Biostratigraphic significance of the calcareous nannofossil genus Reticulofenestra in the Upper Pliocene of the North Atlantic

We demonstrate size fluctuations of the calcareous nannofossil genus Reticulofenestra in Upper Pliocene sediments from the North Atlantic Ocean and clarify a characteristic evolutionary trend of this genus. Four bioevents, which are based on abrupt decreases in maximum size and on changes of morphologic features of Reticulofenestra specimens, are detected in the sediments. They are the disappearance of R. minutula var. A, the termination of Acme Zone II of R. minutula var. C, the disappearance of R. minutula var. B, and the termination of Acme Zone I of R. minutula var. C, in ascending order. These are nearly synchronous and traceable events.

Miocene stable isotope record of ODP Hole 162-982B

Oxygen and carbon isotope records are presented for the benthic foraminifer Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi from upper middle through lower upper Miocene (11.6-8.2 Ma) sediments recovered at intermediate water depth (1134 m) at Ocean Drilling Program Site 982 on Rockall Plateau. Oxygen isotopic values generally lighter than those for the Holocene indicate significantly warmer intermediate waters and/or less global ice volume during the late middle to early late Miocene than at the present. The most depleted oxygen isotope values occurred at around 10.5 Ma. After this time a long-term increase in d18O suggests a gradual increase in global ice volume and/or cooling of intermediate waters during the late Miocene. Comparison of the intermediate depth benthic foraminiferal carbon isotope record from Site 982 and records from various North Atlantic deep sites shows that intermediate waters were generally better ventilated than deep waters between 11.6 and 9.6 Ma. During this time period, increased ventilation of intermediate waters was linked to cooling or the build up of polar ice caps. The Mi events originally proposed by Miller et al. (1991, doi:10.1029/90JB02015) and Wright and Miller (1992, doi:10.2973/odp.proc.sr.120.193.1992) are difficult to identify with certainty in sediments sampled at high resolution (<10**4 year). Comparison of the high-resolution benthic d18O records from ODP Site 982 with the low-resolution benthic d18O record from Monte Gibliscemi (Mediterranean) show that Mi events, if real, may not be of importance as a stratigraphic tool in upper Miocene sedimentary sequences.

Benthic foraminiferal faunas of Miocene to Holocene sediments of ODP Site 184-1143 from the southern South China Sea

Deep-sea benthic foraminiferal assemblages from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1143 located in the southern South China Sea (SCS) were investigated to evaluate the relationship between faunal composition patterns and paleoceanographic changes during the last 6 million years (late Miocene to Holocene). We used multivariate statistics (correspondence analysis) to analyze carbon-flux-related changes in assemblage composition of benthic foraminifers. Additional proxies for carbon flux and deep-water ventilation include delta13C records of epifaunal Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi and infaunal Uvigerina peregrina var. dirupta and Melonis pompilioides, benthic foraminiferal accumulation rates (BFARs), diversity indices, and relative abundances of indicator species. We observe three significant benthic faunal changes in the southern South China Sea during the last 6 million years. Strong fluctuations in BFAR and relative abundance of productivity indicator species between glacial and interglacial stages after the mid-Pleistocene revolution (MPR) at approximately 0.9 Ma, indicating stronger seasonal carbon flux fluctuations, are accompanied by the extinction of such species as Stilostomella spp. Increases in carbon flux indicator species are coupled with an overall decrease in benthic foraminifer diversity around 3.0 Ma in the late Pliocene. This may indicate increasing carbon flux in a period of productivity maximum caused by enhanced offshore upwelling from intensified winter monsoon wind strength.

Late middle Eocene to late Oligocene radiolarian biostratigraphy of ODP Hole 113-689B of Maud Rise, Southern Ocean

We propose a new biostratigraphic scheme comprising the Eucyrtidium spinosum, Eucyrtidium antiquum (new), Lychnocanoma conica (emended), Clinorhabdus robusta (emended) and Stylosphaera radiosa (emended) Zones, in ascending order, in Eocene to Oligocene sediments drilled on Maud Rise in Southern Atlantic Ocean (Site 689, Ocean Drilling Program Leg 113). The bases of these zones are defined by the lowermost occurrences of E. spinosum, E. antiquum, L. conica, C. robusta and the uppermost occurrence of Axoprunum irregularis (?), respectively. From correlation to the magnetostratigraphic data, the E. spinosum, E. antiquum, L. conica, C. robusta and S. radiosa Zones are assigned to the late middle Eocene through late Eocene (Subchrons C17n2 to C13r), earliest Oligocene (C13n to C11n), late early Oligocene (C11n to C10n2), early late Oligocene (C10n1 to C8r) and latest Oligocene (C8r to C7An), respectively. The four boundary datum levels and supplementary datum levels such as the lowermost occurrences of A. irregularis (?), Dicolocapsa microcephala and Lithomelissa challengerae may be recognized in other ODP sites in the Southern Ocean. The first occurrence of E. antiquum approximates the Eocene-Oligocene boundary in Southern Ocean but the last occurrences of many species such as Periphaena decora, D. microcephala and the Lithomelissa sphaerocephalis group are commonly diachronous between high latitude sites. Two new species, Theocyrtis (?) triapenna and Spirocyrtis parvaturris, are described.

Plio-Pleistocene magnetic polarity stratigraphies of ODP Leg 177 Sites from the South Atlantic

Magnetic polarity stratigraphies from ODP Leg 177 'high resolution' sites indicate Brunhes sedimentation rates in the 12-25 cm/kyr range, with a trend of decreasing sedimentation rates with increasing age. Magnetite is the principal remanence-carrying mineral. Downcore alteration of magnetite and authigenic growth of iron sulfides introduces a high coercivity diagenetic remanence carrier (pyrrhotite). The change in pore water sulfate with depth in the sediment tends to be in step with the decrease in magnetization intensity, indicating the link between sulfate reduction and magnetite dissolution. Shipboard pass-through magnetometer data are generally very noisy due to a combination of weak magnetization intensities, drilling-related core deformation, and the influence of authigenic iron sulfides. Post-cruise progressive demagnetization of discrete samples aids the magnetostratigraphic interpretation, as these measurements are less influenced by low magnetization intensities and drilling-related deformation. The magnetostratigraphic interpretations provide much-needed calibration for biostratigraphic events in the high latitude southern oceans. Apart from the ODP Hole 745B (Kerguelen Plateau), published Plio-Pleistocene magnetostratigraphies from ODP sites in the Southern Ocean are poorly constrained. For this reason, we compare interpolated ages of 11 radiolarian events and one diatom event that occur at Hole 745B and Leg 177 sites.

Selected age-diagnostic datums of ODP Site 184-1148

The 853 m thick sediment sequence recovered at ODP Site 1148 provides an unprecedented record of tectonic and paleoceanographic evolution in the South China Sea over the past 33 Ma. Litho-, bio-, and chemo-stratigraphic studies helped identify six periods of changes marking the major steps of the South China Sea geohistory. Rapid deposition with sedimentation rates of 60 m/Ma or more characterized the early Oligocene rifting. Several unconformities from the slumped unit between 457 and 495 mcd together erased about 3 Ma late Oligocene record, providing solid evidence of tectonic transition from rifting/slow spreading to rapid spreading in the South China Sea. Slow sedimentation of ~20-30 m/Ma signifies stable seafloor spreading in the early Miocene. Dissolution may have affected the completeness of Miocene-Pleistocene succession with short-term hiatuses beyond current biostratigraphical resolution. Five major dissolution events, D-1 to D-5, characterize the stepwise development of deep water masses in close association to post-Oligocene South China Sea basin transformation. The concurrence of local and global dissolution events in the Miocene and Pliocene suggests climatic forcing as the main mechanism causing deep water circulation changes concomitantly in world oceans and in marginal seas. A return of high sedimentation rate of 60 m/Ma to the late Pliocene and Pleistocene South China Sea was caused by intensified down-slope transport due to frequent sea level fluctuations and exposure of a large shelf area during sea level low-stands. The six paleoceanographic stages, respectively corresponding to rifting (~33-28.5 Ma), changing spreading southward (28.5-23 Ma), stable spreading to end of spreading (23-15 Ma), post-spreading balance (15-9 Ma), further modification and monsoon influence (9-5 Ma), and glacial prevalence (5-0 Ma), had transformed the South China Sea from a series of deep grabens to a rapidly expanding open gulf and finally to a semi-enclosed marginal sea in the past 33 Ma.

Stable carbon and oxygen isotope record of benthic foraminifera from Paleocene-Eocene sediments

A major change in Cenozoic deep-sea benthic foraminifera occurred in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans near the Paleocene/Eocene boundary. Benthic foraminiferal abundance changes began at about 61.5 Ma at Pacific Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 577. A major extinction event followed at 58-57 Ma (between Zones P6a and P6b), and a series of first appearances continued until circa 55.5 Ma (Zone P6c). These faunal changes occurred during a 6°C warming of Pacific bottom water and may indicate that the primary cause was changing temperature. Other potential causes of the faunal turnover include global changes in surface ocean productivity and changing bottom water source regions. Comparison of benthic and planktonic delta13C records requires no change in the ratio of oceanic phosphorous to carbon during the late Paleocene to early Eocene, which weakens the case for (but does not disprove) a change in surface ocean productivity at this time. Interbasinal comparisons of benthic foraminiferal delta13C records document that water with high delta13C values filled the Cape Basin during the late Paleocene and possibly the early Eocene (circa 61-57 Ma), but apparently did not extend into the western basins of the Atlantic. This pattern suggests a supply of Antarctic source water for the Cape Basin and possible tectonic isolation of the western Atlantic basins during at least part of the late Paleocene. Carbon isotope comparisons show that bottom water supply to the Cape Basin was reduced in the early Eocene. Eolian grain size data suggest that a decrease in zonal wind intensity occurred at the end of the Paleocene. These late Paleocene climatic changes (bottom water warming and decreased wind intensity) correspond with evidence for an important global tectonic reorganization and extensive subaerial volcanism, which may have contributed to climatic warming through increased supply of CO2.

Radiolarian events in the eastern Equatorial Pacific

The development of an orbitally tuned time scale for the ODP leg 138 sites provides biostratigraphers a very high resolution chronostratigraphic framework. With this framework we are better able to define which of the first and last appearances of species appear to be synchronous. In addition, the geographic distribution of sites provides the means with which the detailed spatial patterns of invasion of new species and the extinction of older species can be mapped. These maps not only provide information on the process of evolution, migration, and extinction, they can also be related to water mass distributions and near-surface circulation of the ocean. Of 39 radiolarian events studied at 11 sites in the eastern equatorial Pacific, 28 were found to have a minimum range in their estimated age that exceeded 0.15 m.y. The temporal pattern of first and last appearances of these diachronous events have coherent spatial patterns that indicate shifts in the areas of high oceanographic gradients over the past 10 Ma. These changes in the locations of high gradient regions suggest that the South Equatorial Current (SEC) was north of its present position prior to approximately 7 Ma. There was a southward shift in the northern boundary of this current between approximately 6 and 7 Ma, and the development of a relatively strong gradient between the northeastern and northwestern sites. Between approximately 3.7 and 3.4 Ma, there was a very slight northward shift in the northern boundary of the SEC and the steep gradients between the northeastern and northwestern sites may have disappeared. This change is thought to be associated with the closing of the Isthmus of Panama. The temporal-spatial patterns of diachronous events younger than 3.4 Ma are consistent with patterns of circulation in the modern ocean.

Diatom abundance in middle-to-late Pleistocene sediments of IODP Site 303-U1304

We examined diatom assemblages in a series of remarkable laminated diatomaceous ooze (LDO) horizons in the marine sediments from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site U1304 to reconstruct the middle-to-late Pleistocene paleoceanographic evolution of the northern North Atlantic Ocean. Four confirmed diatom biohorizons combined with calcareous nannofossil and paleomagnetic stratigraphies established the chronological framework for the material. The planktonic, araphid, needle-like species Thalassiothrix longissima was the greatest contributor to the LDO facies. From the results of a principal component analysis using the percent abundances of 65 significant (p = 5%) diatom taxa, except for Tx. longissima, which was extremely dominant in almost all horizons observed, we identified two principal component (PC) axes. Taxa probably associated with the stratigraphic distribution of the major zonal marker Neodenticula seminae (ranging from 1.26 to 0.84 Ma in this ocean) loaded on PC1 with a high value. PC2 was related to the ocean surface temperature. The stratigraphic variability of the PC2 score indicated that switching between warm- and cold-water assemblages occurred concurrently with LDO deposition (or extreme Tx. longissima dominance) episodes in several horizons (particularly after 0.84 Ma), suggesting that the Subarctic Convergence (SAC) oceanic front passed over Site U1304 during Pleistocene glacial/interglacial cycles. Our floral evidence supports the model of nearly monospecific LDO formation caused by the enhanced physical accumulation of particular diatoms such as Tx. longissima. On the other hand, Nd. seminae, which probably contributes to spring phytoplankton blooms in the modern ocean, was present only between 1.26 and 0.84 Ma in this area. Thus, we infer that the main contributor of export flux in the regional annual primary production cycle would have shifted drastically from one of a spring phytoplankton bloom leader (Nd. seminae) to minor but mass dump assemblages (Tx. longissima etc.) in the mid-Pleistocene.

Age model of ODP Hole 107-654A

It has long been speculated that glacio-eustatic sea level drop may have caused or contributed to the isolation and consequent desiccation of the Mediterranean in the late Miocene (the 'Messinian salinity crisis'). Ocean Drilling Program site 654 on the Sardinia margin of the Tyrrhenian Sea is the first deep-sea drill site to penetrate through upper Messinian evaporites into lower Messinian/upper Tortonian open marine sediments, and thus offers a unique opportunity to date the onset of the salinity crisis. A reexamination of the magnetostratigraphic, biostratigraphic, and stable isotope-stratigraphic constraints on the preevaporite sediments of site 654 has yielded two possible ages for the contact between salinity crisis sediments and the underlying normal marine sediments. One magnetostratigraphic interpretation plus the biostratigraphically determined position of the Tortonian/Messinian boundary imply a date of about 6.2 Ma for the youngest presalinity crisis sediments. An alternative magnetostratigraphic interpretation plus the carbon isotope stratigraphy imply a date of about 5.2 Ma. The younger of these dates coincides with a delta18O spike in open ocean sediments [Keigwin, 1987 doi:10.1029/PA002i006p00639], which is attributed to increased ice volume.

Oligocene and lowermost Miocene diatom stratigraphy and datums of ODP Site 199-1220 sediments

Completion of studies on material collected during Ocean Drilling Program Leg 199 at Site 1220 in the equatorial Pacific allows calibration of the ranges of >35 stratigraphically important diatoms to paleomagnetic stratigraphy for the Oligocene and earliest Miocene (~33.5-21.5 Ma). The taxonomy of these taxa is reviewed, and age estimates of their first and last occurrences are compiled. The diatom zonation for the Oligocene and earliest Miocene of the equatorial Pacific is revised and correlated with paleomagnetic stratigraphy. This biostratigraphy is likely to be applicable throughout the low-latitude regions of the world's oceans.

Chronostratigraphy of sediments from the Bahamas

Continuous cores drilled during the Bahamas Drilling Project (BDP) and the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 166 along a transect from the top of Great Bahama Bank to the basin in the Straits of Florida provide a unique data set to test the assumption in seismic stratigraphy that seismic reflections are time lines and, thus, have a chronostratigraphic significance. Seismic reflections that are identified as seismic sequence boundaries (SSBs) were dated by means of biostratigraphy in the five ODP sites and by a combination of biostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy and Sr isotope stratigraphy in the two BDP sites. The seismic reflection horizons are carried across a variety of facies belts from shallow-water carbonates over slope carbonates to drift deposits in the Straits of Florida. Within this system 17 SSBs were identified and dated. Despite the fact that the seismic reflections cross several facies belts, their ages remain remarkably constant. The average offset in all sites is 0.38 Myr. In no cases do the seismic reflections cut across time lines. The age differences are the combined result of the biostratigraphic sampling frequency, the spacing of marker species that required extrapolation of ages, and the resolution of the seismic data. In addition, uncertainties of age determination in the proximal sites where age-diagnostic fauna are rare add to the age differences between sites. Therefore, it can be concluded that the seismic reflections, which mark the SSBs along the Bahamas Transect, are time lines and can be used as stratigraphic markers. This finding implies that depositional surfaces are preferentially imaged by reflected seismic waves and that an impedance contrast exists across these surfaces. Facies successions across the sequence boundaries indicate that the sequence boundaries coincide with the change of deposition from times of high to low sea level. In the carbonate setting of Great Bahama Bank, sea-level changes produce changes in sediment composition, sedimentation rate and diagenesis from the platform top to the basin. The combination of these factors generates differences in sonic velocity and, thus, in impedance that cause the seismic reflection. The impedance contrasts decrease from the proximal to the distal sites, which is reflected in the seismic data by a decrease of the seismic amplitude in the basinal area.

Age model and grain size distribution of the fine fraction of ODP Site 114-704

The physical properties of sediments beneath an upwelling area in the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean (ODP Hole 704A) were investigated. Highly significant correlations characterize the relationship of carbonate content to bulk density (R = 0.85), carbonate content to porosity (R = 0.84), and carbonate content to impedance (R = 0.84). No relationship exists between carbonate content and compressional-wave velocity (R = 0.24), indicating that amplitude variations in impedance are primarily controlled by variations in bulk density, which, in turn, are controlled by climatically driven biogenic opal and carbonate deposition. In general, maxima in impedance correspond to maxima in carbonate content (minima in opal content). The impedance record exhibits its most drastic change at about 2.4 Ma, marking dramatic increases in the average content of biogenic opal and the beginning of large-amplitude fluctuations. Between 0.7 and 0.4 Ma carbonate content, bulk density, and grain density decrease while opal content drastically increases. Similar changes have been observed in sediments beneath an upwelling cell off northwest Africa, indicating an oceanwide enhancement in upwelling or in the calcite corrosiveness of bottom water that appears to be isochronous.

Nannoliths and paleobiogeographic census from DSDP Site 56-435

Calcareous nannofossils were encountered at only one of the sites (435) drilled during DSDP Leg 56. Cores from Hole 435A yield fairly diverse early and late Pliocene assemblages. The section shows considerable reworking, however. Three to five biostratigraphic datum events provide a reasonable biochronology. The datums range from about 3.3 Ma in Core 11 to about 1.8 Ma in Core 3. Paleobiogeographic data indicate relatively stable and warm climatic conditions in this area in the early Pliocene, becoming more unstable in the late Pliocene when the cosmopolitan species become dominant.

Revision of the early-middle Pleistocene calcareous nannofossil biochronology

The extant nannofossil biostratigraphic and biochronologic framework for the early-middle Pleistocene time interval has been tested through the micropaleontological analysis of globally distributed high-quality low- to mid-latitude deep-sea successions. The quantitative temporal distribution patterns of relative abundances of selected taxa were reconstructed in critical intervals, and the following biohorizons were defined: first occurrence of medium-sized Gephyrocapsa spp. (bmG); last occurrence of Calcidiscus macintyrei (tCm); first occurrence of large Gephyrocapsa spp. (blG); last occurrence of large Gephyrocapsa spp. (tlG); first occurrence of Reticulofenestra asanoi (bRa); re-entrance of medium-sized Gephyrocapsa spp. (reemG) and last occurrence of Reticulofenestra asanoi (tRa). The detailed patterns of abundance change at these biohorizons were used to generate a detailed biostratigraphy, and the biostratigraphic data were transformed into a precise biochronology by means of correlation to isotope stratigraphies and astronomical timescales. The degree of isochrony or diachrony of the biohorizons was evaluated. Biohorizons tlG and tRa are isochronous occurring close to marine isotope stages (MIS)55 and MIS 22, respectively, and bmG and blG are slightly diachronous on the order of 30-40 kyr, whereas biohorizons tCm, reemG and bRa are confirmed as diachronous on the order of 100, 80 and 60 kyr, respectively. Some of the events are clearly controlled by environmental conditions, e.g. the last occurrence of R. asanoi, related to significant environmental changes associated with the first large-amplitude glaciation of the late Quaternary, MIS 22.