Late Miocene to Pleistocene paleoceanographic records from the Feni and Gardar Drifts: Pliocene reduction in abyssal flow

Magnetic fabric analyses from two North Atlantic drift deposits provide proxies for determining relative variations in the strength of abyssal flow over the last 10 my. The data show a cessation of current-controlled sedimentation at the shallower Feni Drift (2417 m) at the time of onset of Northern...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hassold, Noralynn J C, Rea, David K, van der Pluijm, Ben A, Parés, Josep M, Gleason, James D, Ravelo, Ana Christina
Format: Dataset
Language:English
Published: PANGAEA 2006
Subjects:
94-610_Site
94-610A
94-611C
COMPCORE
Composite Core
Deep Sea Drilling Project
DRILL
Drilling/drill rig
DSDP
Glomar Challenger
Leg94
North Atlantic/RIDGE
North Atlantic
Online Access:https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.693977
https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.693977
Description
Summary:Magnetic fabric analyses from two North Atlantic drift deposits provide proxies for determining relative variations in the strength of abyssal flow over the last 10 my. The data show a cessation of current-controlled sedimentation at the shallower Feni Drift (2417 m) at the time of onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciation (2.6 Ma). Drift formation ended nearly 2 my earlier (4.2 Ma) at the deeper Gardar Drift (3220 m), implying stepwise reduction in deep-water flow. Relatively light delta18O values at the deeper Gardar Drift indicate a warmer, thus also more salty, water mass site prior to 6 Ma. We interpret this as representing Mediterranean Sea water, which flowed north at depths greater than that of the Feni Drift Site. The supply of Mediterranean Water to the North Atlantic was shut off as the Gibraltar Straits closed, causing the Messinian salinity crisis, and never returned to that position in the water column after the Mediterranean opened again.

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