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AGU: Journal of Geophysical Research, Earth Surface

 

Keywords

  • organic carbon flux
  • benthic foraminifera
  • magnetic susceptibility

Index Terms

  • Oceanography: Biological and Chemical: Sedimentation
  • Paleoceanography: Geochemical tracers
  • Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism: Environmental magnetism
  • Paleoceanography: Micropaleontology
Abstract
Cited By (1)
 

Abstract

JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 113, F01S18, 21 PP., 2008
doi:10.1029/2006JF000677

Late Pleistocene and Holocene sedimentation, organic-carbon delivery, and paleoclimatic inferences on the continental slope of the northern Pandora Trough, Gulf of Papua

Lawrence A. Febo

Department of Geology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Samuel J. Bentley

Earth Sciences Department, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada

John H. Wrenn

André W. Droxler

Department of Earth Science, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA

Gerald R. Dickens

Department of Earth Science, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA

Larry C. Peterson

Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA

Bradley N. Opdyke

Department of Earth and Marine Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia

We investigated sediment and organic-carbon accumulation rates in two jumbo piston cores (MV-54, MV-51) retrieved from the midslope of the northeastern Pandora Trough in the Gulf of Papua, Papua New Guinea. Our data provide a first assessment of mass fluxes over the past ∼33,000 14C years B.P. and variations in organic-carbon sources. Core sediments were analyzed using a suite of physical properties, organic geochemistry, and micropaleontological measurements. MV-54 and MV-51 show two periods of rapid sediment accumulation. The first interval is from ∼15,000 to 20,400 Cal. years B.P. (MV-51: ∼1.09 m ka−1 and ∼81.2 g cm−2 ka−1) and the second occurs at >32,000 14C years B.P. (∼2.70 m ka−1 and ∼244 g cm−2 ka−1). Extremely high accumulation rates (∼3.96 m ka−1; ∼428 g cm−2 ka−1) characterize 15,800−17,700 Cal. years B.P. in MV-54 and likely correspond to early transgression when rivers delivered sediments much closer to the shelf edge. A benthic foraminiferal assemblage in MV-51 from ∼18,400 to 20,400 Cal. years B.P. indicates a seasonally variable flux of organic carbon, possibly resulting from enhanced contrast between monsoon seasons. The oldest sediments, >32,000 14C years B.P., contain TOC fluxes >200 g cm2 ka−1, with >50% of it derived from C3 vascular plant matter. Magnetic susceptibility values are 2 to 3 times higher and benthic foraminiferal accumulation rates are 6 times higher during this interval than at any younger time, indicating a greater influence of detrital minerals and labile organic carbon. The MS data suggest more direct dispersal pathways from central and eastern PNG Rivers to the core site.

Received 31 August 2006; accepted 18 January 2008; published 26 March 2008.

Citation: Febo, L. A., S. J. Bentley, J. H. Wrenn, A. W. Droxler, G. R. Dickens, L. C. Peterson, and B. N. Opdyke (2008), Late Pleistocene and Holocene sedimentation, organic-carbon delivery, and paleoclimatic inferences on the continental slope of the northern Pandora Trough, Gulf of Papua, J. Geophys. Res., 113, F01S18, doi:10.1029/2006JF000677.

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