Age determination and planktonic foraminifera og ODP Site 159-958

Site 958 was drilled to monitor the late Neogene history of both continental aridity in northwestern Africa and the Canary Current distant from nearshore upwelling. Based on magnetostratigraphy, biostratigraphic datums, variations in carbonate, coarse fraction components, and the species composition of planktonic foraminifers, as well as using the d18O records of Globigerinoides ruber (white), we established a splice between Holes 958A and 958B and a stratigraphic age scale deciphering Milankovitch cycles. Over the last 630 k.y., sedimentation rates amount to 2.9 cm/k.y., and to 2.05-2.53 cm/k.y. back to the base of the Pleistocene. Extremely low rates of 0.4 cm/k.y. and a reworking of fossils mark the late Pliocene. The first continuous, long, sea-surface temperature (SST) record from the center of the Canary Current, which is based on foraminifer species census data, depicts a general temperature decrease in the late Pliocene, lower SST and high seasonalities of up to 6°C ~2.0-1.6 Ma, a warmer interval from 1.6 Ma to ~0.85 Ma, again lower SST and higher seasonalities until 0.33 or 0.26 Ma, and a final warmer interval, lasting until at least 50 ka, possibly reflecting the attenuated dynamics of the Canary Current. Especially over the last 400 k.y., since Stage 11, glacial stages are hardly reflected by cold SST cycles, except for various abrupt and extremely short cooling events amounting to D6°C, which possibly result from North Atlantic Heinrich events. Similar, but not necessarily synchronous, events of short-term, extremely high values occur in the paleoproductivity and (d13Cbased) paleonutrient records, which indicate a generally low primary production averaging to 180 g C m**-2 yr**-1 at 50-330 ka and about 300 g C m**-2 yr**-1 back to the base of the Pleistocene. Near 1.2-1.6 Ma, the grain-size and magnetic susceptibility records document a significant increase in the discharge of south Saharan/Sahelian dust, possibly linked to increasing aridity.

Stable isotopc record of ODP Site 114-704

We report a near-continuous, stable isotopic record for the Pliocene-Pleistocene (4.8 to 0.8 Ma) from Ocean Drilling Program Site 704 in the sub-Antarctic South Atlantic (47°S, 7°E). During the early to middle Pliocene (4.8 to 3.2 Ma), variation in delta18O was less than ~0.5 per mil, and absolute values were generally less than those of the Holocene. These results indicate some warming and minor deglaciation of Antarctica during intervals of the Pliocene but are inconsistent with scenarios calling for major warming and deglaciation of the Antarctic ice sheet. The climate System operated within relatively narrow limits prior to ~3.2 Ma, and the Antarctic cryosphere probably did not fluctuate on a large scale until the late Pliocene. Benthic oxygen isotopic values exceeded 3 per mil for the first time at 3.16 Ma. The amplitude and mean of the delta18O signal increased at 2.7 Ma, suggesting a shift in climate mode during the latest Gauss. The greatest delta18O values of the Gaus anti Gilbert chrons occurred at ~2.6 Ma, just below a hiatus that removed the interval from ~2.6 to 2.3 Ma in Site 704. These results agree with those from Subantarctic Site 514, which suggest that the latest Gauss (2.68 to 2.47 Ma) was the time of greatest change in Neogene climate in the northern Antarctic and Subanthtic regions. During this period, surface water cooled as the Polar Front Zone (PFZ) migrated north and perennial sea ice Cover expanded into the Subantarctic region. Antarctic ice volume increased and the ventilation rate of Southern Ocean deep water decreased during glacial events after 2.7 Ma. We suggest that these changes in the Southern Ocean were related to a gradual lowering of sea level and a reduction in the flux of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) with the Initiation of ice growth in the northern hemisphere. The early Matuyama Chron (~ 2.3 to 1.7 Ma) was marked by relatively warm climates in the Southern Ocean except for strong glacial events associated with isotopic stages 82 (2.027 Ma), 78 (1.941 Ma), and 70 (1.782 Ma). At 1.67 Ma (stage 65/64 transition), surface waters cooled as the PFZ migrated equatorward and oscillated about a far northerly position for a prolonged interval between 1.67 and 1.5 Ma (stages 65 to 57). Beginning at ~1.42 Ma (stage 52), all parameters (delta18O, delta13C, %opal, %CaCO3) in Hole 704 become highly correlated with each other and display a very strong 41-kyr cyclicity. This increase in the importance of the 41-kyr cycle is attributed to an increase in the amplitude of the Earth's obliquity cycle that was likely reinforced by increased glacial suppression of NADW, which may explain the tightly coupled response that developed between the Southern Ocean and the North Atlantic beginning at ~1.42 Ma (stage 52).

Foraminifera abundances and biostratigraphy of Cenozoic sediments from the Ontong Java Plateau

The Ontong Java Plateau in the western equatorial Pacific contains a deposition record of biserial planktonic foraminifers concentrated in the Paleogene, in which frequencies up to 67% of the planktonic foraminifers are reported, and in the late Neogene, in which a maximum frequency of 48% is reported. Biserial planktonic foraminifers are rare or absent in the latest Oligocene and early Miocene, an interval characterized by warm bottom water and low temperature gradients. These conditions supported a surface assemblage rather than the biserial planktonic foraminifers, whose Neogene species inhabited the oxygen minimum at intermediate depths in the upper water column. Biserial planktonic foraminifers tend to be of high frequency during high sea stands and low frequency during low sea level, presumably in response to the strengthening or weakening of the oxygen minimum. Species extinction and evolution events occur during low sea stands in the Neogene and sometimes correspond to strong reflection horizons of the plateau's seismic stratigraphy. The biserial species are useful biostratigraphic indexes in the plateau section. The last occurrence (LO) of Streptochilus martini corresponds with the Eocene/Oligocene boundary; S. subglobigerum without Neogloboquadrina acostaensis indicates Zone N15; S. latum occurs from the middle of Zone N16 to near the top of Zone N17; S. globigerum ranges from near the top of Zone N17 to the middle of Zone N19/N20; and the S. globulosum continuous range begins just before the first left-to-right coiling change of Pulleniatina, but the species becomes rare in the Pleistocene section.

Magnetic stratigraphy of ODP Leg 133 sites

This study is a synthesis of paleomagnetic and mineral magnetic results for Sites 819 through 823 of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 133, which lie on a transect from the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) down the continental slope to the bottom of the Queensland Trough. Because of viscous remagnetization and pervasive overprinting, few reversal boundaries can be identified in these extremely high-resolution Quaternary sequences. Some of the magnetic instability, and the differences in the quality of the paleomagnetic signal among sites, can be explained in terms of the dissolution of primary iron oxides in the high near-surface geochemical gradients. Well-defined changes in magnetic properties, notably susceptibility, reflect responses to glacio-eustatic sea-level fluctuations and changes in slope sedimentation processes resulting from formation of the GBR. Susceptibility can be used to correlate between adjacent holes at a given site to an accuracy of about 20 cm. Among-site correlation of susceptibility is also possible for certain parts of the sequences and permits (tentative) extension of the reversal chronology. The reversal boundaries that can be identified are generally compatible with the calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy and demonstrate a high level of biostratigraphic consistency among sites. A revised chronology based on an optimum match with the susceptibility stratigraphy is presented. Throughout most of the sequences there is a strong inverse correlation both between magnetic susceptibility and calcium carbonate content, and between susceptibility and d18O. In the upper, post-GBR, sections a more complicated type of magnetic response occurs during glacial maxima and subsequent transgressions, resulting in a positive correlation between susceptibility and d18O. Prior to and during formation of the outer-reef barrier, the sediments have relatively uniform magnetic properties showing multidomain behavior and displaying cyclic variations in susceptibility related to sea-level change. The susceptibility oscillations are controlled more by carbonate dilution than by variation in terrigenous influx. Establishment of the outer reef between 1.01 and 0.76 Ma restricted the supply of sediment to the slope, causing a four-fold reduction in sedimentation rates and a transition from prograding to aggrading seismic geometries (see other chapters in this volume). The Brunhes/Matuyama boundary and the end of the transition period mark a change to lower and more subdued susceptibility oscillations with higher carbonate contents. The major change in magnetic properties comes at about 0.4 Ma in the aggrading sequence, which contains prominent sharp susceptibility peaks associated with glacial cycles, with distinctive single-domain magnetite and mixed single-domain/superparamagnetic characteristics. Bacterial magnetite has been found in the sediments, particularly where there are high susceptibility peaks, but its importance has not yet been assessed. A possible explanation for the characteristic pattern of magnetic properties in the post-GBR glacial cycles can be found in terms of fluvio-deltaic processes and inter-reefal lagoonal reservoirs that develop when the shelf becomes exposed at low sea-level.

Sea surface temperture reconstruction for ODP Site 189-1172

Relative to the present day, meridional temperature gradients in the Early Eocene age (~56-53 Myr ago) were unusually low, with slightly warmer equatorial regions (Pearson et al., 2007, doi:10.1130/G23175A.1 ) but with much warmer subtropical Arctic (Sluijs et al., 2008, doi:10.1029/2007PA001495) and mid-latitude (Sluijs et al., 2007, doi:10.1038/nature06400) climates. By the end of the Eocene epoch (~34 Myr ago), the first major Antarctic ice sheets had appeared (Zachos et al., 1992, doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1992)020<0569:EOISEO>2.3.CO;2; Barker et al., 2007, doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2007.07.027), suggesting that major cooling had taken place. Yet the global transition into this icehouse climate remains poorly constrained, as only a few temperature records are available portraying the Cenozoic climatic evolution of the high southern latitudes. Here we present a uniquely continuous and chronostratigraphically well-calibrated TEX86 record of sea surface temperature (SST) from an ocean sediment core in the East Tasman Plateau (palaeolatitude ~65° S). We show that southwest Pacific SSTs rose above present-day tropical values (to ~34° C) during the Early Eocene age (~53 Myr ago) and had gradually decreased to about 21° C by the early Late Eocene age (~36 Myr ago). Our results imply that there was almost no latitudinal SST gradient between subequatorial and subpolar regions during the Early Eocene age (55-50 Myr ago). Thereafter, the latitudinal gradient markedly increased. In theory, if Eocene cooling was largely driven by a decrease in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration Zachos et al. (2008, doi:10.1038/nature06588), additional processes are required to explain the relative stability of tropical SSTs given that there was more significant cooling at higher latitudes.

Dating analysis from DSDP Hole 90-594

Date-32 is a fast and easily used computer program developed to date Quaternary deep-sea cores by associating variations in the earth's orbit with recurring oscillations in core properties, such as carbonate content or isotope composition. Starting with known top and bottom dates, distortions in the periodicities of the core properties due to varying sedimentation rates are realigned by fast Fourier analysis so as to maximise the spectral energy density at the orbital frequencies. This allows age interpolation to all parts of the core to an accuracy of 10 kyrs, or about 1.5% of the record duration for a typical Brunhes sequence. The influence of astronomical forcing is examined and the method is applied to provide preliminary dates in a high-resolution Brunhes record from DSDP Site 594 off southeastern New Zealand.

Age profiles and isotopes d18O and d13C in Globigerina angiporoides and Oridorsalis umbonatus at DSDP Site 90-593 and Holes 12-111, 29-277 and 90-592

The late Eocene through earliest Miocene stable-isotope composition of southwest Pacific microfossils has been examined in a traverse of high-quality sedimentary sequences ranging from subantarctic (DSDP Site 277) through temperate regions (DSDP Sites 592 and 593). Changes in oxygen-isotope values, measured in benthic and planktonic foraminifers, document the Oligocene development and strengthening of latitudinal thermal zonation from water masses with broad temperature gradients during the Eocene to the steeper gradients and more distinct latitudinally distributed surface water-mass belts of the Neogene. The oxygen-isotope records can be divided into three intervals: late Eocene, early Oligocene, and middle to late Oligocene. Each interval represents a successive stage in the evolution of latitudinal thermal gradients between subantarctic and temperate regions in the Southern Hemisphere. During the late Eocene, oxygen-isotope values at subantarctic Site 277 were similar to those at temperate Sites 592 and 593. The isotope values suggest that, although the inferred paleotemperatures at Site 277 are slightly cooler on average than those at the temperate sites, there is no evidence for a major thermal boundary between the regions at this time. All three sites record the well-known oxygen-isotope enrichment of about 1 per mil in both planktonic and benthic foraminifers in close association with the Eocene/Oligocene boundary. In contrast to the earliest Oligocene enrichments in the planktonic and benthic oxygen-isotope composition at Site 277, more northern Sites 592 and 593 exhibit a depletion through the early-middle Oligocene. This documents the beginning of thermal segregation as subantarctic waters cooled relative to those at temperate latitudes. During the Oligocene, this surface-water differentiation continued, as measured by planktonic d18O values. The oxygen-isotope records of the benthic foraminifers also began to diverge in the earliest Oligocene. The most enriched oxygen-isotope values in all records cluster in the middle Oligocene, marked by oscillating episodes of enrichments >0.5 per mil occurring most prominently in the subantarctic record of Site 277. These values can be interpreted as recording either the coldest oceanic temperatures of the Paleogene and/or accumulations of Antarctic ice. After this interval, latitudinal thermal differentiation developed rapidly during the middle Oligocene, especially in the surface waters which actually warmed in temperate areas. If the enriched Oligocene oxygen-isotope values indicate that ice had accumulated, this ice must have disappeared by the early Miocene, when depleted oxygen-isotope values suggest very warm conditions. The data presented in this chapter document the progressive increase of latitudinal temperature gradients from the late Eocene through the late Oligocene. This pattern of increasing isotopic offset between latitudinally distributed southwest Pacific sites is linked to the establishment and strengthening of the Circum-Antarctic Current, previously considered to have developed during the middle to late Oligocene. The intensification of this current system progressively decoupled the warm subtropical gyres from cool polar circulation, in turn leading to increased Antarctic glaciation.

Latest Miocene-Pleistocene benthic foraminiferal record of DSDP Hole 23-219

Knowledge of the biology of deep-sea benthic foraminifera was used to interpret the results of multivariate analyses (factor and cluster) on relative abundance data of benthic foraminifera at Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 219 (southeastern Arabian Sea; 1764 m depth) in combination with carbon and oxygen isotope data. Faunal data document major changes in deep-sea ventilation and productivity over the past 5.5 Ma, including the end of the Miocene-Pliocene Indo-Pacific 'biogenic bloom' period at ~4.0 Ma. Interestingly, there is no simple correlation between high productivity and low oxygenation. Productivity fluctuated but became overall more pulsed, whereas overall oxygenation increased. We interpret the records as a combination of local to regional fluctuations in productivity probably caused by changes in monsoonal development, particularly its seasonality, and changes in oxygenation of intermediate depth waters in the Indian Ocean caused by global changes in climate and ocean circulation.

Calcareous nannofossil stratigraphy and datum levels of ODP Site 182-1127, Great Australian Bight

Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 182 drilled at nine sites on the Great Australian Bight, which is located directly south of the Australian continent. Leg 182 proposed to examine the paleoceanographic evolution of a midlatitude, cool-water carbonate platform. During drilling on the Great Australian Bight, three sites (1127, 1129, and 1131) recovered highly expanded Pleistocene sections. This paper presents the detailed calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy of the most distal site. This report should provide a useful Pleistocene biostratigraphic reference for this previously unknown area.

Planktonic foraminiferal stratigraphy and datum levels of ODP Leg 182 sites

Planktonic foraminifers from Ocean Drilling Program Leg 182, Holes 1126B and 1126C, 1128B and 1128C, 1130A and 1130B, 1132B, and 1134A and 1134B confirm the neritic record that during the early Miocene the Great Australian Bight region was in a cool-temperate regime with abundant Globoturborotalita woodi. Warm marine environments started to develop in the later part of the early Miocene, and the region became warm temperate to subtropical in the early middle Miocene with abundant Globigerinoides, Orbulina, and Globorotalia, corresponding to global warming at the Miocene climatic optimum. Fluctuations between cool- and warm-temperate conditions prevailed during the late Miocene, as indicated by abundant Globoconella conoidea and Menardella spp. A major change in planktonic foraminiferal assemblages close to the Miocene/Pliocene boundary not only drove many Miocene species into extinction but also brought about such new species as Globorotalia crassaformis and Globoconella puncticulata. Warm-temperate environments continued into the early and mid-Pliocene before being replaced by cooler conditions, supporting numerous Globoconella inflata and Globigerina quinqueloba. Based on data from this study and published results from the Australia-New Zealand region, we established a local planktonic foraminifer zonation scheme for separating the southern Australian Neogene (SAN) into Zones SAN1 to SAN19 characterizing the Miocene and Zones SAN20 to SAN25 characterizing the Pliocene. The Neogene sections from the Great Australian Bight are bounded by hiatuses of ~0.5 to >3 m.y. in duration, although poor core recovery in some holes obscured a proper biostratigraphic resolution. A total of 15 hiatuses, numbered 1 to 15, were identified as synchronous events from the base of the Miocene to the lower part of the Pleistocene. We believe that these are local manifestations of major third-order boundaries at about (1) 23.8, (2) 22.3, (3) 20.5, (4) 18.7, (5) 16.4, (6) 14.8, (7) 13.5, (8) 11.5, (9) 9.3, (10) 7.0, (11) 6.0, (12) 4.5, (13) 3.5, (14) 2.5, and (15) 1.5 Ma, respectively. This hiatus-bounded Neogene succession samples regional transgressions and stages of southern Australia and reveals its stepwise evolutionary history.

Numerical ages of magnetostratigraphically calibrated biostratigraphic zones at DSDP Leg 73 Holes

Most Cenozoic nannofossil and many foraminiferal zonal boundaries have been accurately determined and magnetostratigraphically calibrated at five Leg 73 boreholes. The numerical ages of the boundaries were computed by assuming a linear seafloor spreading rate and a radiometric age of 66.5 m.y. for the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary. Alternative magnetostratigraphic ages (given below in parentheses) were obtained by adopting a 63.5 m.y. age for the Cenozoic. Our data confirm previous determinations of the Pleistocene/Pliocene boundary at 1.8 (1.7) m.y. and of the Pliocene/ Miocene boundary at 5.1 (5.0) m.y. The Miocene/Oligocene boundary is placed within Chron C-6C and has a magnetostratigraphic age of 23.8 to 24.0 (22.7 to 22.9) m.y. The Oligocene/Eocene boundary is also very precisely located within Chron C-13-R, with a magnetostratigraphic age of 37.1 to 37.2 (35.5 to 35.6) m.y. The Eocene/Paleocene boundary should be located within an uncored interval of Chron C-24 and have a magnetostratigraphic age of 59.0 (55.4) +/- 0.2 m.y. The general accord of the magnetostratigraphic and radiometric ages supports the hypothesis that the seafloor spreading rate was linear during the Cenozoic. Two possible exceptions are noted: the middle Miocene radiometric ages are a few million years older, and the early Eocene radiometric ages are several million years younger, than the corresponding magnetostratigraphic ages.

Late Eocene-early Oligocene radiolarian events and abundances in ODP Leg 199 sediments

During Ocean Drilling Program Leg 199, eight sites (Sites 1215-1222) were cored in the Central Pacific. Late Eocene-early Oligocene thick radiolarian-rich biogenic sediments were collected from Holes 1218A, 1219A, and 1220A. This is the first attempt to calibrate the ages of Paleogene radiolarian events using magnetostratigraphy in this region. A total of 107 species and species groups, which are valuable for stratigraphic correlation, are listed with numeric data and figures. Among these three holes, a total of 77 radiolarian events were recognized and their ages were calibrated by correlation with paleomagnetic events recorded in Hole 1220A.

Thecosomata in late Quternary deposits of ODP Holes 134-830A and 134-831A

We undertook a quantitative study of Thecosomata shells (pelagic gastropods) and their remains in Quaternary foraminiferal oozes deposited on the tilted calcareous platform of the Bougainville Guyot (Hole 831 A), and in the late Quaternary volcanic siltstones, claystones and sandy interbeds on the upper forearc slope of the central New Hebrides Island Arc (Hole 830A). The distribution of the species is based on the identification of adult shells, juvenile stages, protoconchs, and characteristic shell fragments. By studying thecosomatous shells using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), we were able to specify the fine microstructure of the coiled Limacina inflata and compare it with the rod-type crossed-lamellar structure of some other Limacina species, as well as with the helical structure of the Cavoliniidae.

Neogene calcareous nannofossils in ODP Leg 116 holes

The three sites (717, 718, and 719) drilled on the distal Bengal Fan during ODP Leg 116 cored turbidite sediments almost exclusively. Calcareous nannofossils were recovered sporadically and, although all of them probably have been redeposited, it is possible to date the sediments at all three sites with reasonable confidence. Site 717 penetrated the uppermost middle Miocene Catinaster coalitus highest occurrence datum and represents the most nearly continuous succession of turbidites. Site 718 penetrated the lower Miocene, well below the Helicosphaera ampliaperta highest occurrence datum, but this site contains a major late Pliocene to mid-Pleistocene hiatus. Site 719, the shallowest hole, penetrated only into the upper Miocene. Identification of several critical lowest occurrence datums allows using the poorly constrained but more numerous highest occurrence datums for comparison with the model succession (zonal markers) and thereby to derive a reasonably accurate time framework for the sediments.

Depth ranges of calcareous nannofossil datums from ODP Holes 113-689B and 113-690B

Magnetostratigraphic studies of Paleogene sediments piston-cored on Maud Rise, Weddell Sea (ODP Sites 689 and 690), are a cornerstone of Southern Ocean Paleogene and Neogene chronostratigraphy. However, parts of previous magnetostratigraphic interpretations have been called into question, and recent reinvestigation of the upper Paleocene-middle Eocene portion of Site 690 suggested that the records might be contaminated by spurious magnetizations, which raises doubts about the reliability of these important records. We undertook a high-resolution magnetostratigraphic study of Eocene-Oligocene u-channel samples from ODP Holes 689B, 689D, 690B, and 690C in order to address these concerns. A pervasive overprint appears to be present below the middle Eocene, which compromises magnetobiostratigraphic interpretations for the upper Cretaceous and lower Paleogene. Nevertheless, our new results provide a robust record of geomagnetic field behavior from 38.5 to 25 Ma and confirm the reliability of these sediments for calibration of biostratigraphic datum events during a crucial phase of earth history when major Antarctic ice sheets developed. Also, comparison of magnetozone thicknesses in multiple holes at the same site indicates that ~1.2-1.8 m of the stratigraphic record is missing at each core break, which corresponds to time breaks of 120-360 k.y. Lack of a continuous record within a single hole renders useless spectral analyses for investigating long geomagnetic and paleoclimatic time series. This observation reinforces the need for coring of multiple offset holes to obtain continuous paleoceanographic records. Sedimentary hiatuses have been identified only at the deeper of the two investigated sites (Site 690), which could mark a local response to the onset of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.