Open AccessTemperature and stable isotope variations in different water masses from the Alboran Sea (Western Mediterranean) between 250 and 150 ka
Author(s) -
GonzalezMora Beatriz,
Sierro Francisco J.,
Schönfeld Joachim
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
geochemistry, geophysics, geosystems
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.928
H-Index - 136
ISSN - 1525-2027
DOI - 10.1029/2007gc001906
Subject(s) - globigerina bulloides , globigerinoides , geology , oceanography , stratification (seeds) , water mass , water column , mediterranean sea , mediterranean climate , temperature salinity diagrams , stable isotope ratio , paleoceanography , salinity , foraminifera , benthic zone , seed dormancy , botany , germination , physics , quantum mechanics , dormancy , biology , ecology
Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca, and stable isotope measurements have been performed on tests from the planktonic foraminifers Globigerinoides ruber (white), Globigerina bulloides, and Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (right coiling) in samples from Ocean Drilling Program site 977A in the Alboran Sea (Western Mediterranean). The evolution of different water masses between 250 and 150 ka is described. Warm substages were characterized by strong seasonality and thermal stratification of the water column. By contrast, less pronounced seasonality and basin stratification seem to prevail during cold substages. Several periods of stratification due to the low salinity of the upper water mass occurred during the formation of organic‐rich layers and also during a possible Heinrich‐like event at 220 ka. The three foraminifer species studied show a common and large shell Sr/Ca variability in short timescales, suggesting changes in the global ocean Sr/Ca ratio as one of the main causes of variations in shell composition.