Geochemistry of Aegean Sea sediments: implications for surface- and bottom-water conditions during sapropel deposition since MIS 5

Geochemistry of Aegean Sea sediments: implications for surface- and bottom-water conditions during sapropel deposition since MIS 5

Piston cores collected from the Aegean Sea provide a record of sapropel sequence S1, S3 S5. Primary productivity calculations using the equations of Müller and Suess suggest surface paleoproductivities ranged from 180 to 995 g C m 2 year 1 for sapropels and from 40 to 180 g C m 2 year 1 for nonsapropel sediments with corresponding total organic carbon values of 9% 12% and 1% 3%, respectively. The higher paleoproductivities exceed those in the most fertile modern upwelling zones, so are probably overestimated. Instead, enhanced preservation, particularly for S4 and S5, likely resulted from poor bottom-water ventilation beneath a salinity-stratified water column. If the preservation factor in the equations of Howell and Thunell is increased to account for such conditions, more realistic paleoproductivity estimates ensue. The interpreted presence of a deep chlorophyll maximum layer for S3 S5 within the lower part of the photic zone may account for high marine organic carbon and increased export production. A deep chlorophyll maximum layer is not advocated for S1 because of the presence of N. pachyderma (d) immediately below S1. The organic geochemical data show that both marine and terrestrial organic matter contributed equally to sapropels S3, S4, and S5.Sapropels S3 S5 were deposited under normal marine conditions with very limited and temporary establishment of near-euxinic bottom-water conditions. Highly depleted and somewhat uniform δ34S values together with the absence of fully euxinic conditions during sapropel intervals suggest that bacterially mediated sulfate reduction took place consistently below the sediment-water interface. It is believed that climbing levels of primary productivity triggered the onset of sapropel deposition, but that other contemporaneous factors extended and enhanced the conditions necessary for sapropel deposition, including increased nutrient supply from riverine inflow, water column stratification and reduced oxygenation of bottom waters, and buffering of low bottom-water oxygen levels by accumulating terrestrial organic carbon.

___

  • Abu-Zied RH, Rohling EJ, Jorissen FJ, Fontanier C, Casford JSL, Cooke S (2008). Benthic foraminiferal response to changes in bottom-water oxygenation and organic carbon flux in the eastern Mediterranean during LGM to Recent times. Mar Micropaleontol 67: 46–68.
  • Aksu AE, Jenner G, Hiscott RN, İşler EB (2008). Occurrence, stratigraphy and geochemistry of Late Quaternary tephra layers in the Aegean Sea and the Marmara Sea. Mar Geol 252: 174–192.
  • Aksu AE, Yaşar D, Mudie PJ (1995a). Paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic conditions leading to development of sapropel layer S1 in the Aegean Sea. Palaeogeogr Palaeocl 116: 71–101.
  • Aksu AE, Yaşar D, Mudie PJ, Gillespie H (1995b). Late glacial–Holocene paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic evolution of the Aegean Sea: micropaleontolological and stable isotopic evidence. Mar Micropaleontol 25: 1–28.
  • Berner RA (1984). Sedimentary pyrite formation: an update. Geochim Cosmochim Ac 48: 605–615.
  • Berner RA (1989). Biogeochemical cycles of carbon and sulfur and their effect on atmospheric oxygen over Phanerozoic time. Global Planet Change 75: 97–122.
  • Berner RA, Raiswell R (1983). Burial of organic carbon and pyrite sulfur in sediments over Phanerozoic time: a new theory. Geochim Cosmochim Ac 47: 55–62.
  • Berner RA, Raiswell R (1984). C/S method for distinguishing freshwater from marine sedimentary rocks. Geology 12: 65–68.Calvert SE (1983). Geochemistry of Pleistocene sapropels and associated sediments from the eastern Mediterranean. Oceanol Acta 6: 255–267.
  • Calvert SE, Nielsen B, Fontugne MR (1992). Evidence from nitrogen isotope ratios for enhanced productivity during formation of eastern Mediterranean sapropels. Nature 359: 223–225.
  • Casford JSL, Abu Zied R, Rohling EJ, Cooke S, Fontanier C, Leng M, Millard A, Thomson J (2007). A stratigraphically controlled multiproxy chronostratigraphy for the eastern Mediterranean. Paleoceanography 22: PA4215.
  • Casford JSL, Rohling EJ, Abu Zied RH, Cooke S, Fontanier C, Leng M, Lykousis V (2002). Circulation changes and nutrient concentrations in the late Quaternary Aegean Sea: a nonsteady state concept for sapropel formation. Paleoceanography 17: 1024.
  • Chanton JP, Martens CS, Goldhaber MB (1987). Biogeochemical cycling in an organic-rich coastal marine basin. 7. Sulfur mass balance, oxygen uptake and sulfide retention. Geochim Cosmochim Ac 51: 1187–1199.
  • Cita MB, Grignani D (1982). Nature and origin of Late Neogene Mediterranean sapropels. In: Schlanger SO,
  • Cita MB, editors. Nature and Origin of Cretaceous Carbon-Rich Facies. London, UK: Academic Press, pp. 165–196.
  • Cita MB, Podenzani M (1980). Destructive effects of oxygen starvation and ash fall on benthic life: a pilot study. Quataternary Res 13: 230–241.
  • Cramp A, O’Sullivan G (1999). Neogene sapropels in the Mediterranean: a review. Mar Geol 153: 11–28.
  • Deines P (1980). The isotopic composition of reduced organic carbon. In: Fritz P, Fontes JC, editors. Handbook of Environmental Isotope Geochemistry: The Terrestrial Environment, A. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Elsevier, pp. 329–406.
  • de Lange GJ, Middelburg JJ, van der Weijden CH, Catalano G, Luther GW 3rd, Hydes DJ, Woittiez JRW, Klinkhammer GP (1990). Composition of anoxic hypersaline brines in the Tyro and Bannock Basin, eastern Mediterranean. Mar Chem 31: 63–88.Demaison GJ, Moore GT (1980). Anoxic environments and oil source bed genesis. AAPG Bulletin 64: 1179–1209.
  • de Rijk S, Hayes A, Rohling EJ (1999). Eastern Mediterranean sapropel S1 interruption: an expression of the onset of paleoceanographic conditions leading to development of climatic deterioration around 7 ka BP. Mar Geol 153: 337–343.
  • Emeis KC, Sakamoto T, Wehausen R, Brumsack HJ (2000). The sapropel record of the eastern Mediterranean Sea - results of Ocean Drilling Program Leg 160. Palaeogeogr Palaeoecol 158: 371–395.
  • Emeis KC, Schulz H, Struck U, Rossignol-Strick M, Erlenkeuser H, Howell MW, Kroon D, Mackensen A, Ishizuka S, Oba T et al. (2003). Eastern Mediterranean surface water temperatures and δ18O composition during deposition of sapropels in the late Quaternary. Paleoceanography 18: 1005.
  • Fontugne MR, Calvert SE (1992). Late Pleistocene variability of the carbon isotopic composition of organic matter in the eastern Mediterranean: monitor of changes in carbon sources and atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Paleoceanography 7: 1–20.
  • Fossing H, Jørgensen BB (1990). Oxidation and reduction of radiolabeled inorganic sulfur compounds in an estuarine sediment, Kysing Fjord, Denmark. Geochim Cosmochim Ac 54: 2731–2742.
  • Gogou A, Bouloubassi I, Lykousis V, Arnaboldi M, Gaitani P, Meyers PA (2007). Organic geochemical evidence of Late Glacial-Holocene climate instability in the North Aegean Sea. Palaeogeogr Palaeoecol 256: 1–20.
  • Grant KM, Rohling EJ, Bar-Matthews M, Ayalon A, Medina-Elizalde M, Bronk Ramsey C, Satow C, Roberts AP (2012). Rapid coupling between ice volume and polar temperature over the past 150,000 years. Nature 491: 744–747.
  • Grelaud M, Marino G, Ziveri P, Rohling EJ (2012). Abrupt shoaling of the nutricline in response to massive freshwater flooding at the onset of the last interglacial sapropel event. Paleoceanography 27: PA3208.
  • Herman Y (1981). Paleoclimatic and paleohydrologic record of Mediterranean deep-sea cores based on pteropods, planktonic and benthic foraminifera. Rev Esp Micropaleontol 8: 171–200.
  • Hiscott RN, Aksu AE, Mudie PJ, Marret F, Abrajano T, Kaminski MA, Evans J, Çakıroğlu AI, Yaşar D (2007). Gradual drowning of the southwestern Black Sea shelf: evidence for a progressive rather than abrupt Holocene reconnection with the eastern Mediterranean Sea through the Marmara Sea Gateway. Quatern Int 167–168: 19–34.
  • Howell MW, Thunell RC (1992). Organic carbon accumulation in Bannock Basin: evaluating the role of productivity in the formation of eastern Mediterranean sapropels. Mar Geol 103: 461−471.
  • İşler EB, Hiscott RN, Aksu AE (2016). Late Quaternary chronostratigraphy of the Aegean Sea sediments with special reference to the ages of sapropels S1–S5. Turkish J Earth Sci 25: 1−18.
  • Jørgensen BB (1978). A comparison of methods for the quantification of bacterial sulfate reduction in coastal marine sediments. I: Measurements with radiotracer techniques. Geomicrobiol J 1: 11–27.
  • Kotthoff U, Pross J, Muller UC, Peyrono O, Schmiedl G, Schulz H, Bordon A (2008). Climate dynamics in the borderlands of the Aegean Sea during formation of sapropel S1 deduced from a marine pollen record. Quaternary Sci Rev 27: 832–845.
  • Kouli K, Gogou A, Bouloubassi I, Triantaphyllou MV, Ioakim C, Katsouras G, Roussakis G, Lykousis V (2012). Late postglacial paleoenvironmental change in the northeastern Mediterranean region: combined palynological and molecular biomarker evidence. Quatern Int 261: 118–127.
  • Leventhal JS (1995). Carbon-sulfur plots to show diagenetic and epigenetic sulfidation in sediments. Geochim Cosmochim Ac 59: 1207–1211.
  • Lin S, Morse JW (1991). Sulfate reduction and iron sulfide mineral formation in Gulf of Mexico anoxic sediments. Am J Sci 291: 55–89.
  • Lisiecki LE, Raymo ME (2005). A Pliocene-Pleistocene stack of 57 globally distributed benthic δ18O records. Paleoceanography 20: PA1003.
  • Löwemark L, Lin Y, Chen HF, Yang TN, Beier C, Werner F, Lee CY, Song SR, Kao SJ (2006). Sapropel burn-down and ichnological response to late Quaternary sapropel formation in two ∼400 ky records from the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Palaeogeogr Palaeoecol 239: 406–425.
  • Lykousis V (2002). Circulation changes and nutrient concentrations in the late Quaternary Aegean Sea: a non-steady state concept for sapropel formation. Paleoceanography 17: 1024–1034.
  • McCorkle DC, Keigwin LD, Corliss BH, Emerson SR (1990). The influence of microhabitats on the carbon isotopic composition of deep-sea benthic foraminifera. Paleoceanography 5: 161–185.
  • Melki T, Kallel N, Fontugne M (2010). The nature of transitions from dry to wet condition during sapropel events in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Palaeogeogr Palaeoecol 291: 267–285.
  • Müller PJ, Suess E (1979). Productivity, sedimentation rate, and sedimentary organic matter in the oceans I. Organic carbon preservation. Deep Sea Res 26A: 1347–1362.
  • Mullineaux LS, Lohmann GP (1981). Late Quaternary stagnations and recirculation of the eastern Mediterranean: changes in the deep water recorded by fossil benthic foraminifera. J Foramin Res 11: 20–39.
  • Murat A, Göt H (2000). Organic carbon variations of the eastern Mediterranean Holocene sapropel: a key for understanding formation processes. Palaeogeogr Palaeoecol 158: 241–257.
  • Narcisi B, Vezzoli L (1999). Quaternary stratigraphy of distal tephra layers in the Mediterranean an overview. Global Planet Change 21: 31–50.
  • Passier HF, Bottcher ME, de Lange GJ (1999). Sulphur enrichment in organic matter of eastern Mediterranean sapropels: a study of sulphur isotope partitioning aquatic. Geochemistry 5: 99–118.
  • Pedersen TF, Calvert SE (1990). Anoxia versus productivity: what controls the formation of organic-carbon-rich sediments and sedimentary rocks? AAPG Bulletin 74: 454–466.
  • Roether W, Manca BB, Klein B, Bregant D, Georgopoulos D, Beitzel V, Kovacevic V, Luchetta A (1996). Recent changes in eastern Mediterranean deep water. Science 271: 333–335.
  • Rohling EJ (1994). Review and new aspects concerning the formation of eastern Mediterranean sapropels. Mar Geol 122: 1–28.
  • Rohling EJ, Gieskes WWC (1989). Late Quaternary changes in Mediterranean intermediate water density and formation. Micropaleontology 3: 147–173.
  • Rohling EJ, Jorissen FJ, Vergnaud-Grazzini C, Zachariasse WJ (1993). Northern Levantine and Adriatic Quaternary planktic foraminifera: reconstruction of paleoenvironmental gradients. Mar Micropaleontol 21: 191–218.
  • Rohling EJ, Sprovieri M, Cane T, Casford JSL, Cooke S, Bouloubassi I, Emeis KC, Schiebel R, Rogerson M, Hayes A et al. (2004). Reconstructing past planktic foraminiferal habitats using stable isotope data: a case history for Mediterranean sapropel S5. Mar Micropaleontol 50: 89–123.
  • Ross CR, Kennett JP (1984). Late Quaternary paleoceanography as recorded by benthonic foraminifera in Strait of Sicily sediment sequences. Mar Micropaleontol 8: 315–336.
  • Rossignol-Strick M (1985). Mediterranean Quaternary sapropels, an immediate response of the African monsoon to variation of insolation. Palaeogeogr Palaeoecol 49: 237–263.
  • Rossignol-Strick M, Nesteroff W, Olive P, Vergnaud-Grazzini C (1982). After the deluge: Mediterranean stagnation and sapropel formation. Nature 295: 105–110.
  • Roussakis G, Karageorgis AP, Conispoliatis N, Lykousis V (2004). Last glacial-Holocene sediment sequences in N. Aegean basins: structure, accumulation rates and clay mineral distribution. Geo-Mar Lett 24: 97–111.
  • Satow C, Tomlinson EL, Grant KM, Albert PG, Smith VC, Manning CJ, Ottolini L, Wulf S, Rohling EJ, Lowe JJ et al. (2015). A new contribution to the Late Quaternary tephrostratigraphy of the Mediterranean: Aegean Sea core LC21. Quat Sci Rev 117: 96–112.
  • Stefanelli S, Capotondi L, Ciaranfi N (2005). Foraminiferal record and environmental changes during the deposition of the Early-Middle Pleistocene sapropels in southern Italy. Palaeogeog Palaeoecol 216: 27–52.
  • Stein R (1986). Organic carbon and sedimentation rate—further evidence for anoxic deep water conditions in the Cenomanian/Turonian Atlantic Ocean. Mar Geol 72: 199–209.
  • Strohle K, Krom MD (1997). Evidence for the evolution of an oxygen minimum layer at the beginning of S-1 sapropel deposition in the eastern Mediterranean. Mar Geol 140: 231–236.
  • Struck U, Emeis KC, Voss M, Krom MD, Rau GH (2001). Biological productivity during sapropel S5 formation in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea: evidence from stable isotopes of nitrogen and carbon. Geochim Cosmochim Ac 65: 3249–3266.
  • van der Meer MTJ, Baas M, Rijpstra WIC, Marino G, Rohling EJ, Damsté JSS, Schouten S (2007). Hydrogen isotopic compositions of long-chain alkenones record freshwater flooding of the Eastern Mediterranean at the onset of sapropel deposition. Earth Planet Sc Lett 262: 594−600.
  • Velaoras D, Lascaratos A (2005). Deep water mass characteristics and inter-annual variability in the north and central Aegean Sea. J Marine Syst 53: 59–85.
  • Zervakis V, Georgopoulos D, Drakopoulos PG (2000). The role of the North Aegean in triggering the recent Eastern Mediterranean climatic changes. J Geophys Res 105: 26103−26116.
  • Zervakis V, Georgopoulos D, Karageorgis AG, Theocharis A (2004). On the response of the Aegean Sea to climatic variability: a review. Int J Climatol 24: 1845–1858.
Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences-Cover
  • ISSN: 1300-0985
  • Yayın Aralığı: Yılda 6 Sayı
  • Yayıncı: TÜBİTAK
Sayıdaki Diğer Makaleler

Nummulitic facies of the Crimean-Caucasian Region

Anatoly M. NIKISHIN, Pavel A. FOKIN, Ekaterina A. LYGIN, KOPAEVICH. Ludmila F., Elena V. YAKOVISHINA

NEDA KHOSHFAM, HOSSAIN RAHIMPOUR-BONAB, DAVOUD JAHANI, DAVOUD MORSALNEZHAD

Geological, geochemical, and fluid inclusion evidences for the origin of the Ravanj Pb–Ba–Ag deposit, north of Delijan city, Markazi Province, Iran

Mostafa NEJADHADAD, Batoul TAGHIPOUR, Alireza ZARASVANDI, Alireza Karimzadeh SOMARIN

EKREM BURSİN İŞLER, ALİ ENGİN AKSU, RICHARD NICHOLAS HISCOTT

Stratigraphic evidence for development of Aptian intrashelf basin in the Zagros area, eastern Fars Province, SW Iran

Davoud JAHANI, Neda KHOSHFAM, Hossain RAHIMPOUR-BONAB, Davoud MORSALNEZHAD

ARIPUTHIRAN RAMACHANDRAN, JAYAGOPAL MADHAVARAJU, SOORIAMUTHU RAMASAMY, YONG IL LEE, SESHA RAO, DAVID LALHMINGLIANA CHAWNGTHU, KASILINGAM VELMURUGAN

EKATERINA A. LYGINA, PAVEL A. FOKIN, LUDMILA F. KOPAEVICH, ANATOLY M. NIKISHIN, ELENA V. YAKOVISHINA

Geological, geochemical, and fluid inclusion evidences for the origin of the Ravanj Pb?Ba?Ag deposit, north of Delijan city, Markazi Province, Iran

Mostafa NEJADHADAD, Batoul TAGHIPOUR, Alireza ZARASVANDI, Alireza Karimzadeh SOMARIN

Geological, geochemical, and fluid inclusion evidences for the origin of the Ravanj Pb Ba Ag deposit, north of Delijan city, Markazi Province, Iran

Mostafa NEJADHADAD, Batoul TAGHIPOUR, Alireza ZARASVANDI, Alireza KARIMZADEH SOMARIN

Geochemistry of Proterozoic clastic rocks of the Kerur Formation of Kaladgi-Badami Basin, North Karnataka, South India: implications for paleoweathering and provenance

Yong IL LEE, Sesha RAO, Ariputhiran RAMACHANDRAN, Jayagopal MADHAVARAJU, Sooriamuthu RAMASAMY, David Lalhmingliana CHAWNGTHU, Kasilingam VELMURUGAN