_version_ 1867171356156624896
author Weber, Michael E
Wiedicke-Hombach, Michael
Kudrass, Hermann-Rudolph
Erlenkeuser, Helmut
author_facet Weber, Michael E
Wiedicke-Hombach, Michael
Kudrass, Hermann-Rudolph
Erlenkeuser, Helmut
collection Datos científicos de ciencias marinas y ambientales
contents We obtained sediment physical properties and geochemical data from 47 piston and gravity cores located in the Bay of Bengal, to study the complex history of the Late Pleistocene run-off from the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers and its imprint on the Bengal Fan. Grain-size parameters were predicted from core logs of density and velocity to infer sediment transport energy and to distinguish different environments along the 3000-km-long transport path from the delta platform to the lower fan. On the shelf, 27 cores indicate rapidly prograding delta foresets today that contain primarily mud, whereas outer shelf sediment has 25% higher silt contents, indicative of stronger and more stable transport regime, which prevent deposition and expose a Late Pleistocene relic surface. Deposition is currently directed towards the shelf canyon 'Swatch of No Ground', where turbidites are released to the only channel–levee system that is active on the fan during the Holocene. Active growth of the channel–levee system occurred throughout sea-level rise and highstand with a distinct growth phase at the end of the Younger Dryas. Coarse-grained material bypasses the upper fan and upper parts of the middle fan, where particle flow is enhanced as a result of flow-restriction in well-defined channels. Sandier material is deposited mainly as sheet-flow deposits on turbidite-dominated plains at the lower fan. The currently most active part of the fan with 10-40 cm thick turbidites is documented for the central channel including inner levees (e.g., site 40). Site 47 from the lower fan far to the east of the active channel–levee system indicates the end of turbidite sedimentation at 300 ka for that location. That time corresponds to the sea-level lowering during late isotopic stage 9 when sediment supply to the fan increased and led to channel avulsion farther upstream, probably indicating a close relation of climate variability and fan activity. Pelagic deep-sea sites 22 and 28 contain a 630-kyear record of climate response to orbital forcing with dominant 21- and 41-kyear cycles for carbonate and magnetic susceptibility, respectively, pointing to teleconnections of low-latitude monsoonal forcing on the precession band to high-latitude obliquity forcing. Upper slope sites 115, 124, and 126 contain a record of the response to high-frequency climate change in the Dansgaard–Oeschger bands during the last glacial cycle with shared frequencies between 0.75 and 2.5 kyear. Correlation of highs in Bengal Fan physical properties to lows in the d18O record of the GISP2 ice-core suggests that times of greater sediment transport energy in the Bay of Bengal are associated with cooler air temperatures over Greenland. Teleconnections were probably established through moisture and other greenhouse-gas forcing that could have been initiated by instabilities in the methane hydrate reservoir in the oceans.
format Dataset Open Access
id pangaea_https___doi_org_10_1594_PANGAEA_648716
institution PANGAEA
language en
publishDate 2003
publisher PANGAEA
record_format pangaea
spellingShingle Physical properties of 39 sediment cores from the Bengal Fan and northeast Indian Ocean
Weber, Michael E
Wiedicke-Hombach, Michael
Kudrass, Hermann-Rudolph
Erlenkeuser, Helmut
Bay of Bengal; Bengal Fan; BENGAL FAN; Gravity corer (Kiel type); Gulf of Mannar; Indian Ocean; KL; Piston corer (BGR type); SL; SO93/1; SO93/1_01KL; SO93/1_09KL; SO93/1_19KL; SO93/1_24KL; SO93/1_27KL; SO93/1_28KL; SO93/1_29KL; SO93/1_32KL; SO93/1_34KL; SO93/2; SO93/2_36KL; SO93/2_39KL; SO93/2_42KL; SO93/2_45KL; SO93/2_46KL; SO93/2_47KL; SO93/2_49KL; SO93/2_51KL; SO93/2_54KL; SO93/2_56KL; SO93/3; SO93/3_107KL; SO93/3_114SL; SO93/3_126KL; SO93/3_66SL; SO93/3_68SL; SO93/3_69SL; SO93/3_70SL; SO93/3_71SL; SO93/3_77SL; SO93/3_78SL; SO93/3_79SL; SO93/3_80SL; SO93/3_82SL; SO93/3_83KL; SO93/3_84KL; SO93/3_85KL; SO93/3_86KL; SO93/3_87KL; SO93/3_96KL; SO93-63KL; Sonne
We obtained sediment physical properties and geochemical data from 47 piston and gravity cores located in the Bay of Bengal, to study the complex history of the Late Pleistocene run-off from the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers and its imprint on the Bengal Fan. Grain-size parameters were predicted from core logs of density and velocity to infer sediment transport energy and to distinguish different environments along the 3000-km-long transport path from the delta platform to the lower fan. On the shelf, 27 cores indicate rapidly prograding delta foresets today that contain primarily mud, whereas outer shelf sediment has 25% higher silt contents, indicative of stronger and more stable transport regime, which prevent deposition and expose a Late Pleistocene relic surface. Deposition is currently directed towards the shelf canyon 'Swatch of No Ground', where turbidites are released to the only channel–levee system that is active on the fan during the Holocene. Active growth of the channel–levee system occurred throughout sea-level rise and highstand with a distinct growth phase at the end of the Younger Dryas. Coarse-grained material bypasses the upper fan and upper parts of the middle fan, where particle flow is enhanced as a result of flow-restriction in well-defined channels. Sandier material is deposited mainly as sheet-flow deposits on turbidite-dominated plains at the lower fan. The currently most active part of the fan with 10-40 cm thick turbidites is documented for the central channel including inner levees (e.g., site 40). Site 47 from the lower fan far to the east of the active channel–levee system indicates the end of turbidite sedimentation at 300 ka for that location. That time corresponds to the sea-level lowering during late isotopic stage 9 when sediment supply to the fan increased and led to channel avulsion farther upstream, probably indicating a close relation of climate variability and fan activity. Pelagic deep-sea sites 22 and 28 contain a 630-kyear record of climate response to orbital forcing with dominant 21- and 41-kyear cycles for carbonate and magnetic susceptibility, respectively, pointing to teleconnections of low-latitude monsoonal forcing on the precession band to high-latitude obliquity forcing. Upper slope sites 115, 124, and 126 contain a record of the response to high-frequency climate change in the Dansgaard–Oeschger bands during the last glacial cycle with shared frequencies between 0.75 and 2.5 kyear. Correlation of highs in Bengal Fan physical properties to lows in the d18O record of the GISP2 ice-core suggests that times of greater sediment transport energy in the Bay of Bengal are associated with cooler air temperatures over Greenland. Teleconnections were probably established through moisture and other greenhouse-gas forcing that could have been initiated by instabilities in the methane hydrate reservoir in the oceans.
title Physical properties of 39 sediment cores from the Bengal Fan and northeast Indian Ocean
topic Bay of Bengal; Bengal Fan; BENGAL FAN; Gravity corer (Kiel type); Gulf of Mannar; Indian Ocean; KL; Piston corer (BGR type); SL; SO93/1; SO93/1_01KL; SO93/1_09KL; SO93/1_19KL; SO93/1_24KL; SO93/1_27KL; SO93/1_28KL; SO93/1_29KL; SO93/1_32KL; SO93/1_34KL; SO93/2; SO93/2_36KL; SO93/2_39KL; SO93/2_42KL; SO93/2_45KL; SO93/2_46KL; SO93/2_47KL; SO93/2_49KL; SO93/2_51KL; SO93/2_54KL; SO93/2_56KL; SO93/3; SO93/3_107KL; SO93/3_114SL; SO93/3_126KL; SO93/3_66SL; SO93/3_68SL; SO93/3_69SL; SO93/3_70SL; SO93/3_71SL; SO93/3_77SL; SO93/3_78SL; SO93/3_79SL; SO93/3_80SL; SO93/3_82SL; SO93/3_83KL; SO93/3_84KL; SO93/3_85KL; SO93/3_86KL; SO93/3_87KL; SO93/3_96KL; SO93-63KL; Sonne
url https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.648716