Stable carbon and oxygen isotope compositions of bulk rock samples analyzed from the Zumaia section

Astronomical tuning of sedimentary records to precise orbital solutions has led to unprecedented resolution in the geological time scale. However, the construction of a consistent astronomical time scale for the Paleocene is controversial due to uncertainties in the recognition of the exact number of 405-kyr eccentricity cycles and accurate correlation between key records. Here, we present a new Danian integrated stratigraphic framework using the land-based Zumaia and Sopelana hemipelagic sections from the Basque Basin and deep-sea records drilled during Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Legs 198 (Shatsky Rise, North Pacific) and 208 (Walvis Ridge, South Atlantic) that solves previous discrepancies. The new coherent stratigraphy utilises composite images from ODP cores, a new whole-rock d13C isotope record at Zumaia and new magnetostratigraphic data from Sopelana. We consistently observe 11 405-kyr eccentricity cycles in all studied Danian successions. We achieve a robust correlation of bioevents and stable isotope events between all studied sections at the ~100-kyr short-eccentricity level, a prerequisite for paleoclimatic interpretations. Comparison with and subsequent tuning of the records to the latest orbital solution La2011 provides astronomically calibrated ages of 66.022 ± 0.040 Ma and 61.607 ± 0.040 Ma for the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) and Danian-Selandian 105 (D-S) boundaries respectively. Low sedimentation rates appear common in all records in the mid-Danian interval, including conspicuous condensed intervals in the oceanic records that in the past have hampered the proper identification of cycles. The comprehensive interbasinal approach applied here reveals pitfalls in time scale construction, filtering techniques in particular, and indicates that some caution and scrutiny has to be applied when building orbital chronologies. Finally, the Zumaia section, already hosting the Selandian Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP), could serve as the global Danian unit stratotype in the future.

(Table 2) Temporal changes in phenological observations between 1978 and 2007, northern Sweden

A 30-year series (1978-2007) of photographic records were analysed to determine changes in lake ice cover, local (low elevation) and montane (high elevation) snow cover and phenological stages of mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) at the Abisko Scientific Research Station, Sweden. In most cases, the photographic-derived data showed no significant difference in phenophase score from manually observed field records from the same period, demonstrating the accuracy and potential of using weekly repeat photography as a quicker, cheaper and more adaptable tool to remotely study phenology in both biological and physical systems. Overall, increases in ambient temperatures coupled with decreases in winter ice and snow cover, and earlier occurrence of birch foliage, signal a reduction in the length of winter, a shift towards earlier springs and an increase in the length of available growing season in the Swedish sub-arctic.

Rates of nitrogen cycling and chemo-autotrophy in the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa

Cold-water corals (CWC) are widely distributed around the world forming extensive reefs at par with tropical coral reefs. They are hotspots of biodiversity and organic matter processing in the world's deep oceans. Living in the dark they lack photosynthetic symbionts and are therefore considered to depend entirely on the limited flux of organic resources from the surface ocean. While symbiotic relations in tropical corals are known to be key to their survival in oligotrophic conditions, the full metabolic capacity of CWC has yet to be revealed. Here we report isotope tracer evidence for efficient nitrogen recycling, including nitrogen assimilation, regeneration, nitrification and denitrification. Moreover, we also discovered chemoautotrophy and nitrogen fixation in CWC and transfer of fixed nitrogen and inorganic carbon into bulk coral tissue and tissue compounds (fatty acids and amino acids). This unrecognized yet versatile metabolic machinery of CWC conserves precious limiting resources and provides access to new nitrogen and organic carbon resources that may be essential for CWC to survive in the resource-depleted dark ocean.

Petrology and geochemistry of altered ocenaic crust of ODP Hole 140-504B

Altered basalt dikes from Hole 504B were partially melted at 1150°C and 1180°C to determine the composition of the first melts as oceanic Layer 2C is assimilated by a magma chamber. The partial melts are chemically similar to actinolite, the most abundant secondary mineral, but the melts are not simply melted actinolite. High TiO2, P2O5, and K2O abundances of the melts indicate that minor secondary minerals that are enriched in these elements also contribute to the melt. The incorporation of partial melts into a ridge-crest magma chamber may explain the local variability that is sometimes found in ocean ridge basalts that are not readily explained fractional crystallization or partial melting.

Geochemistry, lithology and maceral analysis at DSDP Hole 71-511

The quantity, type, and maturity of the organic matter in Recent through Upper Jurassic sediments from the Falkland Plateau, DSDP Site 511, have been determined. Sediments were investigated for their hydrocarbon potential by organic carbon and Rock-Eval pyrolysis. Kerogen concentrates were prepared and analyzed in reflected and transmitted light to determine vitrinite reflectance and maceral content. Total extractable organic compounds were analyzed for their elemental composition, and the fraction of the nonaromatic hydrocarbons was determined by capillary column gas chromatography and combined gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Three main classes of organic matter can be determined at DSDP Site 511 by a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of microscopic and geochemical results. The Upper Jurassic to lower Albian black shales contain high amounts of organic matter of dominantly marine origin. The content of terrigenous organic matter increases at the base of the black shales, whereas the shallowest black shales near the Aptian/Albian boundary are transitional in composition, with increasing amounts of inert, partly oxidized organic matter which is the dominant component in all Albian through Tertiary sediments investigated. The organic matter in the black shales has a low level of maturity and has not yet reached the onset of thermal hydrocarbon generation. This is demonstrated by the low amounts of total extractable organic compounds, low percentages of hydrocarbons, and the pattern and composition of nonaromatic hydrocarbons. The observed reflectance of huminite and vitrinite particles (between 0.4% and 0.5% Ro at bottom-hole depth of 632 m) is consistent with this interpretation. Several geochemical parameters indicate, however, a rapid increase in the maturation of organic matter with depth of burial. This appears to result from the relatively high heat flow observed at Site 511. If we relate the level of maturation of the black shales at the bottom of Hole 511 to their present shallow depth of burial, they appear rather mature. On the basis of comparisons with other sedimentary basins of a known geothermal history, a somewhat higher paleotemperature gradient and/or additional overburden are required to give the observed maturity at shallow depth. A comparison with contemporaneous sediments of DSDP Site 361, Cape Basin, which was the basin adjacent and to the north of the Falkland Plateau during the early stages of the South Atlantic Ocean, demonstrates differences in sedimentological features and in the nature of sedimentary organic matter. We interpret these differences to be the result of the different geological settings for Sites 361 and 511.

Ba/Sr ratio in marine barite from five DSDP and ODP holes

The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), ca. 55 Ma, was a period of extreme global warming caused by rapid emission of greenhouse gases. It is unknown what ended this episode of greenhouse warming, but high oceanic export productivity over thousands of years (as indicated by high accumulation rates of barium, Ba) may have been a factor in ending this warm period by carbon sequestration. However, Ba has a short oceanic residence time (~10 k.y.), so a prolonged global increase in Ba accumulation rates requires an increase in input of Ba to the ocean, increasing barite saturation. We use a novel proxy for barite saturation (Sr/Ba in marine barite) to demonstrate that the seawater saturation state with respect to barite did not change across the PETM. The observations of increased barite burial, no change in saturation, and the short residence time can be reconciled if Ba burial decreased at continental margin and shelf sites due to widespread occurrence of suboxic conditions, leading to Ba release into the water column, combined with increased biological export production at some pelagic sites, resulting in Ba sink reorganization.

Nannofossil and planktic foraminiferal events of ODP Site 166-1006 sediments

Detailed biostratigraphy in Site 1006 based on planktonic foraminifers and nannofossils shows large-scale sedimentation rate variability in the Florida Strait west of the Great Bahama Bank. A 'floating' cyclostratigraphy based mainly on resistivity logs and magnetic susceptibility data has been fixed to the biostratigraphy in the absence of magnetostratigraphy. The strongest orbital cycle present is the precessional beat, which is present in the borehole logs throughout the record. Counting the cycles resulted in an accurate time scale and thus a sedimentation rate time series. Spectral analysis of the sedimentation rate time series shows that the short-term cycle of eccentricity (~125 k.y.) and the long term cycle of eccentricity (~400 k.y.) are pervasive throughout the Miocene record, together with the long-term ~2-m.y. eccentricity cycle. The Great Bahama Bank produced pulses of shallow carbonate input once every precessional (sea level) cycle during the Miocene and perhaps two pulses per cycle in the early Pliocene. The amount of sediment exported in these pulses appears to be controlled by eccentricity modulation of the precessional amplitude and therefore the amplitude of the sea-level rise. Finally, an increase in sedimentation rate just after the Miocene/Pliocene boundary is attributed to a change in the location and strength of sediment drift currents in the Florida Strait due to reorganization of the currents following the closure of the Panama Isthmus.

Stable isotope ratios of foraminifera from ODP Hole 171B-1051B sediments

The primary aim of the this investigation was to examine the stability of subtropical sea-surface temperatures and reconstruct the surface-to-benthos thermal gradient. High-resolution stable isotopic analyses (18O and 13C) were conducted on late middle Eocene planktonic and benthic foraminifers recovered from Hole 1051B, Blake Nose, western North Atlantic. The sequence comprises a siliceous nannofossil and foraminifer ooze, with well-preserved calcareous microfossils. Isotopic examination was conducted on the mixed-layer dweller Morozovella spinulosa and the benthic foraminifer Nuttalides truempyi at this subtropical site.

Geochemical compositions of minerals from chilled dike margins of ODP Hole 140-504B

Mineral and whole-rock geochemical data are presented for chilled dike margins from the lower sheeted dike complex of Deep Sea Drilling Project/Ocean Drilling Program (DSDP/ODP) Hole 504B. Compositions of phenocrystic plagioclase (An80-89); olivine (Fo82-86); clinopyroxene (Wo52En40Fs8, with Cr2O3 up to 1.2%); and rare chromian spinel (Cr# 43) are consistent with those from the lavas and the upper dike complex recovered previously (DSDP Legs 69, 70, 83, and ODP Leg 111). Major and trace element compositions fall in group D of Autio and Rhodes (1983) and have high CaO/Na2O, and low TiO2, K2O, and (La/Sm)N values consistent with previous analyses from this site.

Petrography and geochemical composition of the Atlantis II Fracture Zone

SeaBeam echo sounding, seismic reflection, magnetics, and gravity profiles were run along closely spaced tracks (5 km) parallel to the Atlantis II Fracture Zone on the Southwest Indian Ridge, giving 80% bathymetric coverage of a 30- * 170-nmi strip centered over the fracture zone. The southern and northern rift valleys of the ridge were clearly defined and offset north-south by 199 km. The rift valleys are typical of those found elsewhere on the Southwest Indian Ridge, with relief of more than 2200 m and widths from 22 to 38 km. The ridge-transform intersections are marked by deep nodal basins lying on the transform side of the neovolcanic zone that defines the present-day spreading axis. The walls of the transform generally are steep (25°-40°), although locally, they can be more subdued. The deepest point in the transform is 6480 m in the southern nodal basin, and the shallowest is an uplifted wave-cut terrace that exposes plutonic rocks from the deepest layer of the ocean crust at 700 m. The transform valley is bisected by a 1.5-km-high median tectonic ridge that extends from the northern ridge-transform intersection to the midpoint of the active transform. The seismic survey showed that the floor of the transform contains up to 0.5 km of sediment. Piston-coring at two locations on the transform floor recovered more than 1 m of sand and gravel, which appears to be turbidites shed from the walls of the fracture zone. Extensive dredging showed that more than two-thirds of the crust exposed in the transform valley and its walls were plutonic rocks, principally gabbros and residual mantle peridotites. In contrast, based on dredging and seafloor morphology, only relatively undisrupted pillow basalt flows have been exposed on crust of the same age spreading away from the transform. Magnetic anomalies are well defined out to 11 m.y. over the flanking transverse ridges and transform valley, even where layer 2 appears to be absent. The total opening rate is 1.6 cm/yr, but the arrangement of the anomalies indicates that the spreading for each ridge is asymmetric, with the ridge flanks facing the transform spreading at a rate of 1.0 cm/yr. Such an asymmetric spreading pattern requires that both the northern and southern ridges migrate away from each other at 0.2 cm/yr, thus lengthening the transform at 0.4 cm/yr for the last 11 m.y. To the north, the fracture zone valley is oriented differently from the present-day transform, indicating a paleospreading direction change at 17 m.y. from N10°E to due north-south. This change placed the transform into extension for the 11-m.y. period required for simple orthogonal ridge-transform geometry to be reestablished and produced a large transtensional basin within the transform valley. This basin was split by continued transform slip after 11 m.y., with the larger half moving to the north with the African Plate.