10Be records of sediment cores from high northern latitudes

The 10Be records of four sediment cores forming a transect from the Norwegian Sea at 70°N (core 23059) via the Fram Strait (core 23235) to the Arctic Ocean at 86°N (cores 1533 and 1524) were measured at a high depth resolution. Although the material in all the cores was controlled by different sedimentological regimes, the 10Be records of these cores were superimposed by glacial/interglacial changes in the sedimentary environment. Core sections with high 10Be concentrations ( >1 * 10**9 at/g) are related to interglacial stages and core sections with low10Be concentrations ( <0.5 * 10**9 at/g) are related to glacial stages. Climatic transitions (e.g., Termination II, 5/6) are marked by drastic changes in the 10Be concentrations of up to one order of magnitude. The average 10Be concentrations for each climatic stage show an inverse relationship to their corresponding sedimentation rates, indicating that the 10Be records are the result of dilution with more or less terrigenous ice-rafted material. However, there are strong changes in the 10Be fluxes (e.g., Termination II) into the sediments which may also account for the observed oscillations. Most likely, both processes affected the 10Be records equally, amplifying the contrast between lower (glacials) and higher (interglacials) 10Be concentrations. The sharp contrast of high and low 10Be concentrations at climatic stage boundaries are an independent proxy for climatic and sedimentary change in the Nordic Seas and can be applied for stratigraphic dating (10Be stratigraphy) of sediment cores from the northern North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean.

Geochemistry of Baltic Sea sediments and porewaters

Patterns of regeneration and burial of phosphorus (P) in the Baltic Sea are strongly dependent on redox conditions. Redox varies spatially along water depth gradients and temporally in response to the seasonal cycle and multidecadal hydrographic variability. Alongside the well-documented link between iron oxyhydroxide dissolution and release of P from Baltic Sea sediments, we show that preferential remineralization of P with respect to carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) during degradation of organic matter plays a key role in determining the surplus of bioavailable P in the water column. Preferential remineralization of P takes place both in the water column and upper sediments and its rate is shown to be redox-dependent, increasing as reducing conditions become more severe at greater water-depth in the deep basins. Existing Redfield-based biogeochemical models of the Baltic may therefore underestimate the imbalance between N and P availability for primary production, and hence the vulnerability of the Baltic to sustained eutrophication via the fixation of atmospheric N. However, burial of organic P is also shown to increase during multidecadal intervals of expanded hypoxia, due to higher net burial rates of organic matter around the margins of the deep basins. Such intervals may be characterized by basin-scale acceleration of all fluxes within the P cycle, including productivity, regeneration and burial, sustained by the relative accessibility of the water column P pool beneath a shallow halocline.

Phosphorus components, trace metals and Ba excess of ODP Site 202-1237 sediments

We determined the sedimentary concentrations of phosphorus (P), barium (Ba), manganese (Mn), titanium (Ti), aluminum (Al), and uranium (U) for sediment samples from the southeast Pacific Nazca Ridge, Ocean Drilling Program Site 1237. This unique record extends to 31 Ma over 360 meters composite depth (mcd), recording depositional history as the site progressed eastward over its paleohistory. We sampled with a temporal resolution of ~0.2 m.y. throughout the sequence, equivalent to an average spacing of 1.63 m/sample. Concentrations of sequentially extracted components of P (oxide-associated, authigenic, organic, and detrital) increase toward the modern. Al/Ti ratios indicate that the background detrital source material is consistent with upper continental crust. U enrichment factors (U EFs) generally exceed crustal values and indicate slightly reducing environments. However, authigenic U precipitation can also be influenced by the organic carbon rain rate and may not be solely an indicator of redox conditions. Dramatic changes in Mn EFs at ~162 mcd, from values between 12 and 93 to values <12 after this depth, and a sharp color contact boundary lead us to believe that a paleoredox boundary from an oxygenated to a more reducing depositional environment occurred near this depth. Estimates of biogenic barite concentrations from a total sediment digestion technique (Ba excess) are greater than those from a barite extraction (Ba barite) for selected samples across the entire depth range. Applying a range of Ba/Ti ratios from different source materials to correct for detrital inputs does not change the lack of agreement with Ba barite concentrations. Reactive P (P reactive) concentrations (the sum of oxide-associated, authigenic, and organic P concentrations) increase toward the modern with values typically <12 µmol P/g from the base of our record through ~100 mcd, with a gradual increase to concentrations >15 µmol P/g. Ba excess follows the same general trends as Preactive, with concentrations <14 µmol Ba/g in the lower portion of the record to values >15 µmol Ba/g. Accumulation rate records of these proxies will be needed to infer paleoproductivity. P reactive/Ba excess ratios, an indicator of the relative burial of the nutrient P to organic carbon export, exhibit higher values, similar to modern, from the base of our record through ~180 mcd. The remainder of the record exhibits values lower than modern, indicating that organic carbon export to the sediments was higher relative to nutrient burial.

Age determination and paleotemperatures of sediment cores TTR17-1_384B and TTR17-1_436B in the Alboran Sea

Climate conditions in the westernmost Mediterranean (Alboran Sea basin) over the last two millennia have been reconstructed through integration of molecular proxies applied for the first time in this region at such high resolution. Two temperature proxies, one based on isoprenoid membrane lipids of marine Thaumarchaeota (TEXH86-tetraether index of compounds consisting of 86 carbons) and the other on alkenones produced by haptophytes (UK'37 ratio) were applied to reconstruct sea surface temperature (SST). Both records reveal a progressive long term decline in SST over the last two millennia and an increased rate of warming during the second half of the twentieth century. This is in accord with previous temperature reconstructions for the Northern Hemisphere. TEXH86 temperature values are higher than those inferred from UK'37, probably due to differences in the bloom season of haptophytes and Thaumarchaeota, and reflect summer SST. The branched vs. isoprenoid tetraether index (BIT index) suggests a low contribution of soil organic matter (OM) to the sedimentary OM. The stable carbon isotopic composition of long chain n-alkanes indicates a predominant C3 plant contribution, with no major change in vegetation over the last 2000 yr. The distribution of long chain 1,14-diols (most likely sourced by Proboscia species in this setting) provided insight into variation in upwelling conditions during the last 2000 yr and depicts a correlation with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index, providing evidence of enhanced wind induced upwelling during periods of a persistent positive mode of the NAO.

Uranium, Thorium and Protactinium isotopes of ODP Site 172-1063

Ocean circulation may have undergone reductions and reinvigorations in the past closely tied to regional climate changes. Measurements of 231Pa/230Th ratios in a sediment core from the Bermuda Rise have been interpreted as evidence that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) was weakened or completely eliminated during a period of catastrophic iceberg discharges (Heinrich-Event 1, H1). Here we present new data from the Bermuda Rise that show further 231Pa/230Th peaks during Heinrich-2 (H2) and Heinrich-3 (H3). Additionally, a tight correlation between diatom abundances (biogenic silica) and 231Pa/230Th is discovered in this core. Our results redirect the interpretation of 231Pa/230Th from the Bermuda Rise as a proxy for ocean circulation towards a proxy that reacts highly sensitive to changes of particle composition and water mass properties.