The "Shackleton Site" (IODP Site U1385) on the Iberian Margin
Nick Shackleton's research on piston cores from the Iberian margin highlighted the importance of this region for providing high-fidelity records of millennial-scale climate variability, and for correlating climate events from the marine environment to polar ice cores and European terrestrial se...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2013-11-01
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| Series: | Scientific Drilling |
| Online Access: | http://www.sci-dril.net/16/13/2013/sd-16-13-2013.pdf |
| Summary: | Nick Shackleton's research on piston cores from the Iberian margin
highlighted the importance of this region for providing high-fidelity
records of millennial-scale climate variability, and for correlating climate
events from the marine environment to polar ice cores and European
terrestrial sequences. During the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 339, we sought to extend the
Iberian margin sediment record by drilling with the D/V <i>JOIDES Resolution</i>. Five holes were
cored at Site U1385 using the advanced piston corer (APC) system to a
maximum depth of ~155.9 m below sea floor (m b.s.f.).
Immediately after the expedition, cores from all holes were analyzed by core
scanning X-ray fluorescence (XRF) at 1 cm spatial resolution. Ca/Ti data
were used to accurately correlate from hole-to-hole and construct a
composite spliced section, containing no gaps or disturbed intervals to
166.5 m composite depth (mcd). A low-resolution (20 cm sample spacing)
oxygen isotope record confirms that Site U1385 contains a continuous record
of hemipelagic sedimentation from the Holocene to 1.43 Ma (Marine Isotope
Stage 46). The sediment profile at Site U1385 extends across the middle
Pleistocene transition (MPT) with sedimentation rates averaging
~10 cm kyr<sup>−1</sup>. Strong precession cycles in colour and
elemental XRF signals provide a powerful tool for developing an
orbitally tuned reference timescale. Site U1385 is likely to become an
important type section for marine–ice–terrestrial core correlations and the
study of orbital- and millennial-scale climate variability. |
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| ISSN: | 1816-8957 1816-3459 |