Bernhard Diekmann

Geological record and reconstruction of the late Pliocene impact of the Eltanin asteroid in the Southern Ocean.

In 1995, an expedition on board the research vessel FS Polarstern explored the impact site of the Eltanin asteroid in the Southern Ocean, the only known asteroidimpact into a deep ocean basin. Analyses of the geological record of the impact region place the event in the late Pliocene (∼2.15 Myr) and constrain thesize of the asteroid to be >1 km. The explosive force inferred for this event places it at the threshold of impacts believed to have global consequences, and its studyshould therefore provide a baseline for the reconstruction and modelling of similar events, which are common on geological timescales.

Provenance and transport of terrigenous sediment in the south Atlantic Ocean and their relations to glacial and interglacial cycles: Nd and Sr isotopic evidence

Sr and Nd isotopic compositions of Late Quaternary surface sediment and sediment cores from the south Atlantic and southeast Pacific sectors of the Southern Ocean are used to constrain the provenance and transport mechanisms of their terrigenous component. We report isotopic and mineralogical data for core samples from three localities, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 41°S and the northern and southern Scotia Sea. In addition, data for surface sediment samples from the south Atlantic and southeast Pacific sectors of the Southern Ocean are presented. The variations of Sr and Nd isotopic compositions of the bulk sediment samples in all cores were correlated with the magnetic susceptibility of the sediment and with the inferred glacial–interglacial stages. The isotopic data indicate that, during glacial periods, sediment was delivered from continental crust with a shorter residence time than that supplying material during interglacial periods. At the core site near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Nd isotopic, combined with mineralogical evidence indicates interglacial period deposition of a relatively high amount of kaolinite and silt with low ϵNd values −4.5, probably derived from southern South America, was indicated. The glacial–interglacial shift in sources may be due to either a decreasing influence of North Atlantic Deep Water during glacial times or by a larger contribution of glaciogenic detritus from southern South America. At the core site in the northern Scotia Sea, sediment of interglacial periods is dominated by smectite with ϵNd −4. We suggest that smectite was derived from the Falkland shelf and silt was derived from the Argentinian shelf. During glacial periods, the Argentinian shelf was an important source for silt and chlorite with ϵNd > −4. The contribution from the Falkland shelf seems to have remained similar during glacial and interglacial periods. Hydrographic transport by bottom currents and turbidites could account for the high glacial detrital flux. An evaluation of the significance of an aeolian contribution to deep sea sediment suggests that it plays only a minor role. In the southern Scotia Sea, the Antarctic Peninsula is considered an important source for young material with ϵNd > −4, in particular during glacial periods. During interglacial periods, sediment supply from the Antarctic Peninsula was lower than during glacial times, resulting in a relatively high contribution of old material (ϵNd < −8) from East Antarctica. Deep water currents and icebergs could account for the transport of the old component to the southern Scotia Sea. The accumulation rates of material from the various source regions for glacial times are in agreement with an increase in the strength of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The production rate and the circulation pattern of bottom water in the Weddell Sea appear to have remained similar over most of the last 150 kyr.

PROVENANCE AND DISPERSAL OF GLACIAL-MARINE SURFACE SEDIMENTS IN THE WEDDELL SEA AND ADJOINING AREAS, ANTARCTICA : ICE-RAFTING VERSUS CURRENT TRANSPORT

Abstract Mineralogical and granulometric properties of glacial–marine surface sediments of the Weddell Sea and adjoining areas were studied in order to decipher spatial variations of provenance and transport paths of terrigenous detritus from Antarctic sources. The silt fraction shows marked spatial differences in quartz contents. In the sand fractions heavy-mineral assemblages display low mineralogical maturity and are dominated by garnet, green hornblende, and various types of clinopyroxene. Cluster analysis yields distinct heavy-mineral assemblages, which can be attributed to specific source rocks of the Antarctic hinterland. The configuration of modern mineralogical provinces in the near-shore regions reflects the geological variety of the adjacent hinterland. In the distal parts of the study area, sand-sized heavy minerals are good tracers of ice-rafting. Granulometric characteristics and the distribution of heavy-mineral provinces reflect maxima of relative and absolute accumulation of ice-rafted detritus in accordance with major iceberg drift tracks in the course of the Weddell Gyre. Fine-grained and coarse-grained sediment fractions may have different origins. In the central Weddell Sea, coarse ice-rafted detritus basically derives from East Antarctic sources, while the fine-fraction is discharged from weak permanent bottom currents and/or episodic turbidity currents and shows affinities to southern Weddell Sea sources. Winnowing of quartz-rich sediments through intense bottom water formation in the southern Weddell Sea provides muddy suspensions enriched in quartz. The influence of quartz-rich suspensions moving within the Weddell Gyre contour current can be traced as far as the continental slope in the northwestern Weddell Sea. In general, the focusing of mud by currents significantly exceeds the relative and absolute contribution of ice-rafted detritus beyond the shelves of the study area.

Terrigenous sediment supply in the Scotia Sea (Southern Ocean): response to Late Quaternary ice dynamics in Patagonia and on the Antarctic Peninsula

Geochemical and mineralogical compositions of modern and Late Quaternary marine sediments from the Scotia Sea trace sources and transport paths of terrigenous sediment. We discuss downcore variations of compositional data of two sediment cores from the northern and southern Scotia Sea that correlate with fluctuations in magnetic susceptibility. Sediments were derived from very different sources at both localities, as revealed by contrasting clay-mineral assemblages. However, a common feature is the input of more basic and undifferentiated crustal material with the potential of high magnetic susceptibility during glacial periods, indicated by variable quartz/feldspar ratios and major, trace and rare earth elements. Terrigenous sediments mainly originate from nearby terrestrial sources or are introduced through interbasinal sediment transfer from adjacent seas. The observed temporal compositional variations have to be attributed to changes in the relative detrital contributions from the diverse source areas. Ice-mass extensions in southern Patagonia, on the Antarctic Peninsula and adjacent islands likely control the supply of glaciogenic detritus to the open ocean during times of glacial expansion, diluting the sediment input of interbasinal origin. Current transport is mainly responsible for sediment dispersal to the pelagic Scotia Sea and may amplify the glaciological source signals during glacial climate periods, because of a stronger wind forcing of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.

Late Quaternary variability of ocean circulation in the southeastern South Atlantic inferred from the terrigenous sediment record of a drift deposit in the southern Cape Basin (ODP Site 1089)

During Leg 177 of the Ocean Drilling Program, an expanded sequence of Pliocene to Holocene calcareous muds was recovered at Site 1089 on a drift deposit in the southern Cape Basin (SE South Atlantic). The reconstruction of detrital sources and modes of sediment transport gives insight into the operational modes of regional current systems in response to climate variability over the last 590 kyr, as inferred from sedimentological and mineralogical parameters of the terrigenous sediment fraction. Terrigenous sediments mainly originate from African sources with minor contributions from distant southern sources (South America and Antarctica) and are supplied by circumpolar water masses, North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW), and surface currents of the Agulhas Current. Changes in clay mineralogy as tracers of deep and shallow ocean circulation, best displayed by variations in quartz/feldspar ratios and kaolinite/chlorite ratios of clay, reflect both the northward displacement of NADW injection into the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and a weakening of Agulhas Current leakage from the Indian Ocean around South Africa to the South Atlantic during glacial stages, sub-stages, and stadials. Modifications of these regional current patterns are consistent with perturbations in global conveyor circulation and climate variability on Milankovitch and sub-Milankovitch time scales. Elevated mass-accumulation rates of terrigenous matter generally document high particle fluxes and focusing effects by bottom-current action throughout the late Quaternary. Current sorting and coarsening of terrigenous mud, independently of its source signals, prevails during interglacial periods and is linked to a stronger flow of Antarctic Bottom Water and the invigoration of deep contour currents in response to long-term changes (100-kyr cyclicity) in Antarctic ice-sheet dynamics, high-amplitude fluctuations in global sea level, and increased bottom-water formation.

Sedimentary record of the mid-Pleistocene climate transition in the southeastern South Atlantic (ODP Site 1090)

Abstract One important goal of Leg 177 of the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) was to explore the nature of the mid-Pleistocene climate transition (MPT) on the southern hemisphere. A suitable MPT record was encountered at Site 1090 in the southeastern South Atlantic, where a 44-m-thick sequence of Quaternary diatom-bearing foraminiferal muds and oozes was recovered on the Agulhas Ridge. Environmental responses to the MPT comprised changes in terrestrial climate, biological productivity, and regional ocean circulation, as inferred from compositional sediment data and clay mineralogy. A shift towards more arid conditions occurred between 900 and 800 ka in southern Africa. Changes in palaeoceanography already started earlier. Since 1150 ka, northward displacements of the Polar Front appeared during glacial periods and shifted the area of dominant diatom deposition towards Site 1090. Likewise, glacial–interglacial contrasts in regional conveyor circulation strengthened after 1200 ka and became most severe after 650 ka. However, while changes in regional conveyor circulation likely responded in tune with global ice-volume changes and show the onset of 100-kyr cycles after 1200 ka, an unusual 130-kyr pattern characterises the pattern of frontal movements between 1200 ka and 650 ka, probably in response to imperfect adaptation of regional climate to the global 100-kyr climate cycles.

Clay Mineral Fluctuations in Late Quaternary Sediments of the Southeastern South Atlantic: Implications for Past Changes of Deep Water Advection

Downcore clay mineral fluctuations in Late Quaternary sediment cores from the southeastern South Atlantic and adjoining Southern Ocean are of low amplitude. North of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current/Weddell Gyre boundary, small-scale variations, particularly of clay mineral ratios, essentially monitor cyclic changes of deep water advection in response to climatic oscillations.

Distribution of clay minerals and proxies for productivity in surface sediments of the Bellingshausen and Amundsen seas (West Antarctica): Relation to modern environmental conditions

Surface sediments from the Antarctic continental margin in the Bellingshausen and Amundsen seas (Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean) were investigated in order to decipher their capability to record modern environmental conditions. Spatial distribution of terrigenous sand and mud reflect regional differences in current-induced redeposition of glaciogenic debris. Clay mineral assemblages in the shelf sediments are controlled by the supply of terrigenous detritus from source rocks in the adjacent hinterland suggesting the occurrence of yet unknown sedimentary rocks in the hinterland of the Amundsen Sea. Clay mineral distribution on the continental rise in the Bellingshausen Sea points to the continuation of a bottom current from the Antarctic Peninsula rise to at least 94°W. Foraminifer-bearing and opal-poor deposits prevail on the continental margin in the western Bellingshausen Sea and the Amundsen Sea, whereas diatom-bearing and carbonate-free sediments characterize the eastern Bellingshausen Sea. Different modes of biological production, which were deduced from accumulation rates of biogenic barium during Marine Isotope Stage 1 and recent productivity measurements, obviously control the spatial pattern of opal- and carbonate-bearing sediments in the study area.

Terrigenous Sediment Supply in the Polar to Temperate South Atlantic: Land-Ocean Links of Environmental Changes during the Late Quaternary

Terrigenous sediment parameters in modern sea-bottom samples and sediment cores of the South Atlantic are used to infer variations in detrital sources and modes of terrigenous sediment supply in response to environmental changes through the late Quaternary climate cycles. Mass-accumulation rates of terrigenous sediment and fluxes of ice-rafted detritus are discussed in terms of temporal variations in detrital sediment input from land to sea. Grain-size parameters of terrigenous mud document the intensity of bottom-water circulation, whereas clay-mineral assemblages constrain the sources and marine transport routes of suspended fine-grained particulates, controlled by the modes of sediment input and patterns of ocean circulation. The results suggest low-frequency East Antarctic ice dynamics with dominant 100-kyr cycles and high rates of Antarctic Bottom Water formation and iceberg discharge during interglacial times. In contrast, the more subpolar ice masses of the Antarctic Peninsula also respond to short-term climate variability with maximum iceberg discharges during glacial terminations related to the rapid disintegration of advanced ice masses. In the northern Scotia Sea, increased sediment supply from southern South America points to extended ice masses in Patagonia during glacial times. In the southeastern South Atlantic, changes in regional ocean circulation are linked to global thermohaline ocean circulation and are in phase with northern-hemispheric processes of ice build-up and associated formation of North Atlantic Deep Water, which decreased during glacial times and permitted a wider extension of southern-source water masses in the study area.

Late Quaternary changes of western equatorial Atlantic surface circulation and Amazon lowland climate recorded in Ceará Rise deep‐sea sediments

Today the western tropical Atlantic is the most important passage for cross-equatorial transfer of heat in the form of warm surface water flowing from the South into the North Atlantic. Circulation changes north of South America may thus have influenced the global thermohaline circulation system and high northern latitude climate. Here we reconstruct late Quaternary variations of western equatorial Atlantic surface circulation and Amazon lowland climate obtained from a multiproxy sediment record from Ceara Rise. Variations in the illite/smectite ratio suggest drier climatic conditions in the Amazon Basin during glacials relative to interglacials. The 230Thex-normalized fluxes and the 13C/12C record of organic carbon indicate that sea level fluctuations, shelf topography, and changes of the surface circulation pattern controlled variations and amplitude of terrigenous sediment supply to the Ceara Rise. We attribute variations in thermocline depth, reconstructed from vertical planktic foraminiferal oxygen isotope gradients and abundances of the phytoplankton species Florisphaera profunda, to changes in southeast trade wind intensity. Strong trade winds during ice volume maxima are associated with a deep western tropical Atlantic thermocline, strengthening of the North Brazil Current retroflection, and more vigorous eastward flow of surface waters.