(Table 1) Heavy fraction minerals in bottom sediments of the Markov Deep, Mid-Atlantic Ridge

An additional ore field in the central part of the MARhas been discovered. Together with previously discovered Logachev (14°45'N) and Ashadze (12°58'N) ore fields, the new ore field constitutes a cluster with preliminarily estimated total ore reserve of >10 Mt, which is comparable with large continental massive sulfide deposits.

Pliocene/Pleistocene benthic foraminiferal abundances from six drilling cores

Twenty percent (19 genera, 95 species) of cosmopolitan, deep-sea (500-4000 m), benthic foraminiferal species became extinct during the late Pliocene-Middle Pleistocene (3-0.12 Ma), with the peak of extinctions (76 species) occurring during the mid-Pleistocene Climate Transition (MPT, 1.2-0.55 Ma). One whole family (Stilostomellidae, 30 species) was wiped out, and a second (Pleurostomellidae, 29 species) was decimated with just one species possibly surviving through to the present. Our studies at 21 deep-sea core sites show widespread pulsed declines in abundance and diversity of the extinction group species during more extreme glacials, with partial interglacial recoveries. These declines started in the late Pliocene in southern sourced deep water masses (Antarctic Bottom Water, Circumpolar Deep Water) and extending into intermediate waters (Antarctic Intermediate Water, North Atlantic Deep Water) in the MPT, with the youngest declines in sites farthest downstream from high-latitude source areas for intermediate waters. We infer that the unusual apertural types that were targeted by this extinction period were adaptations for a specific kind of food source and that it was probably the demise of this microbial food that resulted in the foraminiferal extinctions. We hypothesize that it may have been increased cold and oxygenation of the southern sourced deep water masses that impacted on this deep water microbial food source during major late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene glacials when Antarctic ice was substantially expanded. The food source in intermediate water was not impacted until major glacials in the MPT when there were significant expansion of polar sea ice in both hemispheres and major changes in the source areas, temperature, and oxygenation of global intermediate waters.

Mineral composition of 0.25-0.05 mm grain size fraction from Holocene sediments of the Baikal Lake

Results of investigations of Baikal bottom sediments from a long core (BDP-97) and several short (0-1 m) cores are presented. It can be shown that Holocene sediments in the Baikal basins consist of biogenic-terrigenous muds accumulated under still sedimentation conditions, and of turbidites formed during catastrophic events. The turbidites can be distinguished from the host sediments by their enrichment in heavy minerals and thus their high magnetic susceptibility. Often, Pliocene and Pleistocene diatom species observed in the Holocene sediments (mainly in the turbidites) point to redeposition of ancient offshore sediments. Our results indicate that deltas, littoral zones, and continental slopes are source areas of turbidites. The fact that the turbidites occur far from their sources confirms existence of high-energy turbidity currents responsible for long-distance lateral-sediment transport to the deep basins of the lake.