Polarity chron boundaries and foraminiferal 87Sr/86Sr ratios of ODP Sites 162-986 and 162-987

Cores recovered at Sites 986 and 987 comprise glacial fan sedimentation associated with the Svalbard-Barents Sea and Greenland Ice Sheets, respectively. At Site 986, the top 150 m and the basal 250 m yielded interpretable magnetic stratigraphies. The record from the intervening 550 m is compromised by drilling-related core deformation, poor recovery, and numerous debris flows. The uppermost 150 m appears to record the Brunhes/Matuyama boundary and the Jaramillo Subchron. The base of the drilled section (at ~950 meters below seafloor [mbsf]) is interpreted to lie within the Matuyama Chron (age <2.58 Ma) with an apparent normal polarity interval in the ~730-750 mbsf interval. Dinoflagellate cyst biostratigraphy and Sr isotopic ratios are consistent with a Matuyama age for the base of the drilled section and with the normal polarity interval as the Olduvai Subchron. On the other hand, the last occurrence of Neogloboquadrina atlantica (sinistral) and the last common occurrence of the warm-dwelling Globigerina bulloides at 647-650 mbsf in Hole 986D indicate an age for this level of ~2.3 Ma, inconsistent with the designation of the Olduvai Subchron in the ~730-750 mbsf interval. If the age at 647-650 mbsf in Hole 986D is taken as 2.3 Ma and the base of the hole lies within the Matuyama Chron, then the sedimentation rate in the basal 300 m of the cored section averages 1 m/k.y. At Site 987, the magnetic stratigraphy is fairly unambiguous throughout the section and yields an age of 7.5 Ma (Chron 4n) for the base of the drilled section. The paucity of calcareous and siliceous microfossils precludes biostratigraphic corroboration of the magnetostratigraphic interpretation, although dinoflagellate cysts provide general support, particularly at the base of the section. The age model indicates relatively low sedimentation rates (~5 cm/k.y.) at the base of the section with rates at least four to five times greater during intervals of debris flows at ~5-4.6 and ~2.6 Ma.

(Table 2) Revised stacked record on magnetic susceptibility of ODP Site 162-984 sediments

Magnetic field and susceptibility data were collected using the geological high-resolution magnetometer tool string (GHMT) at three sites during Ocean Drilling Program Leg 162. Postcruise processing of the magnetic field data yielded a polarity stratigraphy for Holes 986C and 987E. A magnetic susceptibility record was measured at Hole 984B. Detailed analysis of the core and log susceptibility records at Hole 984B yielded an empirical tool resolution of the susceptibility measurement tool (SUMT) of 53 cm. At Site 984, where sedimentation rates were typically >10 cm/k.y., this gave a resolution of at least ~5000 yr. This data report summarizes the GHMT postcruise processing, method of interpretation, and analysis of the SUMT resolution.

Atlantic 231Pa/230Th and biogenic opal compilation of the Holocene and the LGM

The strength and geometry of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation is tightly coupled to climate on glacial-interglacial and millennial timescales, but has proved difficult to reconstruct, particularly for the Last Glacial Maximum. Today, the return flow from the northern North Atlantic to lower latitudes associated with the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation reaches down to approximately 4,000 m. In contrast, during the Last Glacial Maximum this return flow is thought to have occurred primarily at shallower depths. Measurements of sedimentary 231Pa/230Th have been used to reconstruct the strength of circulation in the North Atlantic Ocean, but the effects of biogenic silica on 231Pa/230Th-based estimates remain controversial. Here we use measurements of 231Pa/230Th ratios and biogenic silica in Holocene-aged Atlantic sediments and simulations with a two-dimensional scavenging model to demonstrate that the geometry and strength of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation are the primary controls of 231Pa/230Th ratios in modern Atlantic sediments. For the glacial maximum, a simulation of Atlantic overturning with a shallow, but vigorous circulation and bulk water transport at around 2,000 m depth best matched observed glacial Atlantic 231Pa/230Th values. We estimate that the transport of intermediate water during the Last Glacial Maximum was at least as strong as deep water transport today.

Beryllium concentrations and deposition rates in ODP holes from the north Atlantic

Increases in the production rate of cosmogenic radionuclides associated with geomagnetic excursions have been used as global tie-points for correlation between records of past climate from marine and terrestrial archives. We have investigated the relative timing of variations in 10Be production rate and the corresponding palaeomagnetic signal during one of the largest Pleistocene excursions, the Iceland Basin (IB) event (ca. 190 kyr), as recorded in two marine sediment cores (ODP Sites 1063 and 983) with high sedimentation rates. Variations in 10Be production rate during the excursion were estimated by use of 230Thxs normalized 10Be deposition rates and authigenic 10Be/9Be. Resulting 10Be production rates are compared with high-resolution records of geomagnetic field behaviour acquired from the same discrete samples. We find no evidence for a significant lock-in depth of the palaeomagnetic signal in these high sedimentation-rate cores. Apparent lock-in depths in other cores may sometimes be the result of lower sample resolution. Our results also indicate that the period of increased 10Be production during the IB excursion lasted longer and, most likely, started earlier than the corresponding palaeomagnetic anomaly, in accordance with previous observations that polarity transitions occur after periods of reduced geomagnetic field intensity prior to the transition. The lack of evidence in this study for a significant palaeomagnetic lock-in depth suggests that there is no systematic offset between the 10Be signal and palaeomagnetic anomalies associated with excursions and reversals, with significance for the global correlation of climate records from different archives.