Bottom Current Flow Research Articles

A detailed look at diapir piercement onto the ocean floor: New evidence from Santos Basin, offshore Brazil

Diapir piercement through the ocean floor marks the final stages of a dynamic migration path. Once exhumed, a diapir extrudes from the seafloor, placing an obstacle for the flow of ocean bottom currents. While the hydrodynamic response of the flow has been previously studied, the detailed depositional and weathering modifications involved in the piercement process are less understood. To bridge this gap, we gathered already available multibeam bathymetric data, multichannel 2D seismic reflection profiles and collected new single-channel CHIRP profiles, Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler data and sediment samples across Santos Basin, offshore Brazil. In this region, the processes connecting the uppermost subsurface with the lowermost section of the water column are unknown. Data show three main stages of diapir exhumation: pre-, syn- and post-piercement into the seafloor. Extensional faults crown the pre-exposed diapir, before its piercement through the seafloor. Ocean bottom currents rework the top of the faults to form elongated depressions. The bottom currents tightly detour the diapir during and after its exposure at the seafloor. This interaction forms a drift and moat contourite depositional pattern. Our high-resolution data allow relating these morphologies to seafloor processes and distinguishing them from other reflector geometries related to diapir flank deformation, such as outward dipping of reflections. We further use this geometrical distinction to suggest a key for interpreting the exposure versus burial history of other diapirs worldwide.

Deglacial changes in flow and frontal structure through the Drake Passage

The oceanic gateways of the Drake Passage and the Agulhas Current are critical locations for the inflow of intermediate-depth water masses to the Atlantic, which contribute to the shallow return flow that balances the export of deep water from the North Atlantic. The thermohaline properties of northward flowing intermediate water are ultimately determined by the inflow of water through oceanic gateways. Here, we focus on the less well-studied “Cold Water Route” through the Drake Passage. We present millennially-resolved bottom current flow speed and sea surface temperature records downstream of the Drake Passage spanning the last 25,000 yr. We find that prior to 15 ka, bottom current flow speeds at sites in the Drake Passage region were dissimilar and there was a marked anti-phasing between sea surface temperatures at sites upstream and downstream of the Drake Passage. After 14 ka, we observe a remarkable convergence of flow speeds coupled with a sea surface temperature phase change at sites upstream and downstream of Drake Passage. We interpret this convergence as evidence for a significant southward shift of the sub-Antarctic Front from a position north of Drake Passage. This southward shift increased the through-flow of water from the Pacific, likely reducing the density of Atlantic Intermediate Water. The timing of the southward shift in the sub-Antarctic Front is synchronous with a major re-invigoration of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, with which, we argue, it may be linked.

A Late Cretaceous mixed (turbidite-contourite) system along the Uruguayan Margin: Sedimentary and palaeoceanographic implications

The Late Cretaceous is a critical period in the evolution of the South Atlantic. Significant changes in the tectonic configuration of continental landmasses and marine basins during this time lead to major shifts in the sedimentary and oceanographic regimes. Using a combination of 2D and 3D seismic data with well data from the Uruguayan Margin, this work provides a new, highly detailed description of the Late Cretaceous sedimentary evolution of the margin and its regional and global palaeoceanographic implications.The Polonio Drift System (PDS), occupies the middle to lower-slope of the Uruguayan Margin. The PDS is characterised by four channel-drifts, which propagate obliquely (120–170°) from the palaeoslope and exhibit over 800m of local relief relative to the surrounding seafloor. Seismic interpretation identified four seismic units (SU.1–SU.4), separated by five major discontinuities (R.1–R.5). These record the onset (Albian–upper Turonian, 113–89.8Ma), growth (Coniacian–upper Maastrichtian, 89.8–66Ma), and burial (Paleocene, 66–56Ma) phases for the PDS. During the onset stage, down-slope processes dominate but, three major shifts in the sedimentary stacking pattern occur. These coincide with palaeoceanographic changes in the South Atlantic during the Cenomanian–Turonian (100.5–89.9Ma), Campanian-Maastrichtian (83.6–66Ma) and Paleocene (66–56Ma), following the opening of the Falkland/Malvinas-Agulhas Seaway (FAS), the subsidence of the Walvis-Ridge and the opening of the Vema channel. Bottom current influence first occurs during the growth stage (Coniacian–Campanian) when mounded deposits shift from aggradational and slightly progradational towards the N (SU.2), to clear lateral migration towards the S (SU.3). This sedimentary pattern indicates a regional palaeoceanographic shift in bottom current flow from northerly, to a subsequent southerly direction. Bottom currents do not appear to have actively eroded sediment, although they apparently had the potential to pirate and entrain fine-grained material from turbidity plumes, which build on underlying bathymetric features such as basement horsts and channel-levees. These produce large mounded morphologies adjacent to channels. Drift growth ceases following the termination of shelf progradation (R.4), enabling sluggish bottom currents contributed to a homogeneous sedimentary drape. Bottom currents intensify in the beginning of the Paleocene, forming contourite depositional systems with well-developed contourite terrace along the middle slope. Further research can elucidate the nature and mechanics of turbidite–contourites interactions along continental margins. This work offers new insights for the implications and consequences of the interaction of turbidites and contourites, which can improve the characterisation of deep-water deposits and understanding palaeoceanographic interpretations.

Seafloor morphology in the Mozambique Channel: evidence for long-term persistent bottom-current flow and deep-reaching eddy activity

The Mozambique Channel plays a key role in the exchange of surface water masses between the Indian and Atlantic Oceans and forms a topographic barrier for meridional deep and bottom water circulation due to its northward shoaling water depths. New high-resolution bathymetry and sub-bottom profiler data show that due to these topographic constraints a peculiar seafloor morphology has evolved, which exhibits a large variety of current-controlled bedforms. The most spectacular bedforms are giant erosional scours in the southwest, where northward spreading Antarctic Bottom Water is topographically blocked to the north and deflected to the east forming furrows, channels and steep sediment waves along its flow path. Farther north, in the water depth range of North Atlantic Deep Water, the seafloor is strongly shaped by deep-reaching eddies. Steep, upslope migrating sediment waves in the west have formed beneath the southward flow of anticyclonic Mozambique Channel eddies (MCEs). Arcuate bedforms in the middle evolved through an interaction of the northward flow of MCEs with crevasse splays from a breach in the western Zambezi Channel levee. Hummocky bedforms in the east result from an interplay of East Madagascar Current eddies with overspill deposits of the crevasse and Zambezi Channel. All bedforms are draped with sediments indicating that the present-day current velocities are not strong enough to erode sediments. Hence, it can be concluded that the seafloor morphology developed during earlier times, when bottom-current velocities were stronger. Assuming a sedimentation rate of 20 m/Ma and a drape of at least 50 m thickness the bedforms may have developed during the Pliocene Epoch or earlier.

Evidence of early bottom water current flow after the Messinian Salinity Crisis in the Gulf of Cadiz

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 339 cored multiple sites in the Gulf of Cadiz in order to study contourite deposition resulting from Mediterranean Outflow water (MOW). One Hole, U1387C, was cored to a depth of 865.85m below seafloor (mbsf) with the goal of recovering the latest Miocene to Pliocene transition in order to evaluate the history of MOW immediately after the end of the Messinian Salinity Crisis. To understand this history, an accurate age model for the succession is needed, but is challenging to construct, because the Miocene–Pliocene boundary is not marked by a clear biostratigraphic event in the Atlantic and coring gaps occur within the recovered stratigraphic record. These limitations are overcome by combining a variety of chronostratigraphic datasets to construct an age-model that fits the currently available age indicators and demonstrates that coring in Hole U1387C did indeed recover the Miocene–Pliocene boundary at about 826mbsf. This boundary is associated with a distinct and abrupt change in depositional environment. During the latest Messinian, hemipelagic sediments exhibiting precession-induced climate variability were deposited. These are overlain by Pliocene sediments deposited at a much higher sedimentation rate, with much higher and more variable XRF core scanning Zr/Al ratios than the underlying sediment, and that show evidence of winnowing, particle sorting and increasing grain size, which we interpret to be related to the increasing flow of MOW. Pliocene sedimentary cyclicity is clearly visible in both the benthic δ18O record and the Zr/Al data and is probably also precessionally controlled. Two contouritic bigradational sandy-beds are revealed above the third sedimentary cycle of the Pliocene. On the basis of these results, we conclude that sedimentation associated with weak Mediterranean–Atlantic exchange, began in the Gulf of Cadiz virtually at or shortly after the Miocene–Pliocene boundary.

Pliocene–Quaternary contourite depositional system along the south-western Adriatic margin: changes in sedimentary stacking pattern and associated bottom currents

The Pliocene–Quaternary history of the south-western Adriatic margin, represented by a complex contourite depositional system, records the palaeoceanography of the basin and the interactions between oceanographic processes and the uneven slope morphology that resulted from tectonic deformation. Three main stages can be recognized: (1) during the Pliocene, a giant sediment drift formed on the southern flank of the slope-transverse Gondola anticline that focused and accelerated the flow of slope-parallel bottom currents; (2) since the early to middle Pleistocene transition, a reorganization of bottom-current pathways led to a sharp change in the sedimentary architecture of the margin that became dominated by the growth of contourite deposits; (3) as of 350 ka, landward-migrating contourites on the outer shelf (less than 120 m water depth) reflect the presence of bottom currents also in shallow waters. This analysis of the sedimentary stacking pattern of the contourite depositional system that developed along the south-western Adriatic margin since the Pliocene enables disentangling the processes that controlled changes in bottom-current activity, demonstrating that bottom-current deposits constitute the bulk of depositional sequences at the Milankovitch timescale.

Deciphering bottom current velocity and paleoclimate signals from contourite deposits in the Gulf of Cádiz during the last 140 kyr: An inorganic geochemical approach

AbstractContourites in the Gulf of Cádiz (GC) preserve a unique archive of Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) variability over the past 5.3 Ma. In our study, we investigate the potential of geochemical data obtained by XRF scanning to decipher bottom current processes and paleoclimatic evolution at two different sites drilled during IODP Expedition 339 through contourites in the northern GC: Site U1387, which is bathed by the upper MOW core, and Site U1389, located more proximal to the Strait of Gibraltar. The lack of major downslope transport during the Pleistocene makes both locations ideally suited for our study. The results indicate that the Zr/Al ratio, representing the relative enrichment of heavy minerals (zircon) over less dense alumnosilicates under fast bottom current flow, is the most useful indicator for a semiquantitative assessment of current velocity. Although most elements are biased by current‐related processes, the bromine (Br) record, representing organic content, preserves the most pristine climate signal rather independent of grain‐size changes. Hence, Br can be used for chronostratigraphy and site‐to‐site correlation in addition to stable isotope stratigraphy. Based on these findings, we reconstructed MOW variability for Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 1–5 using the Zr/Al ratio from Site U1387. The results reveal abrupt, millennial‐scale variations of MOW strength during Greenland Stadials (GS) and Interstadials (GI) with strong MOW during GS and glacial Terminations and a complex behavior during Heinrich Stadials. Millennial‐scale variability persisting during periods of poorly expressed GS/GI cyclicities implies a strong internal oscillation of the Mediterranean/North Atlantic climate system.

Slowdown of Circumpolar Deepwater flow during the Late Neogene: Evidence from a mudwave field at the Argentine continental slope

Geochemical evidence from boreholes suggests enhanced transport of Northern Component Water (NCW) to southern latitudes from about 6 Ma onwards. However, information on how this change in transport influenced the intensity and position of current systems is sparse. Here we use seismic reflection profiles interpreted together with bathymetric data to investigate current derived deposits at the central Argentine Margin. Upslope migrating mudwaves overlying a late Miocene erosional unconformity provide evidence that Circumpolar Deepwater (CDW) flow slowed down with the onset of NCW inflow. During the last ~3 Ma changes in dimensions and migration rates of the waves are small indicating continuous bottom current flow conditions similar to today with only minor variations in flow speed, suggesting that the Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) in the western south Atlantic as observed today, has been a pervasive feature of the global thermohaline circulation system during the Plio-/Pleistocene.

Contourites in the Gulf of Cadiz: a cautionary note on potentially ambiguous indicators of bottom current velocity

Facies associations in cores collected in the deep part of the Gulf of Cadiz, which is under the influence of the lower branch of the Mediterranean Outflow Water, are investigated in terms of the classical contourite model using grain-size analyses and thin sections of indurated sediment. Cores include both low-energy (contourite drift) and high-energy (channel) environments. The thin sections and grain-size distributions show that clayey fine silts and sandy coarse silts are the most common facies associations in the studied contourite sequences, while coarse-grained, gravelly contourites are less common. Grain-size distributions are unimodal in the fine-grained and bi- or trimodal in the coarser-grained contourites. This change in grain-size composition is related both to the partial removal of the fine-grained fraction and to the replenishment of the coarser-grained one. In addition, most of the contacts between individual facies are sharp rather than transitional. This suggests that the contourite sequence is only in part related to changes in bottom current velocity and flow competency, but may also be related to the supply of a coarser terrigeneous particle stock, provided by either increased erosion of indurated mud along the flanks of confined contourite channels (mud clasts), or by increased sediment supply by rivers (quartz grains) and downslope mass transport on the continental shelf and upper slope. The classical contourite facies association may therefore not be solely controlled by current velocity, but may be the product of a variety of depositional histories. The classical contourite depositional sequence should therefore be interpreted with greater care and in the light of the regional sedimentological background. In addition, the wisdom of exclusively using mean or modal particle size for the interpretation of depositional contourite processes is questioned. Instead, it is proposed that the vertical evolution of grain-size populations in the facies successions forming contourite sequences be assessed.

Deep sea records of the continental weathering and erosion response to East Asian monsoon intensification since 14 ka in the South China Sea

We analyzed sediment from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1144 in the northern South China Sea to examine the weathering response of SE Asia to the strengthening of the East Asian Monsoon (EAM) since 14ka. Our high-resolution record highlights the decoupling between continental chemical weathering, physical erosion and summer monsoon intensity. Mass accumulation rates, Ti/Ca, K/Rb, hematite/goethite and 87Sr/86Sr show sharp excursions from 11 to 8ka, peaking at 10ka. Clay minerals show a shorter-lived response with a higher kaolinite/(illite+chlorite) ratio at 10.7–9.5ka. However, not all proxies show a clear response to environmental changes. Magnetic susceptibility rises sharply between 12 and 11ka. Grain-size becomes finer from 14 to 10ka and then coarsens until ~7ka, but is probably controlled by bottom current flow and sealevel. Sr and Nd isotopes show that material is dominantly eroded from Taiwan with a lesser flux from Luzon, while clay mineralogy suggests that the primary sources during the Early Holocene were reworked via the shelf in the Taiwan Strait, rather than directly from Taiwan. Erosion was enhanced during monsoon strengthening and caused reworking of chemically weathered Pleistocene sediment largely from the now flooded Taiwan Strait, which was transgressed by ~8ka, cutting off supply to the deep-water slope. None of the proxies shows an erosional response lasting until ~6ka, when speleothem oxygen isotope records indicate the start of monsoon weakening. Although more weathered sediments were deposited from 11 to 8ka when the monsoon was strong these are reworked and represent more weathering during the last glacial maximum (LGM) when the summer monsoon was weaker but the shelves were exposed.

Deep-Water Bottom Current Research in the Northern South China Sea

This article discusses an effective way to study deep-water current activity with the sedimentary features of seabed sediments. In the paper, we have processed a seismic survey line crossing the Northwest sub-basin of the South China Sea (SCS). In the seismic profile, we can clearly distinguish the contourite sediment waves and find the erosion scope formed by the deep-water bottom current. Combining the analytic result of piston cores sediments in the research area, we can conclude that the deep-water current is the contour current. It enters the SCS through the narrow Bashi Channel and then it flows to the southwest direction along the isobaths of Dongsha uplift and Southern uplift, but there isn't direct evidence to explain that bottom current flows to the direction of the deep-sea basin. The conclusion confirms former speculation about the passage of deep-water current and provides an important foundation to construct the whole structure of deep-water circulation for the SCS.

Enigmatic large-scale furrows of Miocene to Pliocene age from the central North Sea: current-scoured pockmarks?

This work presents seismic-stratigraphic, geometric and basinal descriptions for Middle and Late Miocene to Early Pliocene furrows from a deepwater intracratonic setting, based upon regional three-dimensional (3D) seismic data and supporting well information for the UK central North Sea. A range of erosional cross-sectional geometries, typically 1.5 km in width, display a continuum between V- and U-shapes with amalgamation producing complex geometries. Plan-view geometries show an evolution from circular to elongate teardrop and linked/complex structures, whilst seismic infill facies are planar, onlapping, divergent, transparent/opaque or complex. The circular structures (~1 km wide) resemble gas escape pockmarks, especially those in the Cainozoic of the adjacent Danish sector, whilst the linear furrows exhibit varying degrees of elongation and are often asymmetric in the direction of inferred bottom-current flow. A model is presented of initial pockmark crater formation, followed by bottom-current elongation and subsequent amalgamation of these structures to form furrows often over 25 km long. 3D seismic mapping of furrow asymmetry demonstrates a NW–SE trend in the west of the study area, rotating to SW–NE in the east, which supports the idea that an anticlockwise current system existed in the North Sea basin in the Neogene. Well data reveal that these structures contain a mixture of siltstone and carbonate stringers, associated with acoustic disturbance zones possibly indicative of palaeo-gas chimneys. These findings present an important update to the model governing furrow formational mechanisms in deepwater intracratonic settings with, in particular, an origin linked to down-slope pro-Skagerrak delta processes dismissed. This has implications for the velocity models used by the hydrocarbon industry and our understanding of regional pockmark activity during the Neogene in the central North Sea.

8000 year marine record of climate variability and fjord dynamics from Southern Greenland

Holocene sediment records of glacio-marine environmental and climatic changes from Ikersuaq Fjord and Narsaq Sound in southern Greenland have been studied. The Ikersuaq Fjord record representing the last c. 500 years is dominated by turbidite sedimentation and very high sedimentations rates of up to 1 cm/yr. The adjacent Narsaq Sound site, on the other hand, represents a continuous and more slowly accumulating sedimentation record of the last c. 8000 years. The Narsaq record reveals changes in position and melting rates of glacier termini of the nearby Greenland Ice Sheet from the Holocene Thermal Optimum period terminating at about 5.0 ka to the Neoglaciation period during the late Holocene. From 8.0 ka to 4.8 ka, ice-rafted debris (IRD) influx progressively became reduced, supporting a landward retraction of glacier termini. Neoglaciation of the region appears to have been initiated at about 4.8 ka, with a culmination of IRD rain at about 4.6 ka, 3.6 ka, 2.2 ka, 1.0 ka, 0.7 ka, and 0.5 ka and onward. Some of these IRD events appear to be associated with enhanced melting and glacier instability during warming episodes. However, at the transition to the ‘Little Ice Age’ at about 1450 years AD, a marked increase in IRD influx took place. The bottom water of Narsaq Sound appears to have been dominated by modified Irminger Water (Atlantic) during most of the Holocene. Bottom current flow was quite sluggish before 3.2 ka, whereas the late Holocene period appears to have been characterised by three pronounced episodes of increased bottom current velocity and increased calcareous benthic foraminifera productivity. The long term climate pattern in the Narsaq Sound record follows climate changes consistent with patterns of East Greenland Current variability, which is partly related to dominant North Atlantic Oscillation forcing of wind and ice drift patterns.

Investigations of the bottom current sculpted margin of Hatton Bank, NE Atlantic

The northwest Hatton Bank margin is an ideal locality to demonstrate the interaction between bottom currents and slope configuration in controlling the distribution and morphology of bottom current deposits. The slope area investigated is isolated from any major terrigenous sediment supply and at present is influenced by the Deep Northern Boundary Current (DNBC). Swath bathymetry and high resolution acoustic data allow us to evaluate both local and regional controls on slope sedimentation and the possible mechanisms for bottom-current velocity variability across a slope setting within the NW European continental margin. The slope exhibits sculpting by bottom currents that flow in a predominantly southwest to northeast direction, and is only locally modified by slope failures. Positive relief features such as the Endymion Spur play an important role in constraining and accelerating bottom-current flow and, consequently, in redistributing sediment along the margin. We demonstrate that the size, morphology and distribution of bottom-current deposits along the slope vary as a function of the interaction between bottom currents, regional slope orientation and local seafloor topography.

Internal structure of a contourite drift generated by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current

We describe the internal structure and stratigraphy of a well‐imaged contourite drift from the Southern Ocean. This drift, which we have named the South Falkland Slope Drift, lies on the northern flank of the Falkland Trough due south of the Falkland Islands. Drifts which occur directly in the path of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), downstream of the Drake Passage gateway, are of considerable paleoceanographic significance since their detailed stratigraphic record will help to constrain the history of the ACC. We have reprocessed a grid of seismic reflection profiles generously provided by WesternGeco Ltd. in order to enhance imaging of the South Falkland Slope Drift and of drift deposits within the trough. The resultant high‐quality images enable us to map the internal architecture of these drifts in unprecedented detail. By combining seismic stratigraphic mapping with measured sedimentation rates from nearby boreholes, we have inferred ages of the principal mappable horizons. With minor adjustments to sedimentation rates through time, we can show that these ages correspond to significant Southern Ocean events. We propose that the South Falkland Slope Drift initiated at 24.5–20.5 Ma, in accordance with some, but not all, published estimates of ACC establishment. A highly reflective horizon with an estimated age of 14.5 Ma corresponds to growth of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, which led to a period of significant global cooling. A similarly bright reflective horizon with an estimated age of 9 Ma is thought to be related to a reorganization of bottom current flow which just predated establishment of grounded ice sheets on the Antarctic Peninsular shelf. Finally, a prominent early Pliocene unconformity at 4.5 Ma may be linked with the onset of major Northern Hemisphere glaciation or with Antarctic ice sheet expansion. We conclude that this well‐imaged drift is an important, and largely continuous, stratigraphic record of ACC activity and suggest that it would be an excellent drilling target.

The distribution of scleractinian corals in the Bay of Biscay, NE Atlantic

Studies on the distribution of scleractinian corals in the Bay of Biscay were relatively numerous during the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century. Yet, recent reports are scattered, sometimes unpublished, and therefore knowledge about the current coral occurrence in the area is limited. This study aims at compiling the available historical and more recently collected information on the occurrence of scleractinian corals in the Bay of Biscay. Data from two recent cruises are included and compared with previous explored coral sites from as early as 1830 up to 1995. A database of 347 records including 34 described species of scleractinians highlights that the slope of the Bay of Biscay is an important habitat for scleractinians. This could be expected due to the high topographic relief providing the necessary hard substrate and accelerated bottom current flow that corals require. Further exploration of the occurrence and ecology of corals in the area is recommended to support the conservation of cold-water coral reefs along the European margin.

Mediterranean shelf-edge muddy contourites: examples from the Gela and South Adriatic basins

We present new evidence of shallow-water muddy contourite drifts at two distinct locations in the central Mediterranean characterized by a relatively deep shelf edge (between 170 and 300 m below sea level): the south-eastern Adriatic margin and the north-western Sicily Channel. The growth of these shelf-edge contourite drifts is ascribed to the long-term impact of the Mediterranean themohaline circulation. The Levantine Intermediate Water flows continuously, with annual or inter-annual variations, and affects the shelf edge and the upper slope in both study areas. In addition, the SW Adriatic margin is impinged by the seasonally modulated off-shelf cascading of North Adriatic Dense Water. This water mass has formed ever since the large Adriatic continental shelf was drowned by the post-glacial sea-level rise. It energetically sweeps the entire slope from the shelf edge to the deep basin. These bottom currents flow parallel or oblique to the depth contours, and are laterally constricted along markedly erosional moats aligned parallel to the shelf edge where they increase in flow velocity. The internal geometry and growth patterns of the shelf-edge contourites reflect changes in oceanographic setting affecting the whole Mediterranean Sea. In particular, seismic correlation with published sediment cores documents that these deposits are actively growing and migrating during the present interglacial, implying an enhancement in bottom-water formation during intervals of relative sea-level rise and highstand. Regardless of the specific mechanisms of formation, sediment drifts in both study areas have been affected by widespread thin-skinned mass-wasting events during post-glacial times. Repeated mass-transport processes have affected in particular the downslope flank of the shelf-edge contourite drifts, indicating that these muddy deposits are prone to failure during, or soon after, their deposition.

Paleocurrent directions from paleomagnetic reorientation of magnetic fabrics in deep-sea sediments at the Antarctic Peninsula Pacific margin (ODP Sites 1095, 1101)

We have determined the azimuth of bottom-current flow in drift deposit sediments recovered at ODP Sites 1095 and 1101, Antarctic Peninsula, using paleomagnetic reorientation of anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) ellipsoids. A total of 38 cores from the two ODP sites have been measured, providing spatial and directional information on the physical record of the ACC (Antarctic Circumpolar Current) in the Plio-Pleistocene. Declination and inclination of the paleomagnetic vector of each core segment were used to reorient the AMS principal axes to the geographic coordinates. The cores were reoriented using the measured direction of the characteristic remanent magnetization (ChRM) with respect to a common reference line for the core, from which we are able to determine the orientation of the paleocurrent flow for Sites 1095 (Drift 7) and 1101 (Drift 4) relative to the geographic coordinates. Both sites have paleocurrent directions trending ~ NW–SE, which in the former locality are parallel to a sediment wave field. Our study shows that a combination of magnetic fabric analysis and paleomagnetism allows deep-sea sedimentary fabric to be used as a long-term proxy of bottom-current flow history.

Changes in sedimentation patterns of the Nordic seas region across the mid-Pleistocene

Abstract Sediment core data from a site in the central Nordic seas suggest that during the mid-Pleistocene revolution (MPR) this region has experienced a systematic change in its overall oceanographic and climatic conditions. First distinct changes occur around 1 Ma and reveal the beginning of a shift in climate periodicity from stronger 41-ka cycles towards a dominant 100-ka cyclicity. Most pronounced are the changes at the study region between about 700 and 420 ka, when parallel to the evolution of large 100-ka cycles a distinct decrease in the input of magnetic particles is observed. Also, for this interval an intensification of glacial conditions is indicated by a marked increase in the accumulation rates of ice-rafted debris (IRD) during marine isotope stages 16 and 12. The observed mid-Pleistocene changes were likely due to a gradual shift from a more zonal behavior of the coupled ocean–atmosphere system at high northern latitudes prior to the MPR to more meridionality thereafter, a shift that affected both the patterns of ocean circulation and ice drift in the Nordic seas region. Accordingly, the subsequent MPR-related changes of these two climate parameters should be responsible for the decrease in the concentration of magnetic particles at the study site after 700 ka. With the mid-Pleistocene strengthening of the Nordic heat pump the mode of deep-water production and the flow of bottom currents changed at high northern latitudes, which led to an increased export of magnetic particles from basaltic source regions around Greenland and Iceland into the subpolar North Atlantic. Consequently, less magnetic material was deposited in the Nordic seas than before the MPR when water mass exchange between the Nordic seas and the North Atlantic was more restricted. In addition, the large Late-Pleistocene expansions of glacial ice caps on the eastern margin of the Nordic seas led to a major change in the composition of IRD material in the study area, with more material originating from the Scandinavian and Barents Sea shelf regions, which ultimately caused a dilution of the magnetic signal.

Miocene to Recent contourite drifts development in the northern Weddell Sea (Antarctica)

Multichannel and high-resolution seismic profiles complemented with swath bathymetry show a variety of contourite deposits in the northern Weddell Sea resulting from the interaction between bottom currents and the seafloor physiography. Seven types of contourite drifts are identified based on the seismic signature, reflector configuration and geometry of the depositional bodies. Giant elongated–mounded drifts are widespread in the area and associated with major channelized contour currents that flow at the base of large ridges. Thick basement/tectonic drifts result from the seafloor disruptions of the currents caused by the irregularities of the near-surface basement morphology. Sheeted drifts occur under the main core of the Weddell Gyre and also in areas of the abyssal plain away from the main flows. Various types of drifts in-fill depressions or are plastered against steep bathymetric ridges that intersect contour currents. The regional distribution of the drifts is mainly controlled by the physiography of the basin and the confined or unconfined nature of the bottom-current flows. The northern Weddell Sea is a region dominated by contourite processes and thus provides an area to compare contourite drifts with turbidite systems. The giant elongated–mounded drifts have a net asymmetry of the body, in contrast to turbidite channel–levee complexes that develop levees on each side of an axial turbidite channel. The basement/tectonic drifts prograde parallel to the main flow and are plastered following the irregularities of the basement unlike turbidite deposits. Other drifts, in contrast, show internal reflector characteristics similar to turbidite systems, such as the sheeted drifts. In these cases, however, the associations of turbidite and drift deposits are different. The giant elongate-mounded drifts are stacked along the margins and elongate or transverse drift sequences are observed in the basin centre of confined basins. In the unconfined setting, the drifts are normally asymmetric in relation to the marginal channel moats and sheeted drifts develop laterally from the ridges. In turbidite systems of confined or unconfined settings, generally symmetrical proximal channel–levee complexes evolve downstream to sheetlike basin plain sequences. Five main seismic units separated by regional unconformities are recognized above the oceanic basement. The age of the deposits is based on the magnetic anomalies of the oceanic crust and the overlying seismic sequences. The external geometry and acoustic character of the seismic units indicate strong bottom-current processes, except for the basal deposits attributed to the Early Miocene. The development of extensive drifts in the deposits of Unit 4 (∼Middle Miocene) shows the initial influence of the Weddell Sea Bottom Water (WSBW). The opening of the connection of Jane Basin with the Scotia Sea also is marked by a regional unconformity that records a reorganization of bottom flows. The two uppermost Units 1 and 2 (Late Miocene to Recent) indicate intensified bottom currents, which may reflect the increased production of WSBW. The evolution through time of the contourite deposits and the distribution of regional unconformities reflect the ice sheet dynamics that controlled the production of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW).