Magnetostratigraphy of ODP Leg 104 holes

Results of a detailed paleomagnetic study on largely undisturbed sedimentary sequences recovered in the Voring Plateau region of the Norwegian Sea during Ocean Drilling Program Leg 104 are presented. At each drill site an essentially continuous downhole magnetic reversal pattern could be defined to depths between 200 and 300 m below seafloor allowing correlations with a calibrated geomagnetic time scale and establishing almost complete magnetostratigraphic records for the core material analyzed. A composite section of the drill holes represents the first high-quality chronostratigraphic framework from the lower Miocene through Holocene obtained in the Norwegian Sea. It should provide a basis for first-order correlations with calcareous and siliceous microfossil events and contribute to a further elaboration of the regional paleoceanographic history. A series of major hiatuses in the upper and middle Miocene accounts for about 4 million yr of missing stratigraphic record.

Reefs shift from net accretion to net erosion along a natural environmental gradient

Coral reefs persist in an accretion-erosion balance and ocean acidification resulting from anthropogenic CO2 emissions threatens to shift this balance in favor of net reef erosion. Corals and calcifying algae, largely responsible for reef accretion, are vulnerable to environmental changes associated with ocean acidification, but the direct effects of lower pH on reef erosion has received less attention, particularly in the context of known drivers of bioerosion and natural variability. This study examines the balance between reef accretion and erosion along a well-characterized natural environmental gradient in Kane'ohe Bay, Hawai'i using experimental blocks of coral skeleton. Comparing before and after micro-computed tomography (µCT) scans to quantify net accretion and erosion, we show that, at the small spatial scale of this study (tens of meters), pH was a better predictor of the accretion-erosion balance than environmental drivers suggested by prior studies, including resource availability, temperature, distance from shore, or depth. In addition, this study highlights the fine-scale variation of pH in coastal systems and the importance of microhabitat variation for reef accretion and erosion processes. We demonstrate significant changes in both the mean and variance of pH on the order of meters, providing a local perspective on global increases in pCO2. Our findings suggest that increases in reef erosion, combined with expected decreases in calcification, will accelerate the shift of coral reefs to an erosion-dominated system in a high-CO2 world. This shift will make reefs increasingly susceptible to storm damage and sea-level rise, threatening the maintenance of the ecosystem services that coral reefs provide.