Diatom abundance and paleo-temperature reconstruction for sediment cores from the southeast Norwegian Sea

Although the pulsating nature and the abruptness of the last deglaciation are well documented in marine and land records, very few marine records have so far been able to capture the high-frequency climatic changes recorded in the Greenland ice core Dye 3. We studied high-resolution sediment cores from SE Norwegian Sea, which display a detailed climatic record during the last deglaciation comparable to that of Dye 3. Accelerator mass spectrometry age control of the cores enables us to correlate this record in detail with continental records. The results indicate that the surface waters of the SE Norwegian Sea were seasonally ice free after 13,400 B.P. The Bølling/Allerød interstadial complex (13,200-11,200 B.P.) was a climatically unstable period with changing Arctic-Subarctic conditions. This period was punctuated by four progressively more severe sea surface temperature (SST) minima: between 12,900-12,800 B.P. (BCP I); 12,500-12,400 B.P. (BCP II); 12,300-12,000 B.P. (OD I); and 11,800-11,500 B.P. (OD II). The Younger Dryas (YD) (11,200-10,200 B.P.) represents the severest and most prolonged cold episode of this series of climatic deteriorations. It was bounded by very rapid SST changes and characterized by Arctic-Polar conditions. The first true warm Atlantic water incursion to the SE Norwegian Sea took place around 10,100 B.P., followed by a brief cooler condition between 9900-9600 B.P. (YD II). The early Holocene climatic optimum occurred between 8000-5000 B.P. A conceptual model is proposed where meltwater fluxes are suggested to cause the observed instability in the SST record.

Magnetic petrology of ODP Leg 121 holes

Given the importance of the inversion of seamount magnetic anomalies, particularly to the motion of the Pacific plate, it is important to gain a better understanding of the nature of the magnetic source of these features. Although different in detail, Ninetyeast Ridge is composed of submarine and subaerial igneous rocks that are similar to those found at many seamounts, making it a suitable proxy. We report here on the magnetic petrology of a collection of samples from Ninetyeast Ridge in the Indian Ocean. Our purpose is to determine the relationship between primary petrology, subsequent alteration, and magnetic properties of the recovered rocks. Such information will eventually lead to a more complete understanding of the magnetization of seamounts and presumably improvements in the accuracy of anomaly inversions. Three basement sites were drilled on Ninetyeast Ridge, with recovery of subaerial basalt flows at the first two (Sites 756 and 757) and submarine massive and pillow flows at the final one (Site 758). The three sites were distinctly different. Site 756 was dominated by ilmenite. What titanomagnetite was present had undergone deuteric alteration and secondary hematite was present in many samples. The magnetization was moderate and stable although it yielded a paleolatitude somewhat lower than expected. Site 757 was highly oxidized, presumably while above sea level. It was dominated by primary titanomagnetite, which was deuterically altered. Secondary hematite was common. Magnetization was relatively weak but quite stable. The paleolatitude for all but the lowermost flows was approximately 40° lower than expected. Site 758 was also dominated by primary titanomagnetite. There was relatively little oxidation with most primary titanomagnetite showing no evidence of high-temperature alteration. No secondary hematite was in evidence. This site had the highest magnetization of the three (although somewhat low relative to other seamounts) but was relatively unstable with significant viscous remanence in many samples. Paleolatitude was close to the expected value. It is not possible, at present, to confidently associate these rocks with specific locations in a seamount structure. A possible and highly speculative model would place rocks similar to Site 757 near the top of the edifice, Site 756 lower down but still erupted above sea level, and Site 758 underlying these units, erupted while the seamount was still below sea level.

Magnetic mineralogy and geochemistry of ODP Holes 137-504B and 140-504B samples

Leg 140 of the Ocean Drilling Program deepened Hole 504B to a total depth of 2000.4 m below seafloor (mbsf), making it the deepest hole drilled into ocean crust. Site 504, south of the Costa Rica Rift, is considered the most important in-situ reference section for the structure of shallow ocean crust. We present the results of studies of magnetic mineralogy and magnetic properties of Hole 504B upper crustal rocks recovered during Legs 137 and 140. Results from this sample set are consistent with those discussed in Pariso et al. (this volume) from Legs 111, 137, and 140. Coercivity (Hc) ranges from 5.3 to 27.7 mT (mean 12 mT), coercivity of remanence (HCR) ranges from 13.3 to 50.6 mT (mean 26 mT), and the ratio HCR/HC ranges from 1.6 to 3.19 (mean 2.13). Saturation magnetization (JS) ranges from 0.03 to 5.94 * 10**-6 Am**2, (mean 2.52 * 10**-6 Am**2), saturation remanence (JR) ranges from 0.01 to 0.58 * 10**-6 Am2 (mean 0.37 * 10**-6 Am**2), and the ratio JR/JS ranges from 0.08 to 0.29 (mean 0.16), consistent with pseudo-single-domain behavior. Natural remanent magnetization (NRM) intensity ranges from 0.029 to 7.18 A/m (mean 2.95 A/m), whereas RM10 intensity varies only from 0.006 to 4.8 A/m and has a mean of only 1.02 A/m. Anhysteretic remanent magnetization (ARM) intensity ranges from 0.04 to 6.0 A/m, with a mean of 2.46 A/m, and isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM) intensity ranges from 0.5 to 1683 A/m, with a mean of 430.7 A/m. Volume susceptibility ranges from 0.0003 to 0.043 SI (mean 0.011 SI). In all samples examined, high-temperature oxidation of primary titanomagnetite has produced lamellae or pods of magnetite and ilmenite. Hydrothermal alteration has further altered the minerals in some samples to a mixture of magnetite, ilmenite, titanite, and a high-titanium mineral (either rutile or anatase). Electron microprobe analyses show that magnetite lamellae are enriched in the trivalent oxides Cr2O3, Al2O3, and V2O5, whereas divalent oxides (MnO and MgO) are concentrated in ilmenite lamellae.

Composition of sedimentary rocks from the Mountainous Crimea and the Northwestern Caucasus

Detailed data obtained on chemistry of sedimentary rocks from the Mountainous Crimea and the Northwestern Caucasus that were dated at the Cenomanian/Turonian boundary and formed during Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 make it possible to calculate dissolved oxygen concentration in bottom waters of the sedimentation basin. Enrichment factors of trace elements in black shales are revised and an explanation is suggested for genesis of the rocks with regard for unusual climatic changes.

Beryllium, thorium and protactinium isotope ratios in sediments from the Galapagos microplate

Biogenic particle fluxes from highly productive surface waters, boundary scavenging, and hydrothermal activity are the main factors influencing the deposition of radionuclides in the area of the Galapagos microplate, eastern Equatorial Pacific. In order to evaluate the importance of these three processes throughout the last 100 kyr, concentrations of the radionuclides 10Be, 230Th, and 231Pa, and of Mn and Fe were measured at high resolution in sediment samples from two gravity cores KLH 068 and KLH 093. High biological productivity in the surface waters overlying the investigated area has led to 10Be and 231Pa fluxes exceeding production during at least the last 30 kyr and probably the last 100 kyr. However, during periods of high productivity at the up welling centers off Peru and extension of the equatorial high-productivity zone, a relative loss of 10Be and 231Pa may have occurred in these sediment cores because of boundary scavenging. The effects of hydrothermal activity were investigated by comparing the 230Thex concentrations to the Mn/Fe ratios and by comparing the fluxes of 230Th and 10Be which exceed production. The results suggest an enhanced hydrothermal influence during isotope stages 4 and 5 and to a lesser extent during isotope stage 1 in core KLH 093. During isotope stages 2 and 3, the hydrothermal supply of Mn was deposited elsewhere, probably because of changes in current regime or deep water oxygenation. A strong increase of the Mn/Fe ratio at the beginning of climatic stage 1 which is not accompanied by an increase of the 230Thex concentration is interpreted to be an effect of Mn remobilization and reprecipitation in the sediment.

Geochemistry at DSDP Leg 82 Holes

DSDP Leg 82 drilled nine sites to the southwest of the Azores Islands on the west flank of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) in an attempt to determine the temporal and spatial evolution of the Azores "hot-spot" activity. The chemistry of the basalts recovered during Leg 82 is extremely varied: in Holes 558 and 561, both enriched (E-type: CeN/YbN = 1.5 to 2.7; Zr/Nb = 4.5 to 9.6) and depleted (or normal-N-type: CeN/YbN = 0.6 to 0.8; Zr/Nb > 20) mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) occur as intercalated lava flows. To the north of the Hayes Fracture Zone, there is little apparent systematic relationship between basalt chemistry and geographic position. However, to the south of the Hayes Fracture Zone, the chemical character of the basalts (N-type MORB) is more uniform. The coexistence of both E-type and N-type MORB in one hole may be explicable in terms of either complex melting/ fractionation processes during basalt genesis or chemically heterogeneous mantle sources. Significant variation in the ratios of strongly incompatible trace elements (e.g., La/Ta; Th/Ta) in the basalts of Holes 558 and 561 are not easily explicable by processes such as dynamic partial melting or open system crystal fractionation. Rather, the trace element data require that the basalts are ultimately derived from at least two chemically distinct mantle sources. The results from Leg 82 are equivocal in terms of the evolution of the Azores "hot spot," but would appear not to be compatible with a simple model of E-type MORB magmatism associated with upwelling mantle "blobs." Models that invoke a locally chemically heterogeneous mantle are best able to account for the small-scale variation in basalt chemistry.

Multi-proxy analyses of sediment cores from the Pakistan continental margin

Late Holocene laminated sediments from a core transect centred in the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) impinging at the continental slope off Pakistan indicate stable oxygen minimum conditions for the past 7000 calendar years. High SW-monsoon-controlled biological productivity and enhanced organic matter preservation during this period is reflected in high contents of total organic carbon (TOC) and redox-sensitive elements (Ni, V), as well as by a low-diversity, high-abundance benthic foraminiferal Buliminacea association and high abundance of the planktonic species Globigerina bulloides indicative of upwelling conditions. Surface-water productivity was strongest during SW monsoon maxima. Stable OMZ conditions (reflected by laminated sediments) were found also during warm interstadial events (Preboreal, Bølling-Allerød, and Dansgaard-Oeschger events), as well as during peak glacial times (17-22.5 ka, all ages in calendar years). Sediment mass accumulation rates were at a maximum during the Preboreal and Younger Dryas periods due to strong riverine input and mobilisation of fine-grained sediment coinciding with rapid deglacial sea-level rise, whereas eolian input generally decreased from glacial to interglacial times. In contrast, the occurrence of bioturbated intervals from 7 to 10.5 ka (early Holocene), in the Younger Dryas (11.7-13 ka), from 15 to 17 ka (Heinrich event 1) and from 22.5 to 25 ka (Heinrich event 2) suggests completely different conditions of oxygen-rich bottom waters, extremely low mass and organic carbon accumulation rates, a high-diversity benthic fauna, all indicating lowered surface-water productivity. During these intervals the OMZ was very poorly developed or absent and a sharp fall of the aragonite compensation depth favoured the preservation of pteropods. The abundance of lithogenic proxies suggests aridity and wind transport by northwesterly or northeasterly winds during these periods coinciding with the North Atlantic Heinrich events and dust peaks in the Tibetan Loess records. The correlation of the monsoon-driven OMZ variability in the Arabian Sea with the rapid climatic fluctuations in the high northern latitudes suggests a close coupling between the climates of the high and low latitudes at a global scale.