Laurence Vidal

Late Miocene stable isotope stratigraphy of SE Atlantic ODP Site 1085: Relation to Messinian events

Abstract High-resolution benthic oxygen isotope and XRF (Fe and Ca) records from Site 1085 drilled in the Mid-Cape basin (ODP Leg 175) are used to investigate global climate changes during the Late Miocene in relation to Messinian geological events. The cyclic fluctuations of the time series at Site 1085 enable us to establish a reliable chronology for the time interval 7.3–4.7 Ma. Spectral analysis of the δ18O record indicates that the 41-kyr period of orbital obliquity dominates the Late Miocene record. A global climate record was extracted from the oxygen isotopic composition of benthic foraminifera. Both long- and short-term variabilities in the climate record are discussed in terms of sea-level and deep-water temperature changes. The time interval 7.3–6.25 Ma characterized by low-amplitude δ18O variations is followed by a period marked by maximum in the δ18O values (6.25–5.57 Ma). At about 5.56 Ma, a rapid decrease in δ18O values is documented that may reflect a warming of deep-water temperature associated with a global warming period. Comparison between the timing of the oceanic isotope events and the chronology of the Mediterranean Salinity Crisis suggest that global eustatic processes were not essential in the Mediterranean Salinity Crisis history. From our data, we infer that the global warmth documented in the Early/mid-Pliocene probably started during the Late Miocene (at 5.55 Ma). At the same time, the onset of evaporite deposition in the central basin of the Mediterranean Sea took place. Sharp changes in the sedimentation rates, mainly driven by terrigenous input at this site, are observed during the Messinian Stage.

The late Miocene onset of high productivity in the Benguela Current upwelling system as part of a global pattern

Abstract We have examined the history of the elevated primary productivity associated with the Benguela Current upwelling system off southwest Africa using sediments from 7.5 to 4.8 Ma at Ocean Drilling Program Site 1085 in the middle Cape Basin. Sedimentation rates are low until 6.9 Ma. Low accumulation rates of benthic foraminifers and organic carbon indicate that biological productivity was also low. Paleoproductivity dramatically increased at 6.7–6.5 Ma and was highly variable until 4.8 Ma with productivity maxima during cooler periods. The presence of radiolarian opal only between 5.8 and 5.2 Ma suggests an interlude of silica-rich intermediate water in the Cape Basin. The onset of heightened productivity under the Benguela Current is mirrored by similar increases reported between 6.9 and 6.7 Ma in the tropical eastern Pacific, the western and northern Pacific, and the Indian Ocean. The similarity between the patterns at Site 1085 and in the Pacific and Indian Oceans suggests that the dramatic productivity increase off southwest Africa is part of a global response to paleoceanographic changes.

Linking desert evolution and coastal upwelling: Pliocene climate change in Namibia

A late Pliocene high-resolution pollen record from the southeast Atlantic (Ocean Drilling Program Site 1082) registers vegetation development in southwest Africa. The marine record is continuous, ranges from 3.5 to 1.7 Ma, and has a millennial resolution between 2.9 and 1.9 Ma. Changes in climate and vegetation correspond to the Matuyama diatom maximum of the Namibian upwelling system and seem to be highly susceptible to latitudinal shifts in the Polar Front Zone of the Southern Ocean. A northward advance of the polar fronts is connected with an increase in winter rainfall in southwest Africa. Rapid desiccation in Namibia at 2.2 Ma is associated with increasing upwelling and decreasing sea- surface temperatures along the coast.