Calcium carbonate, biogenic opal, and organic carbon content and d15N ratios of sediments from the Bering Sea

Millennial-scale paleoceanographic changes in the Bering Sea during the last 71 kyrs were reconstructed using geochemical and isotope proxies (biogenic opal, CaCO3, and total organic carbon (TOC), nitrogen and carbon isotopes of sedimentary organic matters) and microfossil (radiolaria and foraminifera) data from two cores (PC23A and PC24A) which were collected from the northern continental slope area at intermediate water depths. Biogenic opal and TOC contents were generally high with high sedimentation rates during the last deglaciation. Laminated sediment depositions during the Early-Holocene (EH) and Bølling-Allerød (BA) were closely related with the increased primary productivity recorded by high biogenic opal and TOC contents and high d15N values. Enhanced surface-water productivity was attributed to increased nutrient supply from strengthened Bering Slope Current (BSC) and from increased amount of glacial melt-water, resulting in high C/N ratios and low d13C values, and high proportion of Rhizoplegma boreale during the last deglaciation. In contrast, low surface-water productivity during the last glacial period was due to depleted nutrient supply caused by strong stratification and to restricted phytoplankton bloom by extensive sea ice distribution under cold climates. Extensive formation of sea ice produces more oxygen-rich intermediate-water, leading to oxic bottom-water conditions due to active ventilation, which favored good preservation of oxic benthic foraminifera species. Remarkable CaCO3 peaks coeval with high biogenic opal and TOC contents in both cores during MIS 3 to MIS 4 are most likely correlated with Dansgaard-Oeschger (D-O) events. High d15N and d13Corg values during D-O interstadials support increased surface-water productivity resulting from nutrients supplied mainly by intensified BSC. During the EH, BA and D-O interstadials, dominant benthic foraminifera species indicate dysoxic bottom-water conditions as a result of increased surface-water productivity and weak ventilation of intermediate-water with mitigated sea ice development caused by strengthening of the Alaskan Stream. It is of note that the bottom-water conditions and formation of intermediate-water in the Bering Sea during the last glacial period are related to the variation of dissolved oxygen concentration of the bottom-water in the northeastern Pacific and to strong ventilation of intermediate-water in the northwestern Pacific. Thus, the millennial-scale paleoceanographic events in the Bering Sea during the D-O interstadials are closely associated with the intermediate-water ventilation, ultimately leading to weakening of North Pacific Intermediate Water.

Strontium and Neodymium isotope composition of sediments from the North Atlantic

Sr and Nd isotopic compositions have been measured on the lithic fraction of last climatic cycle sediments from the North Atlantic (~40°N/~60°N), in order to identify the origins of the particles. From the reconstruction of their transport pathways, we deduce the mechanisms that explain their distributions. The main source regions are the Canadian shield (mostly the area of Baffin Bay and western Greenland), the Scandinavian shield, the European region (British Isles and Bay of Biscay), and Iceland. We observe a significant glacial/interglacial contrast, characterized by a dominant Icelandic input via near-bottom transport by North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) during the interglacials and a largely continent-derived contribution of surface-transported, ice-rafted detritus (IRD) during the glacial period. During the last glacial period, the Heinrich events (abrupt, massive discharges of IRD) originated not only from the Laurentide ice sheet as heretofore envisioned but also from other sources. Three other major North Atlantic ice sheets (Fennoscandian, British Isles, and Icelandic) probably surged simultaneously, discharging ice and IRD into the North Atlantic. As opposed to theories implying a unique, Laurentide origin [Gwiazda et al., 1996 doi:10.1029/95PA03135] driven by an internal mechanism [MacAyeal, 1993 doi:10.1029/93PA02200], we confirm that the Icelandic and the Fennoscandian ice sheets also surged as recently proposed by other authors, and we here also distinguish a possible detrital contribution from the British Isles ice sheet. This pan-North Atlantic phenomenon thus requires a common regional, external forcing.

Geochemistry of terrigenous material in deep-sea sediments of the equatorial Pacific

Biological productivity in the modern equatorial Pacific Ocean, a region with high nutrients and low chlorophyll, is currently limited by the micronutrient Fe. In order to test whether Fe was limiting in the past and to identify potential pathways of Fe delivery that could drive Fe fertilization (i.e., dust delivery from eolian inputs vs. Fe supplied by the Equatorial Undercurrent), we chemically isolated the terrigenous material from sediment along a cross-equatorial transect in the central equatorial Pacific at 140°W and at Ocean Drilling Program Site 850 in the eastern equatorial Pacific. We quantified the contribution from each potential Fe-bearing terrigenous source using a suite of chemical- and isotopic discrimination strategies as well as multivariate statistical techniques. We find that the distribution of the terrigenous sources (i.e., Asian loess, South American ash, Papua New Guinea, and ocean island basalt) varies through time, latitude, and climate. Regardless of which method is used to determine accumulation rate, there also is no relationship between flux of any particular Fe source and climate. Moreover, there is no connection between a particular Fe source or pathway (eolian vs. Undercurrent) to total productivity during the Last Glacial Maximum, Pleistocene glacial episodes, and the Miocene "Biogenic Bloom". This would suggest an alternative process, such as an interoceanic reorganization of nutrient inventories, may be responsible for past changes in total export in the open ocean, rather than simply Fe supply from dust and/or Equatorial Undercurrent processes. Additionally, perhaps a change in Fe source or flux is related to a change in a particular component of the total productivity (e.g., the production of organic matter, calcium carbonate, or biogenic opal).