230 Th Normalization: New Insights on an Essential Tool for Quantifying Sedimentary Fluxes in the Modern and Quaternary Ocean
Name
2019PA003820.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
11.86 MB
Format
Unknown
Checksum (MD5)
ecc9a01a776c7995faec0acabe530487
Author(s)
Costa, Kassandra M.
Hayes, Christopher T.
Anderson, Robert F.
Pavia, Frank J.
Bausch, Alexandra
Deng, Feifei
Dutay, Jean‐Claude
Geibert, Walter
Heinze, Christoph
Henderson, Gideon
Date Issued
February 2020
Journal
Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology
Publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Version
Final published version
Abstract
© 2020. The Authors. 230Th normalization is a valuable paleoceanographic tool for reconstructing high-resolution sediment fluxes during the late Pleistocene (last ~500,000 years). As its application has expanded to ever more diverse marine environments, the nuances of 230Th systematics, with regard to particle type, particle size, lateral advective/diffusive redistribution, and other processes, have emerged. We synthesized over 1000 sedimentary records of 230Th from across the global ocean at two time slices, the late Holocene (0–5,000 years ago, or 0–5 ka) and the Last Glacial Maximum (18.5–23.5 ka), and investigated the spatial structure of 230Th-normalized mass fluxes. On a global scale, sedimentary mass fluxes were significantly higher during the Last Glacial Maximum (1.79–2.17 g/cm2kyr, 95% confidence) relative to the Holocene (1.48–1.68 g/cm2kyr, 95% confidence). We then examined the potential confounding influences of boundary scavenging, nepheloid layers, hydrothermal scavenging, size-dependent sediment fractionation, and carbonate dissolution on the efficacy of 230Th as a constant flux proxy. Anomalous 230Th behavior is sometimes observed proximal to hydrothermal ridges and in continental margins where high particle fluxes and steep continental slopes can lead to the combined effects of boundary scavenging and nepheloid interference. Notwithstanding these limitations, we found that 230Th normalization is a robust tool for determining sediment mass accumulation rates in the majority of pelagic marine settings (>1,000 m water depth).
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1029/2019pa003820
