Geochemistry and physics on sediment cores from the Peru Basin

We studied preservation/dissolution cycles and paleoproductivity in eight sediment cores from the Peru Basin south of the highly productive surface waters of the eastern equatorial Pacific. Stratigraphy is based on stable oxygen isotopes and on combined magnetostratigraphy and biostratigraphy. Sediment cores which span the last 8 m.y., were retrieved during cruise 79 with RV SONNE close to the carbonate compensation depth (CCD). In general, sediments show Pacific-type carbonate cycles. We interpret a pronounced carbonate peak between 6 and 7 Ma as the result of a western and northern extension of the highly productive Peru Current. Decreased carbonate contents from the late Miocene to the late Pliocene might be associated with a slow contraction of the latitudinal extent of the high-productivity belt north of the study areas. During the Pliocene, carbonate variations showed 400 kyr cycles indicating the growth and decay of ice sheets, which should have been associated with pulsations of the Antarctic ice cap. An abrupt collapse of the carbonate system occurred at 2.4 Ma. Higher frequency variations of the carbonate record indicate the major increase of the northern hemisphere glaciation. During the Quaternary, carbonate fluxes are high during glacials and low during interglacials. Large amplitude variations with long broad minima and maxima, associated with small migrations of the lysocline and the CCD (< 200 m), are indicative of the preservation/dissolution history in the Peru Basin. During the early Pleistocene, climatic forcing by the 41 kyr obliquity cycle is not observed in the carbonate record. During the last 800 kyr, variability in the carbonate record was dominated by the 100 kyr eccentricity cycle. Fluxes of biogenic material (calcium carbonate, organic carbon, opal, and barium) were greatest during glacials, which imply higher productivity and export production of the Peru Current during cold climatic periods. Dissolution was greatest during interglacials as inferred from the relatively poor preservation of planktonic foraminifera and from the low accumulation rate of carbonate. After the Mid-Brunhes Event (400 ka), we observe a plateaulike shift to enhanced dissolution and to intensified productivity.

Sedimentology on cores from the Peru Basin

We investigated surficial sediments for physico-chemical composition from numerous sites of seven study areas in the manganese nodule field of the northern Peru Basin as part of a deep-sea environmental study. Major results from this study are strong variability with respect to water depth, productivity in surface waters, locality, bottom water flow, and seafloor topography. Sediment sites are located mostly in 3900 to 4300 m water depth between the lysocline and the carbonate compensation depth (CCD). Large fluctuations in carbonate content (0% to 80%) determine sediment density and compressional-wave velocity, and, by dilution, contents of opal and non-biogenic material. Mass accumulation rates of biogenic components as well as geochemical proxies (barium and phosphorus) distinguish areas of higher productivity in the northwest near equatorial upwelling and in the northeast close to coastal upwelling, from areas of lower productivity in the west and south. Comparisons between the central Peru Basin area (Discol) and western Peru Basin area (Sediperu) reveals, for the Sediperu area, a shallower CCD, more carbonate but less opal, organic carbon, and non-biogenic material in sediments at the same water depth as well as larger down-core fluctuations of organic carbon and MnO2. Bottom water flow in the abyssal hill topography causes winnowing of material from summits of seamounts and ridges, where organic carbon preservation is poor, to basins where organic carbon preservation is better. Down-core measurements in box cores indicate a three-fold division in the upper 50 cm of the sediment column. An uppermost semi-liquid top layer is dark brown, 5-15 cm thick and contains most of the ferro-manganese nodules. A 5-15 cm thick transition zone of light sediment color has increasing shear strength, lowest opal contents and compressional-wave velocities, but highest carbonate contents and sediment densities. The lowermost layer contains stiffer light gray sediments.

Sea-surface reconstruction of the east-equatorial South Atlantic

In order to reconstruct Late Quatemary variations of surface oceanography in the eastequatorial South Atlantic, time series of sea-surface temperatures (SST) and paleoproductivity were established from cores recovered in the Guinea and Angola Basins, and at the Walvis Ridge. These records, based on sedimentary alkenone and organic carbon concentrations, reveal that during the last 350,000 years surface circulation and productivity changes in the east-equatorial South Atlantic were highiy sensitive to climate forcing at 23- and 100-kyr periodicities. Covarying SST and paleoproductivity changes at the equator and at the Walvis Ridge appear to be driven by variations in zonal trade-wind intensity, which forces intensification or reduction of coastal and equatorial upwelling, as well as enhanced Benguela cold water advection from the South. Phase relationships of precessional variations in the paleoproductivity and SST records from the distinct sites were evaluated with respect to boreal summer insolation over Africa, movements of southem ocean thermal fronts, and changes in global ice volume. The 23-kyr phasing implies a sensitivity of eastem South Atlantic surface water advection and upwelling to West African monsoon intensity and to changes in the position ofthe subtropical high pressure cell over the South Atlantic, both phenomena which modulate zonal strength of southeasterly trades. SST and productivity changes north of 20°S lack significant variance at the 41-kyr periodicity; and at the Walvis Ridge and the equator lead changes in ice volume. This may indicate that obliquity-driven clirnate change, characteristic for northem high latitudes, e.g fluctuations in continental ice masses, did not substantially influence subtropical and tropical surface circulation in the South Atlantic. At the 23-kyr cycle SST and productivity changes in the eastern Angola Basin lag those in the equatorial Atlantic and at the Walvis Ridge by about 3500 years. This lag is explained by variations in cross-equatorial surface water transport and west-east countercurrent retum flow modifying precessional variations of SST and productivity in the eastem Angola Basin relative to those in the mid South Atlantic area under the central field of zonal trade winds. Sea level-related shifts of upwelling cells in phase with global clirnate change may be also recorded in SST and productivity variability along the continental margin off Southwest Africa. They may account for the delay of the paleoceanogreaphic signal from continental margin sites with respect to that from the pelagic sites at the equator and the Walvis Ridge.

Heterocyst glycolipids in surface sediments and water samples of the Amazon shelf

Marine endosymbiotic heterocystous cyanobacteria make unique heterocyst glycolipids (HGs) containing pentose (C5) moieties. Functionally similar HGs with hexose (C6) moieties found in free-living cyanobacteria occur in the sedimentary record, but C5 HGs have not been documented in the natural environment. Here we developed a high performance liquid chromatography multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS2) method specific for trace analysis of long chain C5HGs and applied it to cultures of Rhizosolenia clevei Ostenfeld and its symbiont Richelia intracellularis which were found to contain C5 HGs and no C6 HGs. The method was then applied to suspended particulate matter (SPM) and surface sediment from the Amazon plume region known to harbor marine diatoms carrying heterocystous cyanobacteria as endosymbionts. C5 HGs were detected in both marine SPM and surface sediments, but not in SPM or surface sediment from freshwater settings in the Amazon basin. Rather, the latter contained C6 HGs, established biomarkers for free-living heterocystous cyanobacteria. Our results indicate that the C5 HGs may be potential biomarkers for marine endosymbiotic heterocystous cyanobacteria.

Heat flow in the Central Basin of the Indian Ocean and the northern part of the Afanasy Nikitin Rise

Heat flux data obtained during Cruise 20 of R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh in the Central Basin of the Indian Ocean and northern part of the Afanasy Nikitin Rise are presented. Thermal conditions on the rise are not associated with an anomalous zone of the large tectonic deformation block north of it. Geothermal data indicate that the Afanasy Nikitin Rise has formed near an ancient spreading axis. Distribution of measured heat flux values indicates an additional source of heat in the Central Basin resulting from dissipative heating of the crust in the two-stage plate tectonics model.

Benthic and planktonic foraminifera in the Japan Sea

Biostratigraphy and paleoenvironmental history of deep and surficial waters of the Japan Sea are addressed using sequences recovered from the floor of the backarc basin. The study is divided into two parts: (1) foraminifer biostratigraphy and paleoenvironmental assessment of sedimentary sequences recovered from above igneous basement at the four sites and (2) detailed planktonic foraminifer paleoenvironmental analysis of Quaternary and Pliocene sequences from Sites 794 and 797 in the Yamato Basin. A total of 253 samples were examined for the foraminifer biostratigraphy and 325 samples for the detailed paleoenvironmental study of Quaternary and Pliocene sequences. Low abundance and sporadic occurrence of foraminifers limited interpretation of results. Foraminifer-bearing intervals were correlated where possible to diatom and calcareous nannofossil zonations, and the sequences were successfully assigned to the foraminifer zonation of Matsunaga. Unfortunately, extensive barren intervals and sporadic occurrences of planktonic foraminifers prevented zonation of Quaternary and Pliocene intervals, although some interesting conclusions about paleoenvironment were possible and are listed below. A sequence of Neogene (sensu lato) paleoenvironmental events were identified: (1) deepening of the Yamato basins to middle bathyal depths by the early to middle Miocene, an event contemporaneous with the age of some deep basins known from uplifted sections adjacent to the Japan Basin; (2) cooling of the Japan Sea in the early middle Miocene; (3) oxygenation of deep waters in the late Miocene; (4) further cooling of surficial water masses between the Olduvai Subchron and the Brunhes/Matuyama Boundary; and (5) extermination of lower middle bathyal faunas and replacement by upper middle bathyal faunas near the base of the Quaternary.

(Table DR1) Biogenic silica and chert in the Pacific Ocean, DSDP and ODP data

Evidence for the dissolution of biogenic silica at the base of pelagic sections supports the hypothesis that much of the chert formed in the Pacific derives from the dissolution and reprecipitation of this silica by hydrothermal waters. As ocean bottom waters flow into and through the crust, they become warmer. Initially they remain less saturated with respect to dissolved silica than pore water in the overlying sediments. With the diffusion of heat, dissolved ions, and to some extent the advection of water itself, biogenic silica in the basal part of the sedimentary section is dissolved. Upon conductively cooling, these pore waters precipitate chert layers. The most common thickness for the basal silica-free zone (20 m) lies below the most common height of the top of the chert interval above basement (50 m). This mode of chert formation explains the frequent occurrence of chert layers at very shallow subbottom depths in pelagic sections of the Pacific. It is also consistent with the common occurrence of cherts

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) Ca intensity of sediment cores MD04-2760 and MD04-2788

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating of ostracod and gastropod shells from the southwestern Black Sea cores combined with tephrochronology provides the basis for studying reservoir age changes in the lateglacial Black Sea. The comparison of our data with records from the northwestern Black Sea shows that an apparent reservoir age of ~1450 14C yr found in the glacial is characteristic of a homogenized water column. This apparent reservoir age is most likely due to the hardwater effect. Though data indicate that a reservoir age of ~1450 14C yr may have persisted until the Bølling-Allerød warm period, a comparison with the GISP2 ice-core record suggests a gradual reduction of the reservoir age to ~1000 14C yr, which might have been caused by dilution effects of inflowing meltwater. During the Bølling-Allerød warm period, soil development and increased vegetation cover in the catchment area of the Black Sea could have hampered erosion of carbonate bedrock, and hence diminished contamination by "old" carbon brought to the Black Sea basin by rivers. A further reduction of the reservoir age most probably occurred contemporary to the precipitation of inorganic carbonates triggered by increased phytoplankton activity, and was confined to the upper water column. Intensified deep water formation subsequently enhanced the mixing/convection and renewal of intermediate water. During the Younger Dryas, the age of the upper water column was close to 0 yr, while the intermediate water was ~900 14C yr older. The first inflow of saline Mediterranean water, at ~8300 14C yr BP, shifted the surface water age towards the recent value of ~400 14C yr.

Stable isotope composition of carbonates in the Tyrrhenian Sea

The Messinian evaporitic succession recovered at ODP Sites 652, 653, and 654 in the Tyrrhenian Sea was generated under various environmental conditions which ranged from brackish to hypersaline, as deduced from the sedimentary facies and stable isotope compositions of the carbonate and sulfate deposits. Water in the basins had to be shallow to undergo such rapid and large geochemical variations. The marine influence was omnipresent in the basin at least during the deposition of sulfate evaporites; seawater or marine brines might have been supplied either by direct input into evaporitic lagoons as at Sites 653 and 654, or by subterraneous infiltration in marginal areas as at Site 652. Episodes of severe dilution by continental waters occurred frequently throughout Messinian times in the more basinal areas at Sites 653 and 654, while a fresh water body was standing permanently at Site 652. The high heat flow present at Site 652 was responsible for a major late authigenesis of iron-rich dolomites, which was initiated during the subsidence of the basin and ended before Pliocene.

Early Oligocene continental climate ofthe Paleogene Basin in Hungary and Slovenia

This paper concentrates on the Early Oligocene palaeoclimate of the southern part of Eastern and Central Europe and gives a detailed climatological analysis, combined with leaf-morphological studies and modelling of the palaeoatmospheric CO2 level using stomatal and d13 C data. Climate data are calculated using the Coexistence Approach for Kiscellian floras of the Palaeogene Basin (Hungary and Slovenia) and coeval assemblages from Central and Southeastern Europe. Potential microclimatic or habitat variations are considered using morphometric analysis of fossil leaves from Hungarian, Slovenian and Italian floras. Reconstruction of CO2 is performed by applying a recently introduced mechanistic model. Results of climate analysis indicate distinct latitudinal and longitudinal climate patterns for various variables which agree well with reconstructed palaeogeography and vegetation. Calculated climate variables in general suggest a warm and frost-free climate with low seasonal variation of temperature. A difference in temperature parameters is recorded between localities from Central and Southeastern Europe, manifested mainly in the mean temperature of the coldest month. Results of morphometric analysis suggest microclimatic or habitat difference among studied floras. Extending the scarce information available on atmospheric CO2 levels during the Oligocene, we provide data for a well-defined time-interval. Reconstructed atmospheric CO2 levels agree well with threshold values for Antarctic ice sheet growth suggested by recent modelling studies. The successful application of the mechanistic model for the reconstruction of atmospheric CO2 levels raises new possibitities for future climate inference from macro-flora studies.

Silicoflagellates of early Paleocene to early Miocene sediments of the subantarctic South Atlantic

Nearly complete Paleogene sedimentary sequences were recovered by Leg 114 to the subantarctic South Atlantic. Silicoflagellate assemblages from the Paleogene and immediately overlying lower Neogene from Sites 698 (Northeast Georgia Rise), 700 (East Georgia Basin), 702 (Islas Orcadas Rise), and 703 (Meteor Rise) were examined. The described assemblage from Hole 700B represents the most complete yet described from the Paleocene, encompassing planktonic foraminifer Zones Plb (upper part) through P4 and Subchrons C25N to C23N. All lower Eocene sediments are barren as a result of diagenesis, except for a single sample from Hole 698A. Middle Eocene silicoflagellates described from Hole 702B range in age from early middle Eocene (P10) to late Eocene (PI5), with correlations to Subchrons C21N to C18N. Hole 703A contains late Eocene through early Miocene assemblages, with paleomagnetic control from Subchrons C16R to C6AAN. Leg 114 biosiliceous sequences contain exceptionally diverse assemblages of silicoflagellates. Approximately 155 species and separate morphotypes are described from the Paleogene and earliest Neogene. New taxa described from Leg 114 sediments include Bachmannocena vetula n. sp., Corbisema animoparallela n. sp., Corbisema camara n. sp., Corbisema constricta spinosa n. subsp., Corbisema delicata n. sp., Corbisema hastata aha n. subsp., Corbisema praedelicata n. sp., Corbisema scapana n. sp., Corbisema triacantha lepidospinosa n. subsp., Dictyocha deflandreifurtivia n. subsp., Naviculopsis biapiculata nodulifera n. subsp., Naviculopsis cruciata n. sp., Naviculopsis pandalata n. sp., Naviculopsis primativa n. sp., and Naviculopsis trispinosa eminula n. subsp. Taxonomic revisions were made to the following taxa: Corbisema constricta constricta emended, Corbisema disymmetrica crenulata n. comb., Corbisema jerseyensis emended, and Distephanus antarcticus n. comb. Silicoflagellate assemblages from the Paleogene and earliest Neogene of Holes 698A, 699A, 700B, 702B, and 703A are the basis of a silicoflagellate zonation spanning the interval from 63.2 to 22.25 Ma. Silicoflagellate zones recognized in this interval include the Corbisema hastata hastata Zone, Corbisema hastata aha Zone, Dictyocha precarentis Zone, Naviculopsis constricta Zone, Naviculopsis foliacea Zone, Bachmannocena vetula Zone, Dictyocha grandis Zone, Naviculopsis pandalata Zone, Naviculopsis constricta-Bachmannocena paulschulzii Zone, Bachmannocena paulschulzii Zone, Naviculopsis trispinosa Zone with subzones a and b, Corbisema archangelskiana Zone, Naviculopsis biapiculata Zone, Distephanus raupii Zone, Distephanus raupii-Corbisema triacantha Zone, and Corbisema triacantha mediana Zone.

Geochemistry of surface and groundwaters from lower Tom Basin wetland, western Siberia

New data are reported on the major- and trace-component compositions of acidic and weakly acidic low-concentration wetland waters and other water types. Special attention was given to dissolved organic compounds: fulvic and humic acids, bitumens, and hydrocarbons. The first comprehensive data are presented for organic trace components in the wetland waters of western Siberia: alkanes, pentacyclic terpenoids, steranes, alkylbenzenes, naphthalenes, phenanthrenes, tetraarenes, etc.

Radiocarbon dating of mollusk shells from southern Kara Sea sediments

Riverine water and sediment discharge to the Arctic Ocean is among the most important parameters influencing Arctic climate. It is clear that the evaluation of Arctic paleoclimate requires information on the paleodischarge of major rivers entering the sedimentation basin. Presently, the water discharge of the Ob River accounts for about 12% of the total input of river water into the Arctic Ocean. During the investigation of the Kara Sea in the framework of the Russian-German SIRRO Project, the history of Yenisei discharge received much attention in a number of publications. This paper presents the results of lithological and geochemical investigations with application to the Holocene discharge of the Ob River. Qualitative (SiO2, Al2O3, K2O, and some modules) and quantitative (sedimentation rates and absolute masses of sedimentary material) parameters were used to characterize the history of the Ob sediment discharge. It was shown that the investigated paleochannels of the Ob were initiated at the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary, and during the first half of the Holocene, the river discharge decreased irregularly with decreasing age of sediments. The observed maxima are in fairly good agreement with the data for the Yenisei. We proposed a hypothesis on the influence of glacioisostatic movements in the marginal region of the former Kara ice sheet of late Valdai age on the cessation of marine-fluvial glaciation in the paleochannels of Ob and Yenisei in the periphery of the Ob-Yenisei shoal.

Composition and fluxes of sinking particulate material and bottom sediments in the northeast Black Sea in 1998-1999

For the first time deep-sea mooring stations with sediment traps were deployed in the northeast Black Sea. One sediment trap for long-term studies was located at Station 1 (44°15'N, 37°43'E, deployment depth 1800 m, depth 1900 m). The trap collected sinking sedimentary material from January to May 1998. Material collectors were changed every 15 days. Other stations with sediment traps for short-term studies (September-October 1999) were located on the shelf: Station 2 (44°16'N, 38°37'E, deployment depth 45 m, depth 50 m) and on the bottom of the canyon: Station 3 (44°16'N, 38°22'E, deployment depth 1145 m, depth 1150 m), Station 4 (44°11'N, 38°21'E, deployment depths 200, 1550, 1650 m, depth 1670 m). Collected material indicates that vertical particle fluxes are controlled by seasonal changes of in situ production and by dynamics of terrigenous matter input. Higher vertical particle flux of carbonate and biogenic silica was in spring due to bloom of plankton organisms. Maximum of coccolith bloom is in April-May. Bloom of diatoms begins in March. In winter and autumn lithogenic material dominates in total flux. Its amount strongly depends on storms and river run-off. Suspended particle material differs from surface shelf sediments by finer particles (mainly clay fraction) and high content of clay minerals and biogenic silica. This material may form lateral fluxes with higher concentration of particles transported along the bottom of deep-sea canyons from the shelf to the deep basin within the nepheloid layer. In winter such transportation of sedimentary material is more intensive due to active vertical circulation of water masses.

Geothermal measurements at ODP Leg 127 and 128 sites

Downhole temperature and thermal conductivity measurements in core samples recovered during Legs 127 and 128 in the Japan Sea resulted in five accurate determinations of heat flow through the seafloor and accurate estimates of temperature vs. depth over the drilled sections. The heat flows measured at these sites are in excellent agreement with nearby seafloor measurements. Drilling sampled basaltic rocks that form the acoustic basement in the Yamato and Japan basins and provided biostratigraphic and isotopic estimates of the age of these basins. The preliminary age estimates are compared with predicted heat flow values for two different thermal models of the lithosphere. A heat flow determination from the crest of the Okushiri Ridge yielded an anomalously high heat flow of 156 mW/m**2. This excessive heat flow value may have resulted from frictional heating on an active reverse fault that bounds the eastern side of the Ridge. Accurate estimates of sedimentation rates and temperatures in the sedimentary section combined with models of basin formation provide an opportunity to test thermochemical models of silica diagenesis. The current location of the opal-A/opal CT transition in the sedimentary section is determined primarily by the thermal history of the layer in which the transition is now found. Comparison of the ages and temperatures of the layer where the opal-A/opal-CT is found today is compatible with an activation energy of 14 to 17 kcal/mole.