Abstract
Over large areas of the tropical Pacific, calcareous sediments show one or more dark-coloured manganese-rich layers within the uppermost 40 cm of the record1,2. In the east-equatorial Pacific two layers are strongly developed, with the upper one appearing as a double layer in places. We report here that the lower layer is centred on the glacial–Holocene boundary, and we present evidence that its origin is tied to a pronounced drop in fertility of the ocean. Such a fertility decrease is implicit in a weakening of east-equatorial upwelling systems3,4. If real, it has important ramifications for the history of oceanic (and atmospheric) chemistry.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arrhenius, G. Rep. Swed. Deep-Sea Expdn 5, 1–228 (1952).
Hough, J. L. J. Geol. 61, 252–262 (1953).
Blackman, A. & Somayajulu, B. L. K. Science 154, 886–889 (1966).
CLIMAP Project Members Science 191, 1131–1137 (1976).
Berger, W. H., Ekdale, A. A. & Bryant, P. F. Mar. Geol. 32, 205–230 (1979).
Berger, W. H. & Killingley, J. S. Mar. Geol. 45, 93–125 (1982).
Mikkelsen, N., Labeyrie, L. & Berger, W. H. Nature 271, 536–538 (1978).
Lynn, D. C. & Bonatti, E. Mar. Geol. 3, 457–474 (1965).
Price, H. G. & Calvert, S. E. Mar. Geol. 9, 145–171 (1970).
Bender, M. L. J. geophys. Res. 76, 4212–4215 (1971).
Calvert, S. E. & Price, N. B. Mar. Chem. 5, 43–74 (1977).
Reyss, J. L., Marchig, V. & Ku, T. L. Nature 295, 401–403 (1982).
Berner, R. A. Early diagenesis-a Theoretical Approach, 1–241 (Princeton University Press, 1980).
Hartmann, M. & Müller, P. J. in The Dynamic Environment of the Ocean Floor (eds Fanning, K. A. & Manheim, F. T.) 285–301 (Lexington, Massachusetts, 1982).
Morgan, J. J. in Equilibrium Concepts in Natural Water Systems (ed. Stumm, W.) 1–29 (American Chemical Society, Washington DC, 1967).
Froelich, P. N. et al. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 43, 1075–1090 (1979).
Rozanov, A. G. in The Dynamic Environment of the Ocean Floor (eds Fanning, K. A. & Manheim, F. T.) 239–255 (Lexington, Massachusetts, 1982).
Tsunogai, S. & Kusakabe, M. in The Dynamic Environment of the Ocean Floor (eds Fanning, K. A. & Manheim, F. T.) 257–273 (Lexington, Massachusetts, 1982).
Peng, T.-H., Broecker, W. S. & Berger, W. H. Quat. Res. 11, 141–149 (1979).
Edmond, J. M., Corliss, J. B. & Gordon, L. I. Deep Drilling Results in the Atlantic Ocean: Ocean Crust (eds Talwani, M. et al.) 383–390 (American Geophysical Union, Washington DC, 1979).
Spiess, F. N., Macdonald, K. C. & RISE Project Group Science 207, 1421–1444 (1980).
Marchig, V. & Grundlach, H. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 58, 361–382 (1982)
Berger, W. H. Sver. geol. Unders. Afh. 76, 794, 270–280 (1982).
Pedersen, T. F. Geology 11, 16–19 (1983).
Broecker, W. S. Prog. Oceanogr. 11, 151–197 (1982).
Müller, P. J. & Mangini, A. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 51, 94–114 (1980).
Müller, P. J. & Suess, E. Deep-Sea Res. 26A, 1347–1362 (1979).
Heath, G. R., Moore, T. C. & Dauphin, J. P. in The Fate of Fossil Fuel CO2 in the Oceans (eds Andersen, N. R. & Malahoff, A.) 605–625 (Plenum, New York, 1977).
Suess, E. & Müller, P. J. Collogues int. Cent. natn. Rech. Scient 293, 17–26 (1980).
Berger, W. H. & Killingley, J. S. Science 197, 563–566 (1977).
Erez, J. Nature 281, 535–538 (1979).
Berger, W. H., Diester-Haass, L. & Killingley, J. S. Oceanol. Acta 1, 3–7 (1978).
Berger, W. H., Killingley, J. S. & Vincent, E. Oceanol. Acta 1, 203–216 (1978).
Vincent, E. & Berger, W. H. in The Sea Vol. 7 (ed. Emiliani, C.) 1025–1119 (Wiley, New York, 1982).
Berger, W. H. & Johnson, T. C. Science 192, 785–787 (1976).
Wangersky, P. J. J. Geol. 70, 364–375 (1962).
Wangersky, P. J. & Joensuu, O. I. J. Geol. 75, 148–177 (1967).
Damuth, J. E. Bull. geol. Soc. Am. 88, 695–710 (1977).
Gardner, J. V., Dean, W. E., Klise, D. H. & Baldauf, J. G. Quat. Res. 18, 91–107 (1982).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Berger, W., Finkel, R., Killingley, J. et al. Glacial–Holocene transition in deep-sea sediments: manganese-spike in the east-eqautorial Pacific. Nature 303, 231–233 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/303231a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/303231a0
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Geomicrobiology of Iron Layers in the Sediment of Lake Superior
Aquatic Geochemistry (2015)
-
Partitioning and Speciation of Trace Metal Diagenesis in Differing Depositional Environments in the Sediments of the Oman Margin
Aquatic Geochemistry (2005)
-
Thorium and uranium isotopes in a manganese nodule from the Peru basin determined by alpha spectrometry and thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS): Are manganese supply and growth related to climate?
Geologische Rundschau (1996)
-
Hiatuses in manganese nodule growth: Relation to bottom current activity?
Geo-Marine Letters (1985)
-
Chronology of palaeoclimatic change at the end of the last glaciation
Nature (1984)