Vertical and lateral flux on the continental slope off Pakistan: correlation of sediment core and trap results
Due to the lack of bioturbation, the varve-laminated muds from the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) off Pakistan provide a unique opportunity to precisely determine the vertical and lateral sediment fluxes in the nearshore part of the northeastern Arabian Sea. West of Karachi (Hab area), the results of two...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2014-06-01
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| Series: | Biogeosciences |
| Online Access: | http://www.biogeosciences.net/11/3107/2014/bg-11-3107-2014.pdf |
| _version_ | 1818518534286737408 |
|---|---|
| author | H. Schulz U. von Rad |
| author_facet | H. Schulz U. von Rad |
| author_sort | H. Schulz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Due to the lack of bioturbation, the varve-laminated muds from the
oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) off Pakistan provide a unique opportunity to
precisely determine the vertical and lateral sediment fluxes in the
nearshore part of the northeastern Arabian Sea. West of Karachi (Hab area),
the results of two sediment trap stations (EPT and WPT) were correlated with
16 short sediment cores on a depth transect crossing the OMZ. The top of a
distinct, either reddish- or light-gray silt layer, <sup>210</sup>Pb-dated as AD
1905 ± 10, was used as an isochronous stratigraphic marker bed to
calculate sediment accumulation rates. In one core, the red and gray layer
were separated by a few (5–10) thin laminae. According to our varve model,
this contributes < 10 years to the dating uncertainty, assuming that
the different layers are almost synchronous. We directly compared the
accumulation rates with the flux rates from the sediment traps that
collected the settling material within the water column above. All traps on
the steep Makran continental slope show exceptionally high, pulsed winter
fluxes of up to 5000 mg m<sup>−2</sup> d<sup>−1</sup>. Based on core results, the flux
at the seafloor amounts to 4000 mg m<sup>−2</sup> d<sup>−1</sup> and agrees remarkably
well with the bulk winter flux of material, as well as with the flux of the
individual bulk components of organic carbon, calcium carbonate and opal.
However, due to the extreme mass of remobilized matter, the high winter flux
events exceeded the capacity of the shallow traps. Based on our comparisons,
we argue that high-flux events must occur regularly during winter within the
upper OMZ off Pakistan to explain the high accumulations rates. These show
distribution patterns that are a negative function of water depth and
distance from the shelf. Some of the sediment fractions show marked shifts
in accumulation rates near the lower boundary of the OMZ. For instance, the
flux of benthic foraminifera is lowered but stable below ~1200–1300 m. However, flux and sedimentation in the upper eastern Makran
area are dominated by the large amount of laterally advected fine-grained
material and by the pulsed nature of the resuspension events at the upper
margin during winter. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T01:11:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0a434e3234e44b6db6e226d86ba6dd17 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1726-4170 1726-4189 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T01:11:23Z |
| publishDate | 2014-06-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biogeosciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-0a434e3234e44b6db6e226d86ba6dd172022-12-22T01:26:02ZengCopernicus PublicationsBiogeosciences1726-41701726-41892014-06-0111123107312010.5194/bg-11-3107-2014Vertical and lateral flux on the continental slope off Pakistan: correlation of sediment core and trap resultsH. Schulz0U. von Rad1Fachbereich für Geowissenschaften, Paleobiology, University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstr. 12, 72074 Tübingen, GermanyRosenstraße 19c, 30916 Isernhagen, GermanyDue to the lack of bioturbation, the varve-laminated muds from the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) off Pakistan provide a unique opportunity to precisely determine the vertical and lateral sediment fluxes in the nearshore part of the northeastern Arabian Sea. West of Karachi (Hab area), the results of two sediment trap stations (EPT and WPT) were correlated with 16 short sediment cores on a depth transect crossing the OMZ. The top of a distinct, either reddish- or light-gray silt layer, <sup>210</sup>Pb-dated as AD 1905 ± 10, was used as an isochronous stratigraphic marker bed to calculate sediment accumulation rates. In one core, the red and gray layer were separated by a few (5–10) thin laminae. According to our varve model, this contributes < 10 years to the dating uncertainty, assuming that the different layers are almost synchronous. We directly compared the accumulation rates with the flux rates from the sediment traps that collected the settling material within the water column above. All traps on the steep Makran continental slope show exceptionally high, pulsed winter fluxes of up to 5000 mg m<sup>−2</sup> d<sup>−1</sup>. Based on core results, the flux at the seafloor amounts to 4000 mg m<sup>−2</sup> d<sup>−1</sup> and agrees remarkably well with the bulk winter flux of material, as well as with the flux of the individual bulk components of organic carbon, calcium carbonate and opal. However, due to the extreme mass of remobilized matter, the high winter flux events exceeded the capacity of the shallow traps. Based on our comparisons, we argue that high-flux events must occur regularly during winter within the upper OMZ off Pakistan to explain the high accumulations rates. These show distribution patterns that are a negative function of water depth and distance from the shelf. Some of the sediment fractions show marked shifts in accumulation rates near the lower boundary of the OMZ. For instance, the flux of benthic foraminifera is lowered but stable below ~1200–1300 m. However, flux and sedimentation in the upper eastern Makran area are dominated by the large amount of laterally advected fine-grained material and by the pulsed nature of the resuspension events at the upper margin during winter.http://www.biogeosciences.net/11/3107/2014/bg-11-3107-2014.pdf |
| spellingShingle | H. Schulz U. von Rad Vertical and lateral flux on the continental slope off Pakistan: correlation of sediment core and trap results Biogeosciences |
| title | Vertical and lateral flux on the continental slope off Pakistan: correlation of sediment core and trap results |
| title_full | Vertical and lateral flux on the continental slope off Pakistan: correlation of sediment core and trap results |
| title_fullStr | Vertical and lateral flux on the continental slope off Pakistan: correlation of sediment core and trap results |
| title_full_unstemmed | Vertical and lateral flux on the continental slope off Pakistan: correlation of sediment core and trap results |
| title_short | Vertical and lateral flux on the continental slope off Pakistan: correlation of sediment core and trap results |
| title_sort | vertical and lateral flux on the continental slope off pakistan correlation of sediment core and trap results |
| url | http://www.biogeosciences.net/11/3107/2014/bg-11-3107-2014.pdf |
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