Geochemistry and foraminiferal stable isotoe record of sediment core SCS90-36

Changes in the Southeast Asia monsoon winds and surface circulation patterns since the last glaciation are inferred using multiple paleoceanographic indicators including planktic foraminifer faunal abundances, fauna and alkenones sea-surface temperature (SST) estimates, oxygen and carbon isotopes of planktic and benthic foraminifers, and sedimentary fluxes of carbonates and organic carbon obtained from deep-sea core SCS90-36 from the South China Sea (SCS) (17°59.70'N, 111°29.64'E at water depth 2050 m). All these paleoceanographic evidences indicate marked changes in the SCS ocean system over the last glacial toward the Holocene. Planktic foraminiferal faunal SST estimates show stable warm-season SST of 28.6°C, close to the modern value, throughout the glacial-interglacial cycle. In contrast, cold-season SST increases gradually from 23.6°C in the last glacial to a mean value of 26.4°C in the Holocene with a fluctuation of about 3°C during 13-16 ka. SST estimates by UK'37 method reveal less variability and are in average 1-3°C lower than the fauna-derived winter-season SST. These patterns reveal that the seasonality of the SST is not only higher by about 3-4°C in the glacial, but also a function of the winter season SST. Sedimentation rates decrease from the last glacial-deglacial stage to the Holocene due to a reduction in supply of terrigenous components, which led to an increase of carbonate contents. Total organic carbon (TOC) contents of primarily marine sources decrease from the last glacial-deglacial to the Holocene. The last deglaciation is also characterized by high surface productivity as indicated by increased ketones abundances and high mass accumulation rates (MAR) of the TOC and carbonates. The gradient of planktic foraminifer ocygen and carbon isotopes of between surface dwellers and deep dwellers increases significantly toward Termination I and Holocene, and is indiscernibly small in the carbon isotope gradient of between 14 and 24 ka, revealing a deep-mixing condition in surface layers prior to 10 ka. The glacial-interglacial fluctuation of the carbon isotope value of a benthic foraminifer is 0.61%. which is significantly larger than a global mean value. The large carbon isotope fluctuation indicates an amplification of marginal-sea effects which is most likely resulted from an increase in surface productivity in the northern SCS during the last glacial-deglacial stage. The multiple proxies consistently indicate that the last glacial-deglacial stage winter monsoon in the Southeast Asia was probably strengthened in the northern SCS, leading to a development of deep-mixing surface layer conditions and a more efficient nutrient cycling which supports more marine organic carbon production.

Results from ikaite investigations in the Kara Sea

The authigenic carbonate mineral ikaite is specific of low-temperature high latitude environments. The depletion of ikaite carbon in 13C isotopes in most cases implies a causal relation of ikaite generation with methane geochemistry. In this paper we present new data on ikaite minerals in Holocene sediments sampled along the Yenisei channel at the southern (74°N) and northern (77°N) ends. Stable carbon isotopes of the ikaite crystals were studied in conjunction with the hydrochemistry and isotope geochemistry of the sediments. Pore water and natural gas samples were separated from sediments to describe the methane carbon isotope distribution pattern throughout two sedimentary sequences embedding the ikaite crystals of different isotope composition (-24 per mil and -42 per mil). The biogenic nature of the methane is indicated by 51 C values being as low as -104.4 per mil. In the case of the moderately depleted sample (-24 per mil) from the southern location the small-scale ikaite formation fits best into the concept of a 'closed» sediment system, with a limited diagenetic carbon dioxide source being present. In the second case, formation of highly abundant and isotopically depleted ikaite crystals (-42 per mil) were caused by upwards flux of biogenic methane from below. Contribution of two main carbon sources to the ikaite crystals was estimated by using a isotope-mass balance equation. Organic-derived CO2 constitutes the principal source in both samples, amounting to 50 % of the total carbon of the strongly depleted ikaite crystals (-42 per mil) sampled at the northern end and 83 % for the moderately (-24 per mil) depleted crystals from the southern end. Methane-derived CO2 comes to 42 % for the isotopically light ikaite crystals and to 9% for the isotopically heavy crystals. The importance of sediment lithology and diffusive transport for ikaite formation is emphazied.

(Table 2) Age controls used to derive a time scale for DSDP Site 73-522

The stratotype section for the base of the Miocene is at a reversed (below) to normal (above) magnetic transition that is claimed to represent magnetic chron C6Cn.2n (o). Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 522 is the only location we are aware of that unambiguously records the three normal events of C6Cn. We have quantitatively determined the range of the short-lived nannofossil Sphenolithus delphix and the lower limit of S. disbelemnos in DSDP Holes 522 and 522A in order to calibrate their precise relationship to the magnetostratigraphy and to confirm the completeness of the record at this site. Astronomical tuning of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Sites 926, 928, and 929 shows that S. disbelemnos appears at 22.67 Ma and that the entire range of S. delphix is from about 22.98 Ma to 23.24 Ma. Using these ages, linear interpolation in DSDP Site 522 suggests that the age of C6Cn.2n (o) and of the Oligocene-Miocene boundary is 22.92+/-0.04 Ma. Our value, conservatively expressed as 22.9+/-0.1 Ma, is 0.9 m.y. younger than the currently accepted age of the Oligocene-Miocene boundary and of C6Cn.2n (o), which was assigned an age of 23.8 Ma, based on an estimate of 23.8+/-1 Ma for the Oligocene-Miocene boundary. The bulk-sediment carbon isotope data from DSDP Site 522 is correlated to the record from benthic foraminifera at ODP Site 929 to refine the calibration of magnetic reversals from C6Cn.1n (o) to C7n.2n (o) at DSDP Site 522 on the astronomical time scale.

Basal dolomitic sediments ofthe Tyrrhenian Sea

Basal dolomitic sediments were recovered at three drill sites in the Tyrrhenian Sea during Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 107 (Sites 650, 651, and 655). These sediments overlie the basaltic basement complex and are enriched in iron, and in some instances, also in manganese. The manganese enrichments, together with a very slight enrichment in trace transition elements, strongly suggest that the basal sediments have an affinity to deep-sea metalliferous deposits of hydrothermal origin. At Sites 651 and 655, the dolostones contain variable amounts of authigenic palygorskite, a Mgrich clay mineral. At Site 651, the basal sediments are 40 m thick and contain nonstoichiometric dolomite, sometimes Ca rich, but primarily Mg rich. The occurrence of Mg-rich dolomite with excess Mg up to 4% is unusual for the deep-sea environment; it may be associated with a hydrothermally driven flux of altered sea water through the directly underlying basement complex, which comprises basalt, dolerite, and serpentinized peridotite. Low-temperature alteration of the basement complex could produce solutions enriched in Mg. Oxygen-isotope equilibrium temperatures indicate that all of the studied dolomites formed under low-temperature conditions (i.e., < 70?C). The carbon-isotope compositions, together with the strong isotopic covariance, suggest that the Mg-rich dolomite precipitated more rapidly than the Carich dolomite. We suggest that the low-temperature, hydrothermal convection of Mg-rich solutions through the basal sediments in this back-arc basin environment (1) overcame kinetic problems related to the formation of massive dolostones, and (2) provided a mass-transport mechanism for dolomitization.

Benthic foraminifera accumulation rate and benthic foraminiferal productivity proxies at ODP Site 165-999 in the Caribbean (Appendix A)

This study tests the hypothesis that the late Miocene to early Pliocene constriction and closure of the Central American Seaway (CAS), connecting the tropical Atlantic and East quatorial Pacific (EEP), caused a decrease in productivity in the Caribbean, due to decreased coastal upwelling and an end to the connection with high-productivity tropical Pacific waters. The present study compared paleoceanographic proxies for the interval between 8.3 and 2.5 Ma in 47 samples from south Caribbean ODP Site 999 with published data on EEP DSDP Site 503. Proxies for Site 999 include the relative abundance of benthic foraminiferal species representing bottom current velocity and the flux of organic matter to the sea floor, the ratio of infaunal/epifaunal benthic foraminiferal species and benthic foraminifer accumulation rates (BFARs). In addition, we calculated % resistant planktic foraminifers species and used the previously published % sand fraction and benthic carbon isotope values from Site 999. During early shoaling of the Isthmus (8.3-7.9 Ma) the Caribbean was under mesotrophic conditions, with little ventilation of bottom waters and low current velocity. The pre-closure interval (7.6-4.2 Ma) saw enhanced seasonal input of phytodetritus with even more reduced ventilation, and enhanced dissolution between 6.8 and 4.8 Ma. During the post-closure interval (4.2-2.5 Ma) in the Caribbean, paleoproductivity decreased, current velocity was reduced, and ventilation improved, while the seasonality of phytodetrital input was reduced dramatically, coinciding with the establishment of the Atlantic-Pacific salinity contrast at 4.2 Ma. Our data support the hypothesis that late Miocene constriction of the CAS at 7.9 Ma and its closure at 4.2 Ma caused a gradual decrease in paleoproductivity in the Caribbean, consistent with decreased current velocity and seasonality of the phytodetrital input.