Foraminiferal raw counts, sedimentation rates, total foraminiferal absolute and relative abundance, dominant species percentages, foraminiferal microhabitats, ecological groups, oxygen index, TOC, stable isotope data, C37 alkenones and UP10 data

DOI

The accumulation of an Organic Rich Layer (ORL) during the last deglaciation in the Alboran Sea (western Mediterranean Sea) and its link to changes in deep and intermediate water circulation are here investigated. Benthic foraminiferal assemblages and the shallow infaunal foraminifer Uvigerina peregrina δ13C record support the establishment of sustained high organic matter fluxes, and thus eutrophic conditions at the sea floor, during the late phase of the ORL (Younger Dryas to early Holocene periods). Since organic matter fluxes were lower (mesotrophic conditions) during the Bølling-Allerød period, they cannot be solely responsible for the ORL initiation. Geochemical, sedimentological and micropalaeontological proxies support a major weakening of the deep-water convection in the Gulf of Lion as the main driver for the development of poorly-ventilated conditions from intermediate depths (946 m) to the deep western Mediterranean basin that promoted the beginning of the ORL deposition. Nevertheless, a better ventilation at intermediate depths was established during the late ORL, while the deep basin remained poorly ventilated. We propose that our data reflect the arrival of a new better-ventilated intermediate water mass analogue to the current Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) and/or a new intermediate water mass from the Gulf of Lion. The ultimate source of this water mass needs to be further explored but chronologies of the changes recorded here indicate that intermediate and deep ventilation phases were decoupled between the western and eastern Mediterranean basins during the deglaciation and early-middle Holocene.

Supplement to: Pérez-Asensio, José N; Frigola, Jaime; Pena, Leopoldo D; Sierro, Francisco Javier; Reguera, Maria Isabel; Rodríguez-Tovar, Francisco Javier; Dorador, Javier; Asioli, Alessandra; Kuhlmann, Jannis; Huhn, Katrin; Cacho, Isabel (2020): Changes in western Mediterranean thermohaline circulation in association with a deglacial Organic Rich Layer formation in the Alboran Sea. Quaternary Science Reviews, 228, 106075

Identifier
DOI https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.910732
Related Identifier https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.106075
Metadata Access https://ws.pangaea.de/oai/provider?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=datacite4&identifier=oai:pangaea.de:doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.910732
Provenance
Creator Pérez-Asensio, José N ORCID logo; Frigola, Jaime ORCID logo; Pena, Leopoldo D ORCID logo; Sierro, Francisco Javier (ORCID: 0000-0002-8647-456X); Reguera, Maria Isabel ORCID logo; Rodríguez-Tovar, Francisco Javier ORCID logo; Dorador, Javier ORCID logo; Asioli, Alessandra; Kuhlmann, Jannis ORCID logo; Huhn, Katrin; Cacho, Isabel ORCID logo
Publisher PANGAEA
Publication Year 2020
Rights Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
OpenAccess true
Representation
Language English
Resource Type Supplementary Publication Series of Datasets; Collection
Format application/zip
Size 18 datasets
Discipline Earth System Research
Spatial Coverage (-3.989W, 36.143S, 4.028E, 40.497N)
Temporal Coverage Begin 1995-07-09T00:00:00Z
Temporal Coverage End 2009-09-19T23:25:53Z