Deep Sea Drilling Project Research Articles

Hydrothermal versus active margin sediment supply to the eastern equatorial Pacific over the past 23 million years traced by radiogenic Pb isotopes: Paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic implications

We investigated the evolution of the Pb isotopic composition of bulk sediments on the Cocos Plate in sedimentary successions of Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 495 and Ocean Drilling Program/Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (ODP/IODP) Site 1256 over the past 23million years of depositional history. Our study addresses the relationship of the sediment Pb isotope record to plate tectonics, weathering inputs, and paleoceanography. It is the first effort to characterize the Pb isotopic evolution of eastern equatorial Pacific sedimentation covering the entire tectonic pathway of the Cocos Plate from its formation at the East Pacific Rise to its arrival at the Central American subduction zone. The Sites 495 and 1256 bulk sediment Pb isotope records are fully consistent over time despite distinct differences between the type of sediment deposited at both locations. A systematic and continuous trend from ∼23 to ∼6–4Ma toward more radiogenic Pb isotopic compositions, e.g., 206Pb/204Pb ratios increase from 18.29 to 18.81, reflects a decrease in the contribution of hydrothermal particles from the East Pacific Rise and an increase in the predominantly eolian contribution of mixed weathering products from the continental arcs of the Northern and south Central Andes as well as from southern Mexico. Surprisingly, both the Pb isotopic composition of the detrital fraction and that of past seawater indicate that inputs from nearby Central America and the Galápagos Archipelago did not significantly contribute to the sediments of our core locations but were overwhelmed by other sediment sources. A systematic change to less radiogenic Pb isotope ratios in sediments younger than ∼4–3Ma, reaching present-day 206Pb/204Pb values near 18.70, reflects a reduction of the continental input from the South Central Volcanic Zone of the Andean Arc and increased contributions from southern Mexican igneous complexes. This isotopic trend reversal took place as a consequence of changes in atmospheric circulation, when the studied sites crossed the Intertropical Convergence Zone due to tectonic drift and concurrent climate cooling. Eolian transport has played a major role in the supply of detrital material over the entire Neogene and Quaternary. The delivery of hydrothermal Pb originating from the East Pacific Rise to the easternmost tropical Pacific has been a persistent feature that is attributed to a remarkably stable central and eastern Pacific deep-water flow pattern over millions of years. Thus, deep ocean circulation did not change significantly either (1) as a consequence of an Early Miocene closure of the deep gateway between the Caribbean and eastern Central Pacific or because (2) a Late Miocene to Pliocene closure of the Central American Seaway had no impact at all.

Southeastern Atlantic deep-water evolution during the late-middle Eocene to earliest Oligocene (Ocean Drilling Program Site 1263 and Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 366)

Comparison of new benthic foraminiferal δ18O and δ13C records from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1263 (Walvis Ridge, southeast Atlantic, 2100 m paleodepth) and Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 366 (Sierra Leone Rise, eastern equatorial Atlantic, 2200–2800 m paleodepth) with published data from Atlantic and Southern Ocean sites provides the means to reconstruct the development of deep-water circulation in the southeastern Atlantic from the late-middle Eocene to the earliest Oligocene. Our comparison shows that in the late-middle Eocene (ca. 40 Ma), the South Atlantic was characterized by a homogeneous thermal structure. Thermal differentiation began ca. 38 Ma. By 37.6 Ma, Site 1263 was dominated by Southern Component Water; at the same time, warm saline deep water filled the deeper South Atlantic (recorded at southwest Atlantic ODP Site 699, paleodepth 3400 m, and southeast Atlantic ODP Site 1090, paleodepth 3200 m). The deep-water source to eastern equatorial Site 366 transitioned to Northern Component Water ca. 35.6–35 Ma. Progressive cooling at Site 1263 during the middle to late Eocene and deep-water thermal stratification in the South Atlantic may be attributed at least in part to the gradual deepening and strengthening of the proto–Antarctic Circumpolar Current from the late-middle Eocene to the earliest Oligocene, as the Drake and Tasman gateways opened. Our isotopic comparisons across depth and latitude provide evidence of the development of deep-water circulation similar to modern-day Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.

Major perturbations in the global carbon cycle and photosymbiont-bearing planktic foraminifera during the early Eocene

Abstract. A marked switch in the abundance of the planktic foraminiferal genera Morozovella and Acarinina occurred at low-latitude sites near the start of the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO), a multi-million-year interval when Earth surface temperatures reached their Cenozoic maximum. Stable carbon and oxygen isotope data of bulk sediment are presented from across the EECO at two locations: Possagno in northeast Italy and Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 577 in the northwest Pacific. Relative abundances of planktic foraminifera are presented from these two locations, as well as from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1051 in the northwest Atlantic. All three sections have good stratigraphic markers, and the δ13C records at each section can be correlated amongst each other and to δ13C records at other locations across the globe. These records show that a series of negative carbon isotope excursions (CIEs) occurred before, during and across the EECO, which is defined here as the interval between the J event and the base of Discoaster sublodoensis. Significant though ephemeral modifications in planktic foraminiferal assemblages coincide with some of the short-term CIEs, which were marked by increases in the relative abundance of Acarinina, similar to what happened across established hyperthermal events in Tethyan settings prior to the EECO. Most crucially, a temporal link exists between the onset of the EECO, carbon cycle changes during this time and the decline in Morozovella. Possible causes are manifold and may include temperature effects on photosymbiont-bearing planktic foraminifera and changes in ocean chemistry.

New latitude-based nannofossil zonations for the Campanian–Maastrichtian of the South Atlantic Ocean and their paleoceanographic implications

The global evolution of calcareous nannofossils during the Campanian–Maastrichtian interval is not fully understood, and nannofossil zonations for the central and South Atlantic Ocean are yet to be constructed. Here, we test the applicability of previous calcareous nannofossil zonations developed for other ocean basins, for biostratigraphy in the South Atlantic Ocean, and refine Campanian–Maastrichtian biostratigraphy in the region. We document calcareous nannofossil distributions at Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) and Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) sites from the high, mid and low latitudes in the South Atlantic Ocean (DSDP Sites 354, 356, 511, 525A, and 530A, and ODP Sites 690C; 700B; 661A, and 1258A). Combining nannofossil occurrences with magnetostratigraphic schemes previously constructed for some of the sites, we propose three new zonations tied to the global magnetostratigraphic chrons, with distinct bio-horizons selected at different latitudinal regions. In this study we present detailed definitions of new South Atlantic Ocean Low-latitude (SAL), South Atlantic Mid-latitude (SAM) and South Atlantic High-latitude (SAH) zonations. We identified significant diachronism of some species between latitudes throughout the Campanian and Maastrichtian. These species diachronism, mainly between zonal markers from low and mid latitudes during the late Maastrichtian, was probably related to migration patterns due to fundamental paleoceanographic changes.

Expansion and diversification of high-latitude radiolarian assemblages in the late Eocene linked to a cooling event in the southwest Pacific

Abstract. The long-term cooling trend from middle to late Eocene was punctuated by several large-scale climate perturbations that culminated in a shift to "icehouse" climates at the Eocene–Oligocene transition. We present radiolarian micro-fossil assemblage and foraminiferal oxygen and carbon stable isotope data from Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) sites 277, 280, 281, and 283 and Ocean Drilling Project (ODP) Site 1172 to identify significant oceanographic changes in the southwest Pacific through this climate transition (~ 40–30 Ma). We find that the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum at ~ 40 Ma, which is truncated but identified by a negative shift in foraminiferal δ18O values at Site 277, is associated with a small increase in radiolarian taxa with low-latitude affinities (5 % of total fauna). In the early late Eocene at ~ 37 Ma, a positive oxygen isotope shift at Site 277 is correlated with the Priabonian Oxygen Isotope Maximum (PrOM). Radiolarian abundance, diversity, and preservation increase within this cooling event at Site 277 at the same time as diatom abundance. A negative δ18O excursion above the PrOM is correlated with a late Eocene warming event (~ 36.4 Ma). Radiolarian abundance and diversity decline within this event and taxa with low-latitude affinities reappear. Apart from this short-lived warming event, the PrOM and latest Eocene radiolarian assemblages are characterised by abundant high-latitude taxa. High-latitude taxa are also abundant during the late Eocene and early Oligocene (~ 38–30 Ma) at DSDP sites 280, 281, 283 and 1172 and are associated with very high diatom abundance. We therefore infer a northward expansion of high-latitude radiolarian taxa onto the Campbell Plateau in the latest Eocene. In the early Oligocene there is an overall decrease in radiolarian abundance and diversity at Site 277, and diatoms are scarce. These data indicate that, once the Antarctic Circumpolar Current was established in the early Oligocene (~ 30 Ma), a frontal system similar to present day developed, with nutrient-depleted Subantarctic waters bathing the area around DSDP Site 277, resulting in a more restricted siliceous plankton assemblage.

Comparing the nature of the western and eastern Azores mantle

The Azores islands in the central North-Atlantic originate from a regional melting anomaly, probably created by melting hot, unusually hydrous and geochemically enriched mantle. Here, we present Hf, Pb and Os isotopic data in geochemically well-characterised primitive lavas from the islands Flores and Corvo that are located west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR), as well as submarine samples from a subsided island west of Flores and from Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) holes drilled in the western part of the Azores platform and beyond. These are compared to existing data from the Azores islands east of the MAR. The geodynamic origin of the two islands west of the ridge axis and furthest from the inferred plume centre in the central part of the plateau is enigmatic. The new data constrain the source compositions of the Flores and Corvo lavas and show that the western and eastern Azores mantle is isotopically similar, with the exception of an enriched component found exclusively on eastern São Miguel. Trace element ratios involving high field strength elements (HFSE) are distinctly different in the western islands (e.g. twofold higher Nb/Zr) compared to any of the islands east of the MAR. A similar signature is observed in MAR basalts to the south of the Azores platform and inferred to originate from (auto-) metasomatic enrichment of the sub-ridge mantle (Gale et al., 2011, 2013). In a similar fashion, low degree melts from an enriched source component may metasomatise the ambient plume mantle underneath the western Azores islands. Melting such a modified plume mantle can explain the chemical differences between lavas from the western and eastern Azores islands without the need for additional plume components. Recent re-enrichment and intra melting column modification of the upwelling mantle can cause local to regional scale geochemical differences in mantle-derived melts.

The Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum at DSDP Site 277, Campbell Plateau, southern Pacific Ocean

Abstract. Re-examination of sediment cores from Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 277 on the western margin of the Campbell Plateau (paleolatitude of ~65° S) has identified an intact Paleocene–Eocene (P–E) boundary overlain by a 34 cm thick record of the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) within nannofossil chalk. The upper part of the PETM is truncated, either due to drilling disturbance or a sedimentary hiatus. An intact record of the onset of the PETM is indicated by a gradual decrease in δ13C values over 20 cm, followed by a 14 cm interval in which δ13C is 2 ‰ lighter than uppermost Paleocene values. After accounting for effects of diagenetic alteration, we use δ18O and Mg/Ca values from foraminiferal tests to determine that intermediate and surface waters warmed by ~5–6° at the onset of the PETM prior to the full development of the negative δ13C excursion. After this initial warming, sea temperatures were relatively stable through the PETM but declined abruptly across the horizon that truncates the event at this site. Mg/Ca analysis of foraminiferal tests indicates peak intermediate and surface water temperatures of ~19 and ~32 °C, respectively. These temperatures may be influenced by residual diagenetic factors and changes in ocean circulation, and surface water values may also be biased towards warm-season temperatures.

Introduction to the North Falkland Basin revisited: exploration and appraisal of the Sea Lion Field

The eight papers in this issue of Petroleum Geoscience form a thematic set that describes the recent advances in understanding of the structural development, stratigraphic evolution and sedimentary history of the North Falkland Basin, and the combined impact that they have had on its petroleum geology with a focus on the Sea Lion Field. The set of papers evolved from integrated geoscience carried out by Rockhopper Exploration plc and their contractors following the discovery of the Sea Lion Field and its subsequent appraisal. The geology of the Falkland Islands and surrounding basins has been of interest to geoscientists for a considerable time for both academic and commercial reasons. Fieldwork carried out in the early 1920s (Baker 1924) was subsequently updated by a photo-geological survey supported by the British Antarctic Survey (Greenway 1972). However, it was not until 1996 that the British Geological Survey resurveyed the islands and produced the first modern geological map (Aldiss & Edwards 1999). Despite the complex and interesting onshore geology and fascinating geomorphological features, the islands themselves have no documented onshore hydrocarbon potential. In 1977–78, several thousand kilometres of speculative seismic data were acquired in the shallow waters surrounding the Falkland Islands. These data allowed the identification of several sedimentary basins; a passive margin to the east (the Falkland Plateau or East Falkland Basin), a thrust belt to foreland basin setting to the south (the South Falkland Basin), the Malvinas Basin to the west and, to the north of the islands, an extensive rift basin known as the North Falkland Basin. Several Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) boreholes drilled on the Maurice Ewing Bank proved the presence of a Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous source rock (Barker et al . 1976), and exploration of the Malvinas Basin by Esso in …

Organic matter maturation in the contact aureole of an igneous sill as a tracer of hydrothermal convection

AbstractThe intrusion of magmas can induce hydrothermal convection which in turn enhances the transport of heat and solutes. We use a heat convection model to interpret the temperature evolution documented by organic matter maturation, as recorded by the vitrinite reflectance Rr, in a contact aureole of a 15 m thick basaltic sill in the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) 41–368 hole near Cape Verde Rise, eastern Atlantic. Here there is a pronounced asymmetry of variations of Rr with distance above and below the sill that cannot be explained by heat conduction alone. Neglecting the effects of possible two‐phase flow and thermal pressurization from the production of fluids, convection begins to enhance the observed asymmetry for permeabilities greater than about 1 md, and the observations can be matched with permeabilities of at least several tens of millidarcies.

New magnetobiostratigraphic chronology and paleoceanographic changes across the Oligocene‐Miocene boundary at DSDP Site 516 (Rio Grande Rise, SW Atlantic)

AbstractNew magnetobiostratigraphic data for the late Oligocene through early Miocene at Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Hole 516F provide a significantly revised age model, which permits reevaluation of developments that led to the Mi‐1 glacial event at the Oligocene‐Miocene boundary. Our new high‐resolution paleomagnetic study, which is supported by quantitative calcareous nannofossil and planktonic foraminiferal analyses, significantly refines previous age models for Oligocene‐Miocene sediments from DSDP Hole 516F, with ages that are systematically younger than those previously determined. In some parts of the Oligocene, the discrepancy with previous studies exceeds 450 kyr. Based on this new age model, we infer a progressive increase in sedimentation rate and paleoproductivity between circa 23.9 Ma and circa 22.9 Ma, with the highest rate coinciding with the Mi‐1 glacial event at the Oligocene‐Miocene boundary. This productivity increase would have resulted in higher rates of carbon burial and in turn a drawdown of atmospheric CO2. Immediately afterward, an abrupt decrease in sedimentation rate and paleoproductivity suggests that the Mi‐1 deglaciation was associated with decreased carbon input into the ocean. Elevated sedimentation rates are also documented at ~24.5 Ma, coincident with the Oi2D glacioeustatic event. The presence of volcanic material within the sediments during these glacial events is interpreted to have resulted from redeposition of sediment scoured from nearby sites on the Rio Grande Rise due to transient variations in bottom water flow patterns.

Multiple major faults at the Japan Trench: Chemostratigraphy of the plate boundary at IODP Exp. 343: JFAST

We determine the trace element stratigraphy of Site C0019, drilled during the Japan Fast Trench Drilling Project (JFAST) International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 343, to illuminate the structure of the plate boundary following the Tohoku-Oki earthquake of 2011. The stratigraphic units at the JFAST site are compared to undeformed Western Pacific sediments from two reference sites (Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1149 and Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 436). The trace element fingerprints in these reference sedimentary units can be correlated to individual JFAST samples. At the JFAST site, we find that the accretionary wedge and downgoing plate sediments in the core are composed primarily of Holocene to Eocene sediments. There are several age reversals and gaps within the sequence, consistent with multiple faults in the bottom 15 m of the JFAST core. Our results point to several candidate faults that could have slipped during the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake, in addition to the pelagic clay layer that has been proposed as the main décollement fault.

Is the impact of the Messinian Salinity Crisis in the Black Sea comparable to that of the Mediterranean?

Erosional features have been observed along the Black Sea shelf in wells and on seismic reflection profiles that are broadly similar to the seismic stratigraphic signature of the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) in the Mediterranean. In particular, the intra- (or Middle) Pontian unconformity has been suggested by some as the manifestation of the MSC in the Black Sea Basin. Missing strata and prominent lithological changes associated with the inferred MSC unconformity indicate erosional removal of parts of the underlying Cenozoic deposits in the shelf areas of the entire Black Sea. The magnitude of the relative sea level drop associated with this unconformity has been much debated, and ranges from tens of meters to thousands of meters.The suggestion of a very large (1600 m!) sea level drop in the Black Sea during the MSC is primarily based on the findings of shallow-water clastics and carbonates in Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) wells 380 and 381. However, recently acquired long-offset seismic data clearly show that both of these wells penetrated gravity-driven mega-slumps and mass transport complexes. Therefore the interpreted shallow water MSC units in these deepwater wells do not represent in situ rock formations, but rather allochthonous strata derived from the basin margin.Moreover, compared to the typical seismic expression of the MSC in the Mediterranean, detailed interpretation of 2D/3D seismic data sets in the Bulgarian and Turkish Black Sea revealed considerably more complexity. This marked difference is tentatively attributed to the extent of erosion associated with the MSC in the Black Sea, i.e. the multiple MSC incisions occurred in a submarine setting, not on a subaerially exposed palaeoslope. Therefore the magnitude of the sea level drop and the overall impact of the MSC in the Black Sea appear to be significantly less than in the Mediterranean.

Early Paleogene variations in the calcite compensation depth: new constraints using old borehole sediments from across Ninetyeast Ridge, central Indian Ocean

Abstract. Major variations in global carbon cycling occurred between 62 and 48 Ma, and these very likely related to changes in the total carbon inventory of the ocean-atmosphere system. Based on carbon cycle theory, variations in the mass of the ocean carbon should be reflected in contemporaneous global ocean carbonate accumulation on the seafloor and, thereby, the depth of the calcite compensation depth (CCD). To better constrain the cause and magnitude of these changes, the community needs early Paleogene carbon isotope and carbonate accumulation records from widely separated deep-sea sediment sections, especially including the Indian Ocean. Several CCD reconstructions for this time interval have been generated using scientific drill sites in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans; however, corresponding information from the Indian Ocean has been extremely limited. To assess the depth of the CCD and the potential for renewed scientific drilling of Paleogene sequences in the Indian Ocean, we examine lithologic, nannofossil, carbon isotope, and carbonate content records for late Paleocene – early Eocene sediments recovered at three sites spanning Ninetyeast Ridge: Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Sites 213 (deep, east), 214 (shallow, central), and 215 (deep, west). The disturbed, discontinuous sediment sections are not ideal, because they were recovered in single holes using rotary coring methods, but remain the best Paleogene sediments available from the central Indian Ocean. The δ13C records at Sites 213 and 215 are similar to those generated at several locations in the Atlantic and Pacific, including the prominent high in δ13C across the Paleocene carbon isotope maximum (PCIM) at Site 215, and the prominent low in δ13C across the early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO) at both Site 213 and Site 215. The Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) and the K/X event are found at Site 213 but not at Site 215, presumably because of coring gaps. Carbonate content at both Sites 213 and 215 drops to <5% shortly after the first occurrence of Discoaster lodoensis and the early Eocene rise in δ13C (~52 Ma). This reflects a rapid shoaling of the CCD, and likely a major decrease in the net flux of 13C-depleted carbon to the ocean. Our results support ideas that major changes in net fluxes of organic carbon to and from the exogenic carbon cycle occurred during the early Paleogene. Moreover, we conclude that excellent early Paleogene carbonate accumulation records might be recovered from the central Indian Ocean with future scientific drilling.

Pelagic smectite as an important factor in tsunamigenic slip along the Japan Trench

The very large slip on the shallow portion of the subduction interface during the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake (M w 9.0) caused a huge tsunami along the northeast coast of Honshu, Japan. In order to elucidate the mechanics of such tsunamigenic slip, the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 343 (Japan Trench Fast Drilling Project, JFAST), was carried out one year after the earthquake and succeeded in recovering rocks constituting the active plate boundary fault. Our mineralogical analyses using X-ray diffraction reveal that the shallow portion of the fault zone that caused the earthquake is significantly enriched in smectite compared to the surrounding sediments, which may be intimately linked to the tsunamigenic shallow faulting. For comparison, we also analyzed mineralogical features of incoming sediments just prior to subduction, recovered on the outer rise of the Japan Trench (Site 436, Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 56), and found a characteristic smectite-rich horizon in the uppermost ∼5 m of the pelagic clay layer. This horizon should be mechanically weak and will become the future plate boundary fault, as observed in the JFAST cores. The smectite-rich deposits are broadly distributed in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, and may therefore potentially enhance conditions for large shallow slip during earthquakes that occur over a broad area of the Japan Trench plate boundary, which would result in large tsunamis for this region.

Temporal and spatial variations in provenance of Eastern Mediterranean Sea sediments: Implications for Aegean and Aeolian arc volcanism

The Eastern Mediterranean Sea (EMS) is the last remnant of the Tethys Ocean that has been subducted to the north since the Jurassic. Subduction has led to the formation of multiple island arcs in the EMS region where the Aeolian and Aegean arcs are currently active. The EMS is surrounded by continents and receives a large sediment input, part of which is transported down with the subducting slab into the mantle and potentially contributes a major flux to the arc volcanism. An along-arc gradient in the composition of subducting sediment has been evoked to explain the distinct geochemical signature of the easternmost volcanic centre of the Aegean arc, but direct evidence for this proposal is lacking. We present a detailed study of the mineralogical, major-, trace elements and Sr–Nd–Hf–Pb isotope composition of 45 Neogene EMS sediment samples obtained from Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) and Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) drill sites and box cores to characterise their geochemical composition, distinguish provenance components and investigate the temporal and spatial variation in provenance to evaluate the potential changing contribution of subducted EMS sediment to Aegean and Aeolian arc volcanism.Based on trace element characteristics of EMS sediments, we can distinguish four provenance components. Nile sediment and Sahara dust are the main components, but contributions from the Tethyan ophiolite belt and arc volcanic rocks in the north are also recognised. Pliocene and Quaternary EMS sediment records a strong geochemical gradient where Nile River sediment entering the EMS in the east is progressively diluted by Sahara Desert dust towards the west. Pre-Messinian samples, however, have a remarkably homogeneous composition with Nile sediment characteristics. We relate this rapid increase in Sahara dust contribution to a late Miocene climate shift leading to decreased Nile runoff and aridification of the Sahara region. EMS sediment has a restricted range in Pb isotopes compared to Aegean volcanic rocks and therefore cannot account for the total variation in Aegean arc lavas. The bulk addition of 0.5–5% of EMS sediment satisfactorily explains most of the variation in volcanic rocks from the western and central centres, but the low 207Pb/204Pb and 206Pb/204Pb seen in the eastern volcanic centre Nisyros requires a distinct mantle source. In the Aeolian arc, a subducted EMS sediment input can only be detected in Stromboli volcanic rocks.

Late Cretaceous-Early Paleogene (Turonian? to early Danian) planktic foraminifera from DSDP site 356: a biostratigraphic reappraisal

Biostratigraphic results obtained with a systematic study of the planktic foraminiferal assemblages recovered from Upper Cretaceous-Lower Paleogene strata (Turonian? to early Danian in age) of Deep Sea Drilling Program (DSDP) Site 356, Sao Paulo Plateau, are presented and discussed herein. Fifty-nine planktic foraminiferal species were identifi ed within the studied interval, enabling the identifi cation of 11 planktic foraminiferal zones (Turonian? to early Danian in age): Marginotruncana schneegansi, Dicarinella concavata, Dicarinella asymetrica, Globotruncanita elevata, Contusotruncana plummerae, Radotruncana calcarata, Globotruncanella havanensis, Pseudoguembelina palpebra, Abathomphalus mayaroensis, Pseudoguembelina hariaensis and Pα. An unconformity spanning at least 0.96 Ma could also be suggested within core 31 (Maastrichtian in age), due to the absence of the Racemiguembelina fructicosa Interval Zone from the studied section. High sedimentation rates were estimated within the Santonian (Dicarinella asymentrica Total-range Zone) and the uppermost Maastrichtian (Pseudoguembelina hariaensis Interval Zone) of DSDP site 356, while lower and more constant values were suggested for the Campanian-lower Maastrichtian interval (Globotruncanita elevata Partial-range Zone to Pseudoguembelina palpebra Interval Zone). The reliability in identifying the Contusotruncana plummerae Interval Zone (Campanian in age) in Cretaceous sections of the South Atlantic Ocean is confi rmed herein.

Environmental conditions in the South Atlantic (Angola Basin) during the Early Cretaceous

The South Atlantic has experienced periods of intense anoxia and black shale deposition that form an important hydrocarbon source. Here we have investigated the depositional environment during the initial opening phase of the South Atlantic during the Early Cretaceous. The period is crucial as it is characterized by extensive source rock deposition and because it sets the stage for subsequent periods of anoxia within the northern sub-basin of the South Atlantic. Within an Aptian sequence of organic-rich sediments (up to 40% total organic carbon, TOC) from Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 364, we found a distinct biomarker distribution, including the presence of isorenieratane and an array of thiophenic (S-containing) compounds. Our results indicate that, during the time of deposition, corresponding to the initial phase of opening of the South Atlantic, most of the water column in the Angola Basin was hypersaline (>40‰) and euxinic, with euxinia episodically reaching the photic zone. The low relative abundance of marine biomarkers in the samples suggests that these extreme conditions were unfavourable for typical marine organisms. Stratigraphically up-section, the biomarker distribution changed as the TOC content gradually decreased (< 20wt.%), isorenieratane and thiophenic compounds became less abundant and marine biomarkers became more abundant. We interpret the results to reflect a shift towards more open marine conditions, with less extensive euxinia/anoxia and normal marine salinity as the opening of the South Atlantic continued and the basin became less restricted. Our results demonstrate that the opening of the South Atlantic was the dominant control on the deposition of organic rich shales in the Angola Basin during the Aptian, highlighting the control of local basin geography on the depositional environment and formation of organic rich black shales during the Early Cretaceous.

Biosphere frontiers of subsurface life in the sedimented hydrothermal system of Guaymas Basin.

Temperature is one of the key constraints on the spatial extent, physiological and phylogenetic diversity, and biogeochemical function of subsurface life. A model system to explore these interrelationships should offer a suitable range of geochemical regimes, carbon substrates and temperature gradients under which microbial life can generate energy and sustain itself. In this theory and hypothesis article, we make the case for the hydrothermally heated sediments of Guaymas Basin in the Gulf of California as a suitable model system where extensive temperature and geochemical gradients create distinct niches for active microbial populations in the hydrothermally influenced sedimentary subsurface that in turn intercept and process hydrothermally generated carbon sources. We synthesize the evidence for high-temperature microbial methane cycling and sulfate reduction at Guaymas Basin – with an eye on sulfate-dependent oxidation of abundant alkanes – and demonstrate the energetic feasibility of these latter types of deep subsurface life in previously drilled Guaymas Basin locations of Deep-Sea Drilling Project 64.

Palynological evidence for a southward shift of the North Atlantic Current at ~2.6 Ma during the intensification of late Cenozoic Northern Hemisphere glaciation

The position of the North Atlantic Current (NAC) during the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation (iNHG) has been evaluated using dinoflagellate cyst assemblages and foraminiferal geochemistry from a ~260 kyr interval straddling the base of the Quaternary System from two sites: eastern North Atlantic Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 610 in the path of the present NAC and central North Atlantic Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Site U1313 in the subtropical gyre. Stable isotope and foraminiferal Mg/Ca analyses confirm cooling near the marine isotope stage (MIS) G7–G6 transition (2.74 Ma). However, a continued dominance of the dinoflagellate cyst Operculodinium centrocarpum sensu Wall and Dale (1966) indicates an active NAC in the eastern North Atlantic for a further 140 kyr. At MIS 104 (~2.60 Ma), a profound dinoflagellate cyst assemblage turnover indicates NAC shutdown in the eastern North Atlantic, implying elevated atmospheric pressure over the Arctic and a resulting shift in the westerlies that would have driven the NAC. These findings challenge recent suggestions that there was no significant southward shift of the NAC or the Arctic Front during iNHG, and reveal a fundamental climatic reorganization near the base of the Quaternary.

Low-latitude climate variability in the Heinrich frequency band of the Late Cretaceous greenhouse world

Abstract. Deep marine successions of early Campanian age from DSDP (Deep Sea Drilling Project) site 516F drilled at low paleolatitudes in the South Atlantic reveal distinct sub-Milankovitch variability in addition to precession, obliquity and eccentricity-related variations. Elemental abundance ratios point to a similar climatic origin for these variations and exclude a quadripartite structure as an explanation for the inferred semi-precession cyclicity in the magnetic susceptibility (MS) signal as observed in the Mediterranean Neogene for precession-related cycles. However, semi-precession cycles as suggested by previous work are likely an artifact reflecting the first harmonic of the precession signal. The sub-Milankovitch variability, especially in MS, is best approximated by a ~7 kyr cycle as shown by spectral analysis and bandpass filtering. The presence of sub-Milankovitch cycles with a period similar to that of Heinrich events of the last glacial cycle is consistent with linking the latter to low-latitude climate change caused by a non-linear response to precession-induced variations in insolation between the tropics.