Short-time-scale variability in ventilation and export productivity during the formation of Mediterranean sapropel S1

Abstract

[1] High-resolution laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) scanning of laminated sediments from the Urania basin is used to investigate short-time-scale variability in export productivity and redox conditions during the formation of eastern Mediterranean sapropel S1. Sedimentary enrichments of molybdenum (Mo), vanadium (V), and uranium (U) reflect deep-water redox conditions, most likely those near to the seawater-brine interface, while enrichment of Ba is related to biogenic barite and hence to export productivity. The enrichments of all four elements show strong variability on multidecadal to multicentennial time scales throughout S1. A partial decoupling of export productivity from redox conditions at the height of sapropel formation suggests that hydrographic changes, i.e., a variable ventilation rate of the eastern Mediterranean, played an important role in determining deep-water redox conditions. A pronounced switch is observed in the enrichments of redox-sensitive trace metals, from dominantly 300–600 year variability during early S1 to dominantly 100–300 year variability during late S1, indicating a change in the mean frequency of variability in the ventilation rate. The presence of a similar shift in the frequency of tropical and extratropical climate records at this time suggests that ventilation of the eastern Mediterranean was coupled to global climate variability.