(Table 1) Age model for ODP Site 175-1077 based on oxygen isotopes of Globigerinoides ruber pink

Palynological records from the Congo fan reveal environmental change in equatorial Africa occurring 1.05 Ma ago, 100 k.y. before the mid-Pleistocene climatic shift at 0.9 Ma. Prior to 1.05 Ma, a glacial-interglacial rhythm is not obvious in the African vegetation variation. Afterwards, Podocarpus spread in the mountains of central Africa mainly during glacials and Congo River discharge decreased. The sequence of vegetation variation associated with the mid-Pleistocene glacials and interglacials differed from that observed during the late Pleistocene. Between 0.9 and 0.6 Ma, interglacials were characterized by warm dry conditions and glacials were characterized by cool humid conditions, while during the past 0.2 Ma glacials were cold and dry and interglacials warm and humid. Our data indicate that before the Northern Hemisphere ice caps dramatically increased in size (0.9-0.6 Ma), low-latitude climate forcing and response in the tropics played an important role in the initiation of 100 k.y. ice-age cycles. During the mid to late Pleistocene, however, the climate conditions in the tropics were increasingly influenced by the glacial-interglacial variations of continental ice sheets.

Age model for ODP Leg 175 sites

Upwelling along the western coast of Africa south of the equator may be partitioned into three major areas, each having its own dynamics and history: (1) the eastern equatorial region, comprising the Congo Fan and the area of Mid-Angola; (2) the Namibia upwelling system, extending from the Walvis Ridge to Lüderitz; and (3) the Cape Province region, where upwelling is subdued. The highest nutrient contents in thermocline waters are in the northern region, the lowest in the southern one. Wind effects are at a maximum near the southern end of the Namibia upwelling system, and maximum productivity occurs near Walvis Bay, where the product between upwelling rate and nutrient content of upwelled waters is at a maximum. In the Congo/Angola region, opal tends to follow organic carbon quite closely in the Quaternary record. However, organic carbon has a strong precessional component, while opal does not. Despite relatively low opal content, sediments off Angola show the same patterns as those off the Congo; thus, they are part of the same regime. The spectrum shows nonlinear interference patterns between high- and low-latitude forcing, presumably tied to thermocline fertility and wind. On Walvis Ridge, as in the Congo-Angola region, the organic matter record behaves normally; that is, supply is high during glacial periods. In contrast, interglacial periods are favorable for opal deposition. The pattern suggests reduction in silicate content of the thermocline during glacial periods. The reversed phase (opal abundant during interglacials) persists during the entire Pleistocene and can be demonstrated deep into the Pliocene, not just on Walvis Ridge but all the way to the Oranje River and off the Cape Province. From comparison with other regions, it appears that silicate is diminished in the global thermocline, on average, whenever winds become strong enough to substantially shorten the residence time of silicate in upper waters (Walvis Hypothesis, solving the Walvis Paradox of reversed phase in opal deposition). The central discovery during Leg 175 was the documentation of a late Pliocene opal maximum for the entire Namibia upwelling system (early Matuyama Diatom Maximum [MDM]). The maximum is centered on the period between the end of the Gauss Chron and the beginning of the Olduvai Chron. A rather sharp increase in both organic matter deposition and opal deposition occurs near 3 Ma in the middle of the Gauss Chron, in association with a series of major cooling steps. As concerns organic matter, high production persists at least to 1 Ma, when there are large changes in variability, heralding subsequent pulsed production periods. From 3 to 2 Ma, organic matter and opal deposition run more or less parallel, but after 2 Ma opal goes out of phase with organic matter. Apparently, this is the point when silicate becomes limiting to opal production. Thus, the MDM conundrum is solved by linking planetary cooling to increased mixing and upwelling (ramping up to the MDM) and a general removal of silicate from the upper ocean through excess precipitation over global supply (ramping down from the MDM). The hypothesis concerning the origin of the Namibia opal acme or MDM is fundamentally the same as the Walvis Hypothesis, stating that glacial conditions result in removal of silicate from the thermocline (and quite likely from the ocean as a whole, given enough time). The Namibia opal acme, and other opal maxima in the latest Neogene in other regions of the ocean, marks the interval when a cooling ocean selectively removes the abundant silicate inherited from a warm ocean. When the excess silicate is removed, the process ceases. According to the data gathered during Leg 175, major upwelling started in the late part of the late Miocene. Presumably, this process contributed to the drawing down of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, helping to prepare the way for Northern Hemisphere glaciation.

Fractional abundance and indices for brGDGTs and crenarchaeol in dust samples, surface water samples and surface sediment samples

Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) are membrane lipids produced by soil bacteria and occur in near coastal marine sediments as a result of soil organic matter input. Their abundance relative to marine-derived crenarchaeol, quantified in the BIT index, generally decreases offshore. However, in distal marine sediments, low relative amounts of brGDGTs can often still be observed. Sedimentary in situ production as well as dust input have been suggested as potential, though as yet not well constrained, sources. In this study brGDGT distributions in dust were examined and compared with those in distal marine sediments. Dust was sampled along the equatorial West African coast and brGDGTs were detected in most of the samples, albeit in low abundance. Their degree of methylation and cyclisation, expressed in the MBT' (methylation index of branched tetraethers) and DC (degree of cyclisation) indices, respectively, were comparable with those for African soils, their presumed source. Comparison of DC index values for brGDGTS in global soils, Congo deep-sea river fan sediments and dust with those of distal marine sediments clearly showed, however, that distal marine sediments had significantly higher values. This distinctive distribution is suggestive of sedimentary in situ production as a source of brGDGTs in marine sediments, rather than dust input. The presence of in situ produced brGDGTs in marine sediments means that caution should be exercised when applying the MBT'-CBT palaeothermometer to sediments with low BIT index values, i.e. < 0.1, based on our dataset.

Ikaite of sediment cores from the Zaire deep-sea fan

Most concentration profiles of sulfate in continental margin sediments show constant or continuously increasing gradients from the benthic boundary layer down to the deep sulfate reduction zone. However, a very marked change in this gradient has been observed several meters below the surface at many locations, which has been attributed to anoxic sulfide oxidation or to non-local transport mechanisms of pore waters. The subject of this study is to investigate whether this feature could be better explained by non-steady state conditions in the pore-water system. To this end, data are presented from two gravity cores recovered from the Zaire deep-sea fan. The sediments at this location can be subdivided into two sections. The upper layer, about 10 m thick, consists of stratified pelagic deposits representing a period of continuous sedimentation over the last 190 kyr. It is underlain by a turbidite sequence measuring several meters in thickness, which contains large crystals of authigenic calcium carbonate (ikaite: CaCO3·6H2O). Ikaite delta13C values are indicative of a methane carbon contribution to the CO2 pool. Radiocarbon ages of these minerals, as well as of the adjacent bulk sediments, provide strong evidence that the pelagic sediments have overthrust the lower section as a coherent block. Therefore, the emplacement of a relatively undisturbed sediment package is postulated. Pore-water profiles show the depth of the sulfate-methane transition zone within the turbiditic sediments. By the adaptation of a simple transport-reaction model, it is shown that the change in the geochemical environmental conditions, resulting from this slide emplacement, and the development towards a new steady state are fully sufficient to explain all features related to the pore-water profiles, particularly, [SO4]2- and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). The model shows that the downslope transport took place about 300 yr ago.

Age models of ODP Leg 175 holes

A multiproxy approach including the use of stable isotopes, magnetic characterization analyses, and organic geochemistry has been adopted to consider factors such as productivity and terrigenous input over the past 1.5 m.y. at two areas off the western coast of Africa. These factors can, in turn, be used to consider variability in ocean circulation and upwelling in addition to changes in climate on the African continent. In particular, studies focused on the influence of glacial-interglacial cycles and evidence for the mid-Pleistocene revolution (MPR), a complex change in climate that occurred at ~1 Ma. A comparison of the records from the two areas drilled during Ocean Drilling Program Leg 175, the Congo Basin, at a latitude of 5°S (Holes 1076A and 1077A), and the Walvis Ridge, at 17°S (Hole 1081A), demonstrates that these sites are affected by different localized factors. The sites in the Congo Basin are strongly influenced by freshwater and sediment from the Congo River, whereas the site at the Walvis Ridge is located in the center of oceanic upwelling and contains a more marine signal. Evidence also suggests that the two sites responded differently to both long- and short-term climatic variations. In particular, the response at the Walvis Ridge to the MPR occurred over an extended period, from 1.1 to 0.8 Ma, and was associated with a change in the dominant source of terrigenous input to the site in conjunction with a change in the productivity signal. In the Congo Basin, the response to the MPR was more rapid, occurring between 0.9 and 0.8 Ma. During this period, the influence of the Congo River became significant. However, productivity records only began to respond toward the end of this interval, at 0.8 Ma.

Age models, organic analyses and major-element analyses of sediment cores on a transect of the tropical African rainbelt

The distribution of rainfall in tropical Africa is controlled by the African rainbelt**1, which oscillates on a seasonal basis. The rainbelt has varied on centennial to millennial timescales along with changes in Northern Hemisphere high-latitude climate**2, 3, 4, 5, the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation**6 and low-latitude insolation**7 over the past glacial-interglacial cycle. However, the overall dynamics of the African rainbelt remain poorly constrained and are not always consistent with a latitudinal migration**2, 4, 5, 6, as has been proposed for other regions**8, 9. Here we use terrestrially derived organic and sedimentary markers from marine sediment cores to reconstruct the distribution of vegetation, and hence rainfall, in tropical Africa during extreme climate states over the past 23,000 years. Our data indicate that rather than migrating latitudinally, the rainbelt contracted and expanded symmetrically in both hemispheres in response to changes in climate. During the Last Glacial Maximum and Heinrich Stadial 1, the rainbelt contracted relative to the late Holocene, which we attribute to a latitudinal compression of atmospheric circulation associated with lower global mean temperatures**10. Conversely, during the mid-Holocene climatic optimum, the rainbelt expanded across tropical Africa. In light of our findings, it is not clear whether the tropical rainbelt has migrated latitudinally on a global scale, as has been suggested**8,9.

Iron and carbon geochemistry of sediment core GeoB1401-4

Iron speciation was determined in hemiplegic sediments from a high productivity area to investigate systematically the early diagenetic reactivity of Fe. A combination of various leaching agents (1 M HCI, dithionite buffered in citrate/acetic acid, HF/H2SO4, acetic Cr(II)) was applied to sediment and extracted more than 80% of total Fe. Subsequent Fe species determination defined specific mineral fractions that are available for Fe reduction and fractions formed as products of Fe diagenesis. To determine the Fe speciation of (sheet) silicates we explored an extraction procedure (HF/H2SO4) and verified the procedure by application to standard rocks. Variations of Fe speciation of (sheet) silicates reflect the possible formation of Fe-bearing silicates in near surface sediments. The same fraction indicates a change in the primary input at greater depth, which is supported by other parameters. The Fe(II)/ Fe(III) -ratio of total sediment determined by extractions was compared with Mössbauer-spectroscopy ] at room temperature and showed agreement within 10%. M6ssbauer-spectroscopy indicates the occurrence of siderite in the presence of free sulfide and pyrite, supporting the importance of microenvironments during mineral formation. The occurrence of other Fe(II) bearing minerals such as ankerite (Ca-, Fe-, Mg-carbonate) can be presumed but remains speculative.

Pollen distribution in marine sediment samples along the south-western African coast

The distribution of pollen in marine sediments is used to reconstruct pathways of terrigenous input to the oceans and provides a record of vegetation change on adjacent continents. The wind transport routes of aeolian pollen is comprehensively illustrated by clusters of trajectories. Isobaric, 4-day backward trajectories are calculated using the modelled wind-field of ECHAM3, and are clustered on a seasonal basis to estimate the main pathways of aeolian particles to sites of marine cores in the south-eastern Atlantic. Trajectories and clusters based on the modelled wind-field of the Last Glacial Maximum hardly differ from those of the present-day. Trajectory clusters show three regional, and two seasonal patterns, determining the pathways of aeolian pollen transport into the south-eastern Atlantic ocean. Mainly, transport out of the continent occurs during austral fall and winter, when easterly and south-easterly winds prevail. South of 25°S, winds blow mostly from the west and southwest, and aeolian terrestrial input is very low. Generally, a good latitudinal correspondence exists between the distribution patterns of pollen in marine surface sediments and the occurrence of the source plants on the adjacent continent. The northern Angola Basin receives pollen and spores from the Congolian and Zambezian forests mainly through river discharge. The Zambezian vegetation zone is the main source area for wind-blown pollen in sediments of the Angola Basin, while the semi-desert and desert areas are the main sources for pollen in sediments of the Walvis Basin and on the Walvis Ridge. A transect of six marine pollen records along the south-western African coast indicates considerable changes in the vegetation of southern Africa between glacial and interglacial periods. Important changes in the vegetation are the decline of forests in equatorial Africa and the north of southern Africa and a northward shift of winter rain vegetation along the western escarpment.