High-resolution marine record of sediment core MD99-2343 in the Balearic Sea

Fuente: PANGAEA
Enregistré dans:
Détails bibliographiques
Auteurs principaux: Frigola, Jaime, Moreno, Ana, Cacho, Isabel, Canals, Miquel, Sierro, Francisco Javier, Flores, José-Abel, Grimalt, Joan O
Format: Dataset Open Access
Langue:en
Publié: PANGAEA 2008
Sujets:
Accès en ligne:
Tags: Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
_version_ 1867171361289404416
author Frigola, Jaime
Moreno, Ana
Cacho, Isabel
Canals, Miquel
Sierro, Francisco Javier
Flores, José-Abel
Grimalt, Joan O
author_facet Frigola, Jaime
Moreno, Ana
Cacho, Isabel
Canals, Miquel
Sierro, Francisco Javier
Flores, José-Abel
Grimalt, Joan O
collection Datos científicos de ciencias marinas y ambientales
contents The IMAGES core MD99-2343, recovered from a sediment drift north of the island of Minorca, in the north-western Mediterranean Sea, holds a high-resolution sequence that is perfectly suited to study the oscillations of the overturning system of the Western Mediterranean Deep Water (WMDW). Detailed analysis of grain-size and bulk geochemical composition reveals the sensitivity of this region to climate changes at both orbital and centennial-millennial temporal scales during the last 50 kyr. The dominant orbital pattern in the K/Al record indicates that sediment supply to the basin was controlled by the insolation evolution at 40°N, which forced changes in the fluvial regime, with more efficient sediment transport during insolation maxima. This orbital control also modulated the long-term pattern of the WMDW intensity as illustrated by the silt/clay ratio. However, deep convection was particularly sensitive to climatic changes at shorter time-scales, i.e. to centennial-millennial glacial and Holocene oscillations that are well documented by all the paleocurrent intensity proxies (Si/Al, Ti/Al and silt/clay ratios). Benthic isotopic records (d13C and d18O) show a Dansgaard-Oeschger (D-O) pattern of variability of WMDW properties, which can be associated with changing intensities of the deep currents system. The most prominent reduction on the WMDW overturning was caused by the post-glacial sea level rise. Three main scenarios of WMDW overturning are revealed: a strong mode during D-O Stadials, a weak mode during D-O Interstadials and an intermediate mode during cooling transitions. In addition, D-O Stadials associated with Heinrich events (HEs) have a very distinct signature as the strong mode of circulation, typical for the other D-O Stadials, was never reached during HE due to the surface freshening induced by the inflowing polar waters. Consequently, the WMDW overturning system oscillated around the intermediate mode of circulation during HE. Though surface conditions were more stable during the Holocene, the WMDW overturning cell still reacted synchronously to short-lived events, as shown by increments in the planktonic d18O record, triggering quick reinforcements of the deep water circulation. Overall, these results highlight the sensitivity of the WMDW to rapid climate change which in the recent past were likely induced by oceanographic and atmospheric reorganizations in the North Atlantic region.
format Dataset Open Access
id pangaea_https___doi_org_10_1594_PANGAEA_759537
institution PANGAEA
language en
publishDate 2008
publisher PANGAEA
record_format pangaea
spellingShingle High-resolution marine record of sediment core MD99-2343 in the Balearic Sea
Frigola, Jaime
Moreno, Ana
Cacho, Isabel
Canals, Miquel
Sierro, Francisco Javier
Flores, José-Abel
Grimalt, Joan O
98; CALYPSO; Calypso Corer; IMAGES; IMAGES V; International Marine Global Change Study; Marion Dufresne (1995); MD114; MD99-2343; North Minorca
The IMAGES core MD99-2343, recovered from a sediment drift north of the island of Minorca, in the north-western Mediterranean Sea, holds a high-resolution sequence that is perfectly suited to study the oscillations of the overturning system of the Western Mediterranean Deep Water (WMDW). Detailed analysis of grain-size and bulk geochemical composition reveals the sensitivity of this region to climate changes at both orbital and centennial-millennial temporal scales during the last 50 kyr. The dominant orbital pattern in the K/Al record indicates that sediment supply to the basin was controlled by the insolation evolution at 40°N, which forced changes in the fluvial regime, with more efficient sediment transport during insolation maxima. This orbital control also modulated the long-term pattern of the WMDW intensity as illustrated by the silt/clay ratio. However, deep convection was particularly sensitive to climatic changes at shorter time-scales, i.e. to centennial-millennial glacial and Holocene oscillations that are well documented by all the paleocurrent intensity proxies (Si/Al, Ti/Al and silt/clay ratios). Benthic isotopic records (d13C and d18O) show a Dansgaard-Oeschger (D-O) pattern of variability of WMDW properties, which can be associated with changing intensities of the deep currents system. The most prominent reduction on the WMDW overturning was caused by the post-glacial sea level rise. Three main scenarios of WMDW overturning are revealed: a strong mode during D-O Stadials, a weak mode during D-O Interstadials and an intermediate mode during cooling transitions. In addition, D-O Stadials associated with Heinrich events (HEs) have a very distinct signature as the strong mode of circulation, typical for the other D-O Stadials, was never reached during HE due to the surface freshening induced by the inflowing polar waters. Consequently, the WMDW overturning system oscillated around the intermediate mode of circulation during HE. Though surface conditions were more stable during the Holocene, the WMDW overturning cell still reacted synchronously to short-lived events, as shown by increments in the planktonic d18O record, triggering quick reinforcements of the deep water circulation. Overall, these results highlight the sensitivity of the WMDW to rapid climate change which in the recent past were likely induced by oceanographic and atmospheric reorganizations in the North Atlantic region.
title High-resolution marine record of sediment core MD99-2343 in the Balearic Sea
topic 98; CALYPSO; Calypso Corer; IMAGES; IMAGES V; International Marine Global Change Study; Marion Dufresne (1995); MD114; MD99-2343; North Minorca
url https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.759537