Quaternary radiolarian biostratigraphy in the subarctic northeastern Pacific (IODP Expedition 341 Site U1417) and synchroneity of bioevents across the North Pacific

Abstract

Abstract. Expedition 341 of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) retrieved sediment cores spanning the time interval between the Pleistocene and Miocene from the southern Gulf of Alaska. Onboard Pleistocene radiolarian biostratigraphy is hereby refined by increasing the sampling resolution. The 178 core samples from the upper 190 m CCSF-B (Composite Core Depth Scale F-B) of Site U1417 contained faunal elements similar to the northwestern Pacific; for example, the three biozones in the northwestern Pacific (i.e., Eucyrtidium matuyamai, Stylatractus universus and Botryostrobus aquilonaris) were also recognized in the Gulf of Alaska, spanning 1.80–1.13 Ma, 1.13–0.45 Ma, and the last 0.45 Myr, respectively. Based on the age model that we used in this study and the shipboard paleomagnetic reversal events, the first occurrences (FOs) of Amphimelissa setosa and Schizodiscus japonicus in the northeastern Pacific were preliminarily determined to be 1.48 and 1.30 Ma, respectively. The last occurrence (LO) of Eucyrtidium matuyamai and the FO of Lychnocanoma sakaii, both well-established bioevents in the northwestern Pacific, were dated at 0.80 and 1.13 Ma, respectively. The LO of E. matuyamai is a synchronous event at 1.05 ± 0.1 Ma in the North Pacific, while the FOs of A. setosa and S. japonicus at 1.48 and 1.30 Ma, respectively, are significantly older than what has been found elsewhere.