Technical note: Late Pliocene age control and composite depths at ODP Site 982, revisited

• Published in: Climate of the Past
• Main Authors: N. Khélifi, M. Sarnthein, B. D. A. Naafs
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2012
• Subjects: Environmental pollution; TD172-193.5; Environmental protection; TD169-171.8; Environmental sciences; GE1-350; Rockall Plateau; North Atlantic; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-8-79-2012; https://doaj.org/article/090ae29f44b14c1b9bf613b787e93674

Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 982 provided a key sediment section at Rockall Plateau for reconstructing northeast Atlantic paleoceanography and monitoring benthic δ 18 O stratigraphy over the late Pliocene to Quaternary onset of major Northern Hemisphere glaciation. A renewed hole-specific inspection of magnetostratigraphic reversals and the addition of epibenthic δ 18 O records for short Pliocene sections in holes 982A, B, and C, crossing core breaks in the δ 18 O record published for Hole 982B, now imply a major revision of composite core depths. After tuning to the orbitally tuned reference record LR04, the new composite δ 18 O record results in a hiatus, where the Kaena magnetic subchron might have been lost, and in a significant age reduction for all proxy records by 130 to 20 ky over the time span 3.2–2.7 million years ago (Ma). Our study demonstrates the general significance of reliable composite-depth scales and δ 18 O stratigraphies in ODP sediment records for generating ocean-wide correlations in paleoceanography. The new concept of age control makes the late Pliocene trends in SST (sea surface temperature) and atmospheric p CO 2 at Site 982 more consistent with various paleoclimate trends published from elsewhere in the North Atlantic.