Geochemical and palynological results of IODP Hole 302-M0004A from Lomonosov Ridge, Arctic Ocean

Several episodes of abrupt and transient warming, each lasting between 50,000 and 200,000 years, punctuated the long-term warming during the Late Palaeocene and Early Eocene (58 to 51 Myr ago) epochs**1,2. These hyperthermal events, such as the Eocene Thermal Maximum 2 (ETM2) that took place about 53.5 Myr ago**2, are associated with rapid increases in atmospheric CO2 content. However, the impacts of most events are documented only locally**3,4. Here we show, on the basis of estimates from the TEX86' proxy, that sea surface temperatures rose by 3-5 °C in the Arctic Ocean during the ETM2. Dinoflagellate fossils demonstrate a concomitant freshening and eutrophication of surface waters, which resulted in euxinia in the photic zone. The presence of palm pollen implies**5 that coldest month mean temperatures over the Arctic land masses were no less than 8 °C, in contradiction of model simulations that suggest hyperthermal winter temperatures were below freezing**6. In light of our reconstructed temperature and hydrologic trends, we conclude that the temperature and hydrographic responses to abruptly increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations were similar for the ETM2 and the better-described Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum**7,8, 55.5 Myr ago.

Planktonic foraminifera in the latest Maastrichtian of Walvis Ridge, South Atlantic

An abrupt global warming of 3-4°C occurred near the end of the Maastrichtian at 65.45-65.10 Ma. The environmental effects of this warm event are here documented based on stable isotopes and quantitative analysis of planktonic foraminifera at the South Atlantic DSDP Site 525A. Stable isotopes of individual species mark a rapid increase in temperature and a reduction in the vertical water mass stratification that is accompanied by a decrease in niche habitats, reduced species diversity and/or abundance, smaller species morphologies or dwarfing, and reduced photosymbiotic activity. During the warm event, the relative abundance of a large number of species decreased, including tropical-subtropical affiliated species, whereas typical mid-latitude species retained high abundances. This indicates that climate warming did not create favorable conditions for all tropical-subtropical species at mid-latitudes and did not cause a massive retreat in the local mid-latitude population. A noticeable exception is the ecological generalist Heterohelix dentata Stenestad that dominated during the cool intervals, but significantly decreased during the warm event. However, dwarfing is the most striking response to the abrupt warming and occurred in various species of different morphologies and lineages (e.g. biserial, trochospiral, keeled globotruncanids). Dwarfing is a typical reaction to environmental stress conditions and was likely the result of increased reproduction rates. Similarly, photosymbiotic activity appears to have been reduced significantly during the maximum warming, as indicated by decreased delta13C values. The foraminiferal response to climate change is thus multifaceted resulting in decreased species diversity, decreased species populations, increased competition due to reduced niche habitats, dwarfing and reduced photosymbiotic activity.

Zircons, isotope ratios and element analyses from tonalite and oxide gabbro of the mid-ocean ridge from ODP Hole 176-735B

A limiting factor in the accuracy and precision of U/Pb zircon dates is accurate correction for initial disequilibrium in the 238U and 235U decay chains. The longest-lived-and therefore most abundant-intermediate daughter product in the 235U isotopic decay chain is 231Pa (T1/2 = 32.71 ka), and the partitioning behavior of Pa in zircon is not well constrained. Here we report high-precision thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) U-Pb zircon data from two samples from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Hole 735B, which show evidence for incorporation of excess 231Pa during zircon crystallization. The most precise analyses from the two samples have consistent Th-corrected 206Pb/238U dates with weighted means of 11.9325 ± 0.0039 Ma (n = 9) and 11.920 ± 0.011 Ma (n = 4), but distinctly older 207Pb/235U dates that vary from 12.330 ± 0.048 Ma to 12.140 ± 0.044 Ma and 12.03 ± 0.24 to 12.40 ± 0.27 Ma, respectively. If the excess 207Pb is due to variable initial excess 231Pa, calculated initial (231Pa)/(235U) activity ratios for the two samples range from 5.6 ± 1.0 to 9.6 ± 1.1 and 3.5 ± 5.2 to 11.4 ± 5.8. The data from the more precisely dated sample yields estimated DPazircon/DUzircon from 2.2-3.8 and 5.6-9.6, assuming (231Pa)/(235U) of the melt equal to the global average of recently erupted mid-ocean ridge basaltic glasses or secular equilibrium, respectively. High precision ID-TIMS analyses from nine additional samples from Hole 735B and nearby Hole 1105A suggest similar partitioning. The lower range of DPazircon/DUzircon is consistent with ion microprobe measurements of 231Pa in zircons from Holocene and Pleistocene rhyolitic eruptions (Schmitt (2007; doi:10.2138/am.2007.2449) and Schmitt (2011; doi:10.1146/annurev-earth-040610-133330)). The data suggest that 231Pa is preferentially incorporated during zircon crystallization over a range of magmatic compositions, and excess initial 231Pa may be more common in zircons than acknowledged. The degree of initial disequilibrium in the 235U decay chain suggested by the data from this study, and other recent high precision datasets, leads to resolvable discordance in high precision dates of Cenozoic to Mesozoic zircons. Minor discordance in zircons of this age may therefore reflect initial excess 231Pa and does not require either inheritance or Pb loss.

(Table 1) Chemical and isotopic analyses of Rajmahal Traps and Ninetyeast Ridge volcanics

The hypothesis that hotspots are the sources of many continental flood basalts is evaluated geochemically for the proposed Rajmahal Traps-Ninetyeast Ridge-Kerguelen hotspot system. It appears that the Kerguelen hotspot did not directly feed Rajmahal magmas, although it may have provided a source of heat for Rajmahal activity.

Investigation of Pliocene foraminifera on sediment core CRP-1 from the Ross Sea, Antarctica

Mixed assemblages of Pliocene and Quaternary foraminifera occur within the Quaternary succession of the CRP-1 drillhole. Pliocene foraminifera are not present in the lowermost Unit 4.1. are rare in Unit 3.1 and 2.3, are relatively common in Units 2.2 and 2.1, and are absent in Unit 1.1. Fifteen and twelve species were documented in two of the samples from Units 2.2 and 2.1 respectively. A census count of foraminifera in a sample at 26.89 mbsf (Unit 2.2) indicated that 39% of the tests were from a Pliocene source, with the remaining 61% tests assigned to the in situ Quaternary assemblage. There appears to be a close correlation between the stratigraphic distribution of ice-rafted sediments and the test number and diversity of Pliocene taxa. It is concluded that Pliocene assemblages were not derived from submarine outcrops on Roberts Ridge, but are more likely to have been rafted to the site via major trunk valley drainage systems such as operated within the Mackay and Ferrar glacial valleys. The co-occurrence of marine biota (including foraminifera), fossil wood, pollen, and igneous clasts in the Quaternary succession of CRP-l, points to the marine and terrestrial facies of the Pliocene Sirius Group as a likely source. A major episode of erosion and transport of sediment into the offshore marine basins at about ~1 Ma may have been triggered by dynamism in the ice sheet-glacier system, an episode of regional uplift in the Transantarctic Mountains, sea level oscillations and associated changes in the land-to-sea drainage baselines, or some combination of these factors.