Barium in sediments and pore waters of several ODP Leg 170 and Leg 205 sites

Barium concentrations were measured on 17 pore fluid and 13 sediment samples from Sites 1253 and 1254 drilled offshore Costa Rica during Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 205. An additional 83 pore fluid and 29 sediment samples were analyzed for Ba concentrations from Sites 1039 and 1040 drilled during ODP Leg 170 offshore Costa Rica. Sites 1039/1253 and 1040/1254 are part of a transect across the Middle America Trench offshore Nicoya Peninsula. The entire incoming sediment section is being underthrust beneath the margin, providing an ideal setting to examine Ba cycling in the shallow levels of the subduction zone. Results from these analyses indicate that a significant amount of Ba is liberated from the mineral barite (BaSO4) in the uppermost hemipelagic sediments arcward of the trench. The shallow distillation of Ba may impact the amount of sedimentary Ba reaching the deeper subduction zone.

Annual variations in composition of the North Dvina River water

New data on elemental composition of particulate matter from the North Dvina River are presented. In May (period of snowmelt flood) it is similar to the upper layer of the continental crust due to active erosion of crust material in the catchment area. In August (summer low water period) impact of biogenic components increases and elevated concentrations of Cd, Sb, Mn, Zn, Pb, and Cu are observed. At other seasons no significant increase in heavy and rare earth element concentrations is observed.

Geochemistry of ODP Site 123-765 sediments

Drilling at Site 765 in the Argo Abyssal Plain sampled sediments and oceanic crust adjacent to the Australian margin. Some day, this site will be consumed in the Java Trench. An intensive analytical program was conducted to establish this site as a geochemical reference section forcrustal recycling calculations. About 150 sediment samples from Site 765 were analyzed for major and trace elements. Downhole trends in the sediment analyses agree well with trends in sediment mineralogy, as well as in Al and K logs. The primary signal in the geochemical variability is dilution of a detrital component by both biogenic silica and calcium carbonate. Although significant variations in the nonbiogenic component occur through time, its overall character is similar to nearby Canning Basin shales, which are typical of average post-Archean Australian shales (PAAS). The bulk composition of the hole is calculated using core descriptions to weight the analyses appropriately. However, a remarkably accurate estimate of the bulk composition of the hole can be made simply from PAAS and the average calcium carbonate and aluminum contents of the hole. Most elements can be estimated within 30% in this way. This means that estimating the bulk composition of other sections dominated by detrital and biogenic components may require little analytical effort: calcium carbonate contents, average Al contents, and average shale values can be taken from core descriptions, geochemical logs, and the literature, respectively. Some of the geochemical systematics developed at Site 765 can be extrapolated along the entire Sunda Trench. However, results are general, and Site 765 should serve as a useful reference for estimating the compositions of other continental margin sections approaching trenches around the world (e.g., outboard of the Lesser Antilles, Aegean, and Eolian arcs).

Biogenic opal and carbonate concentration in late Neogene sediments of ODP Site 114-704

A preliminary composite depth section was generated for Site 704 by splicing Holes 704A and 704B together over the interval 0-350 mbsf (0-9 m.y.). High-resolution carbonate and opal data from the cores were correlated with the calcium and silicon signals from the GST logging run in Hole 704B to identify missing and disturbed intervals in the cores. Paleomagnetic and biostratigraphic age boundaries were then transferred to the composite depth records to obtain an age model, and sedimentation rates were calculated by linear interpolation between datums. Algorithms relating measured dry-bulk density to carbonate content and depth were generated to produce predicted values of density for every sample. Accumulation rates of bulk, carbonate, opal, and terrigenous sediment components were then computed to generate a record of sediment deposition on the Meteor Rise that has a resolution of better than 200,000 yr for the period from 8.6 to 1.0 m.y. From 8.6 to 2.5 m.y., bulk-accumulation rates on the Meteor Rise averaged less than 2 g/cm**2/1000 yr and were dominated by carbonate deposition. The first significant opal deposition (6.0 m.y.) punctuated a brief (less than 0.6 Ma) approach of the Polar Front Zone (PFZ) northward that heralded a period of increasing severity of periodic carbonate dissolution events (terrigenous maxima) that abruptly terminated at 4.8 m.y. (base of the Thvera Subchron), synchronous with the reflooding of the Mediterranean after the Messinian salinity crisis. From 4.8 to 2.5 m.y., carbonate again dominated deposition, and the PFZ was far south except during brief northward excursions bracketing 4.2-3.9, 3.3-2.9, and 2.8-2.7 m.y. At 2.5 m.y., all components of bulk-accumulation rates increased dramatically (up to 15 g/cm2/1000 yr), and by 2.4 m.y., a pattern of alternating, high-amplitude carbonate and opal cyclicity marked the initiation of rapid glacial to interglaci·l swings in the position of the PFZ, synchronous with the "onset" of major Northern Hemisphere glaciation. Both mass-accumulation rates and the amplitude of the cycles decreased by about 2 m.y., but opal accumulation rates remained high up through the base of the Jaramillo (0.98 m.y.). From 1.9 to 1 m.y., the record is characterized by moderate amplitude fluctuations in carbonate and opal. This record of opal accumulation rates is interpreted as a long-term "Polar Front Indicator" that monitors the advance and retreat of the opal-rich PFZ northward (southward) toward (away from) the Meteor Rise in the subantarctic sector of the South Atlantic Ocean. The timing of PFZ migrations in the subantarctic South Atlantic Ocean is remarkably similar to Pliocene-Pleistocene climate records deduced from benthic oxygen isotope records in the North Atlantic Ocean (Raymo et al., 1989, doi:10.1029/PA004i004p00413; Ruddiman et al., 1989, doi:10.1029/PA004i004p00353). These include northward migrations during "cold" intervals containing strong glacial isotope stages (2.4-2.3, 2.1-2.0, 1.95-1.55, 1.45-1.30 m.y. and at about 1.13 and 1.09 m.y.) and southward migrations during "warm" intervals containing weak glacial and/or strong interglacial stages (2.45-2.40, 2.30-2.10, 2.00-1.95, 1.52-1.45, 1.30-1.18, 1.11, and 1.06-0.93 m.y.). Although our preliminary composite record is not continuous (some stages are obviously missing), there is hope that future work will identify these missing intervals in the as yet incomplete Hole 704B and will extend this high-resolution Southern Hemisphere climate record back to 8.6 m.y.