, and enrichments in delta180 also occurred before 2.4 Ma. We believe that the section representing sediments from 2.5 to 2.7 or 2.8 Ma is missing at Hole 552A because of incomplete core recovery. Consequently, the older delta180 increases are not found at Hole 552A. Benthic foraminiferal delta13C values are much lower at Hole 665A than at Hole 552A, approaching the low values observed in the Pliocene Pacific Ocean. This geographic distribution of delta13C suggests that, like late Quaternary glaciations, the equatorial Atlantic Ocean was dominated during the Pliocene by deep water that originated in the Southern Ocean and had chemical characteristics very similar to the Pacific Ocean. Reduced O2 values were probably associated with low delta13C values and contributed to increased preservation of organic carbon during enriched 180 intervals of the Pliocene equatorial Atlantic.

Age models of upper Pliocene samples of the North Atlantic

Abundance variations of six Pliocene species of discoasters have been analyzed over the time interval from 1.89 to 2.95 Ma at five contrasting sites in the North Atlantic: Deep Sea Drilling Project Sites 552 (56°N) and 607 (41°N) and Ocean Drilling Program 658 (20°N), 659 (18°N), and 662 (1°S). A sampling interval equivalent to approximately 3 k.y. was used. Total Discoaster abundance showed a reduction with increasing latitude and from the effects of upwelling. This phenomenon is most obvious in Discoaster brouweri, the only species that survived over the entire time interval studied. Prior to 2.38 Ma, Discoaster pentaradiatus and Discoaster surculus are important components of the Discoaster assemblage: Discoaster pentaradiatus increases slightly with latitude up to 41°N, and its abundance relative to D. brouweri increases up to 56°N; D. surculus increases in abundance with latitude and with upwelling conditions relative to both D. brouweri and D. pentaradiatus and is dominant to the latter species at upwelling Site 658 and at the highest latitude sites. Discoaster asymmetricus and Discoaster tamalis appear to increase in abundance with latitude relative to D. brouweri. Many of the abundance changes observed appear to be connected with the initiation of glaciation in the North Atlantic at 2.4 Ma. The long-term trend of decreasing Discoaster abundance probably reflects the fall of sea-surface temperatures. This trend of cooling is overprinted by short-term variations that are probably associated with orbital forcing. Evidence for the astronomical elements of eccentricity and obliquity periodicities were found at all sites; however, only at Sites 607, 659, and 662 were precessional periodicities detected. Furthermore, only at Site 659 was precession found to be dominant to obliquity. Abundance peaks of individual species were found to cross-correlate between sites. The distinct abundance fluctuations observed especially in the tropics suggest that temperature is not the only factor responsible for this variation. This study reveals for the first time the importance of productivity pressure on the suppression of Discoaster abundance.

Sea surface temperature reconstruction based on dinoflagellates from the North Atlantic

The application of quantitative and semiquantitative methods to assemblage data from dinoflagellate cysts shows potential for interpreting past environments, both in terms of paleotemperature estimates and in recognizing water masses and circulation patterns. Estimates of winter sea-surface temperature (WSST) were produced by using the Impagidinium Index (II) method, and by applying a winter-temperature transfer function (TFw). Estimates of summer sea-surface temperature (SSST) were produced by using a summer-temperature transfer function (TFs), two methods based on a temperature-distribution chart (ACT and ACTpo), and a method based on the ratio of gonyaulacoid:protoperidinioid specimens (G:P). WSST estimates from the II and TFw methods are in close agreement except where Impagidinium species are sparse. SSST estimates from TFs are more variable. The value of the G:P ratio for the Pliocene data in this paper is limited by the apparent sparsity of protoperidinioids, which results in monotonous SSST estimates of 14-26°C. The ACT methods show two biases for the Pliocene data set: taxonomic substitution may force 'matches' yielding incorrect temperature estimates, and the method is highly sensitive to the end-points of species distributions. Dinocyst assemblage data were applied to reconstruct Pliocene sea-surface temperatures between 3.5-2.5 Ma from DSDP Hole 552A, and ODP Holes 646B and 642B, which are presently located beneath cold and cool-temperate waters north of 56°N. Our initial results suggest that at 3.0 Ma, WSSTs were a few degrees C warmer than the present and that there was a somewhat reduced north-south temperature gradient. For all three sites, it is likely that SSSTs were also warmer, but by an unknown, perhaps large, amount. Past oceanic circulation in the North Atlantic was probably different from the present.

Stable isotope record of benthic foraminifera in late Pleistocene sediments

Variations in the contribution of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW), relative to North Pacific Deep Water (NPDW), to the Southern Ocean, are assessed by comparing delta13C records from the mid-depth North Atlantic, deep Southern Ocean, and deep equatorial Pacific Ocean. In general, the relative contribution of NADW was greater during interglaciations than glaciations of the past 550,000 years. An increase in the NADW flux to the Southern Ocean since the last glaciation was proposed to have resulted in higher atmospheric CO2 in the Holocene (Broecker and Peng, 1989, doi:10.1029/GB003i003p00215). Glacial-interglacial variations in the proportion of NADW in the Southern Ocean may have also influenced atmospheric CO2 levels over the past 550,000 years. The greatest relative flux of NADW to the Southern Ocean occurred during interglacial stage 11. Faunal data suggest that the North Atlantic polar front and southern Indian Ocean subtropical convergence zone were located farthest poleward during stage 11. Warmth in these locations and a strong southward flux of NADW during stage 11 may be causally linked by the NADW formation process/warm water return route (Gordon, 1986, doi:10.1029/JC091iC04p05037). Time series analysis indicates that delta13C variations in the deep Southern Ocean occur at the same frequencies as the Earth's orbital variations and are coherent and in phase with delta18O. At most, 50% of the glacial-interglacial delta13C amplitude in the Southern Ocean is due changes in the contribution of NADW. The remainder is probably due to mean ocean delta13C changes.