Beryllium, thorium and protactinium isotope ratios in sediments from the Galapagos microplate

DOI

Biogenic particle fluxes from highly productive surface waters, boundary scavenging, and hydrothermal activity are the main factors influencing the deposition of radionuclides in the area of the Galapagos microplate, eastern Equatorial Pacific. In order to evaluate the importance of these three processes throughout the last 100 kyr, concentrations of the radionuclides 10Be, 230Th, and 231Pa, and of Mn and Fe were measured at high resolution in sediment samples from two gravity cores KLH 068 and KLH 093. High biological productivity in the surface waters overlying the investigated area has led to 10Be and 231Pa fluxes exceeding production during at least the last 30 kyr and probably the last 100 kyr. However, during periods of high productivity at the up welling centers off Peru and extension of the equatorial high-productivity zone, a relative loss of 10Be and 231Pa may have occurred in these sediment cores because of boundary scavenging. The effects of hydrothermal activity were investigated by comparing the 230Thex concentrations to the Mn/Fe ratios and by comparing the fluxes of 230Th and 10Be which exceed production. The results suggest an enhanced hydrothermal influence during isotope stages 4 and 5 and to a lesser extent during isotope stage 1 in core KLH 093. During isotope stages 2 and 3, the hydrothermal supply of Mn was deposited elsewhere, probably because of changes in current regime or deep water oxygenation. A strong increase of the Mn/Fe ratio at the beginning of climatic stage 1 which is not accompanied by an increase of the 230Thex concentration is interpreted to be an effect of Mn remobilization and reprecipitation in the sediment.

Supplement to: Frank, Martin; Eckhardt, Joerg-Detlef; Eisenhauer, Anton; Kubik, Peter W; Dittrich-Hannen, Beate; Segl, Monika; Mangini, Augusto (1994): Beryllium 10, thorium 230, and protactinium 231 in Galapagos microplate sediments: Implications of hydrothermal activity and paleoproductivity changes during the last 100,000 years. Paleoceanography, 9(4), 559-578

Identifier
DOI https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.726083
Related Identifier https://doi.org/10.1029/94PA01132
Metadata Access https://ws.pangaea.de/oai/provider?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=datacite4&identifier=oai:pangaea.de:doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.726083
Provenance
Creator Frank, Martin ORCID logo; Eckhardt, Joerg-Detlef; Eisenhauer, Anton ORCID logo; Kubik, Peter W; Dittrich-Hannen, Beate; Segl, Monika; Mangini, Augusto
Publisher PANGAEA
Publication Year 1994
Rights Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
OpenAccess true
Representation
Language English
Resource Type Supplementary Publication Series of Datasets; Collection
Format application/zip
Size 3 datasets
Discipline Earth System Research
Spatial Coverage (-102.063W, 1.232S, -101.612E, 1.500N); Equatorial East Pacific
Temporal Coverage Begin 1989-01-14T00:00:00Z
Temporal Coverage End 1989-01-18T00:00:00Z