Planktonic foraminifera and stable isotope record of ODP Site 162-980

Detailed faunal, isotopic, and lithic marine records provide new insight into the stability and climate progression of the last interglacial period, Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5, which peaked approximately 125,000 years ago. In the eastern subpolar North Atlantic, at the latitude of Ireland, interglacial warmth of the ice volume minimum of substage 5e (MIS 5e) lasted ~10,000 years (10 ka) and its demise occurred in two cooling steps. The first cooling step marked the end of the climatic optimum, which was 2-3 ka long. Minor ice rafting accompanied each cooling step; the second, larger, step encompassing cold events C26 and C25 was previously identified in the northwestern Atlantic. Approximately 4 °C of cooling occurred between peak interglacial warmth and C25, and the region experienced an additional temporary cooling of at least 1-2 °C during C24, a cooling event associated with widespread ice rafting in the North Atlantic. Beginning with C24, MIS 5 was characterized by oscillations of at least 1-2 °C superimposed on a generally cool baseline. The results of this study imply that the marine climatic optimum of the last interglacial was shorter than previously thought. The finding that the eastern subpolar North Atlantic cooled significantly before C24 reconciles terrestrial evidence for progressive climate deterioration at similar and lower latitudes with marine conditions. Our results also demonstrate a close association between modest ice rafting, cooling, and deep ocean circulation even during the peak of MIS 5e and in the earliest stages of ice growth.

Climate variability in the Aegean Sea (marine record M2, Athos basin) during the past 1500 years

We provide new evidence on sea surface temperature (SST) variations and paleoceanographic/paleoenvironmental changes over the past 1500 years for the north Aegean Sea (NE Mediterranean). The reconstructions are based on multiproxy analyses, obtained from the high resolution (decadal to multi-decadal) marine record M2 retrieved from the Athos basin. Reconstructed SSTs show an increase from ca. 850 to 950 AD and from ca. 1100 to 1300 AD. A cooling phase of almost 1.5 °C is observed from ca. 1600 AD to 1700 AD. This seems to have been the starting point of a continuous SST warming trend until the end of the reconstructed period, interrupted by two prominent cooling events at 1832 ± 15 AD and 1995 ± 1 AD. Application of an adaptive Kernel smoothing suggests that the current warming in the reconstructed SSTs of the north Aegean might be unprecedented in the context of the past 1500 years. Internal variability in atmospheric/oceanic circulations systems as well as external forcing as solar radiation and volcanic activity could have affected temperature variations in the north Aegean Sea over the past 1500 years. The marked temperature drop of approximately ~2 °C at 1832 ± 15 yr AD could be related to the 1809 ?D 'unknown' and the 1815 AD Tambora volcanic eruptions. Paleoenvironmental proxy-indices of the M2 record show enhanced riverine/continental inputs in the northern Aegean after ca. 1450 AD. The paleoclimatic evidence derived from the M2 record is combined with a socio-environmental study of the history of the north Aegean region. We show that the cultivation of temperature-sensitive crops, i.e. walnut, vine and olive, co-occurred with stable and warmer temperatures, while its end coincided with a significant episode of cooler temperatures. Periods of agricultural growth in Macedonia coincide with periods of warmer and more stable SSTs, but further exploration is required in order to identify the causal links behind the observed phenomena. The Black Death likely caused major changes in agricultural activity in the north Aegean region, as reflected in the pollen data from land sites of Macedonia and the M2 proxy-reconstructions. Finally, we conclude that the early modern peaks in mountain vegetation in the Rhodope and Macedonia highlands, visible also in the M2 record, were very likely climate-driven.

Rare earth element concentrations and geochemistry of carbonate minerals from the Logatchev Hydrothermal Field and the Gakkel Ridge

The ultramafic-hosted Logatchev Hydrothermal Field (LHF) at 15°N on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Arctic Gakkel Ridge (GR) feature carbonate precipitates (aragonite, calcite, and dolomite) in voids and fractures within different types of host rocks. We present chemical and Sr isotopic compositions of these different carbonates to examine the conditions that led to their formation. Our data reveal that different processes have led to the precipitation of carbonates in the various settings. Seawater-like 87Sr/86Sr ratios for aragonite in serpentinites (0.70909 to 0.70917) from the LHF are similar to those of aragonite from the GR (0.70912 to 0.70917) and indicate aragonite precipitation from seawater at ambient conditions at both sites. Aragonite veins in sulfide breccias from LHF also have seawater-like Sr isotope compositions (0.70909 to 0.70915), however, their rare earth element (REE) patterns show a clear positive europium (Eu) anomaly indicative of a small (< 1%) hydrothermal contribution. In contrast to aragonite, dolomite from the LHF has precipitated at much higher temperatures (~100 °C), and yet its 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.70896 to 0.70907) are only slightly lower than those of aragonite. Even higher temperatures are calculated for the precipitation of deformed calcite veins in serpentine-talc fault schists form north of the LHF. These calcites show unradiogenic 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.70460 to 0.70499) indicative of precipitation from evolved hydrothermal fluids. A simple mixing model based on Sr mass balance and enthalpy conservation indicates strongly variable conditions of fluid mixing and heat transfers involved in carbonate formation. Dolomite precipitated from a mixture of 97% seawater and 3% hydrothermal fluid that should have had a temperature of approximately 14 °C assuming that no heat was transferred. The much higher apparent precipitation temperatures based on oxygen isotopes (~ 100 °C) may be indicative of conductive heating, probably of seawater prior to mixing. The hydrothermal calcite in the fault schist has precipitated from a mixture of 67% hydrothermal fluid and 33% seawater, which should have had an isenthalpic mixing temperature of ~ 250 °C. The significantly lower temperatures calculated from oxygen isotopes are likely due to conductive cooling of hydrothermal fluid discharging along faults. Rare earth element patterns corroborate the results of the mixing model, since the hydrothermal calcite, which formed from waters with the greatest hydrothermal contribution, has REE patterns that closely resemble those of vent fluids from the LHF. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, that (1) precipitation from pure seawater, (2) conductive heating of seawater, and (3) conductive cooling of hydrothermal fluids in the sub-seafloor all can lead to carbonate precipitation within a single ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal system.

Mineralogy, isotopic composition of oxygen, hydrogen and carbon, and oxygen isotopic temperature of deep-sea silica and coexisting carbonates (Table 1)

Water extracted from opal-CT ("porcellanite", "cristobalite"), granular microcrystalline quartz (chert), and pure fibrous quartz (chalcedony) in cherts from the JOIDES Deep Sea Drilling Project is 56? to 87? depleted in deuterium relative to the water in which the silica formed. This large fractionation is similar in magnitude and sign to that observed for hydroxyl in clay minerals and suggests that water extracted from these forms of silica has been derived from hydroxyl groups within the silica. Delta18O-values for opal-CT at sites 61, 64, 70B and 149 vary from 34.3? to 37.2? and show no direct correlation with depth of burial. Granular microcrystaUine quartz in these cores is 0.5 ? depleted in 18O relative to coexisting opal-CT at sediment depths of 100 m and the depletion increases to 2? for sediments buried below 384 m. These relationships suggest that opal-CT forms before significant burial while granular microcrystalline quartz forms during deeper burial at warmer temperatures. The temperature at which opal-CT forms is thus probably approximately equal to the temperature of the overlying bottom water. Isotopic temperatures deduced for opal-CT formation are preliminary and very approximate, but yield Eocene deep-water temperatures of 5-13°C, and 6°C for the upper Cretaceous sample. Pure euhedral quartz crystals lining a cavity in opal-CT at 388 m in core 8-70B-4-CC have a ~delta18O value of +29.8? and probably formed near maximum burial. The isotopic temperature is approximately 32 ° C.

AMS C-14 ages of coretops collected on RRS Charles Darwin cruise CD159, July 2004, N. Atlantic, for the NERC RAPID programme

Material and data were collected at 41 sites in the subpolar North Atlantic Ocean between Scotland and Newfoundland, during the RRS CharlesDarwin CD159 cruise in July 2004 (McCave, 2005). Sites were selected to reflect the major inputs of water that becomes the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW); the Iceland-Scotland Overflow Water (ISOW), the Denmark Strait Overflow Water (DSOW) and the Labrador Sea Water (LSW). Areas cored were the south Iceland Rise, SE Greenland slope/rise and Eirik Drift, and the Labrador margin. A total of 29 box cores, 19 piston cores, 6 kasten cores, 9 short gravity cores and 20 CTD casts as well as 28 surface water samples were collected during the cruise. Here we present sediment core-top sample ages. The cores were sampled at 1 or 0.5 cm intervals and we used the top 1 or 2 cm, depending on availability of foraminifera in the samples. Sediment samples were disaggregated on an end-over-end wheel, wet sieved at >63 um, and dry sieved to 63-150 and >150 um. Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (AMS) radiocarbon dating was done for each core top based on between 900-1600 monospecific planktonic foraminifera (Globigerina bulloides or Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sinistral)). All dates were of modern or late Holocene age except site RAPID-08-5B (9806 ± 38 uncorrected 14C years BP) and site RAPID-14-10B (11543 ± 40 uncorrected 14C years BP). The >150 um fraction was split until approximately 300 foraminifera remained and counted for number of lithic grains, benthic foraminifera, planktonic foraminifera and foraminifera fragments. In all but the shallowest sample (Greenland rise, 761m water depth) benthic foraminifera constituted less than 2% of the total >150 um fraction of the sample.