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Oxygen isotope calibration of the onset of ice-rafting and history of glaciation in the North Atlantic region

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Abstract

We report here that DSDP Site 552A, cored with the hydraulic piston corer on the west flank of Rockall Bank, recovered an undisturbed sequence of alternating white deep-sea carbonate oozes and dark-coloured layers that are rich in glacial debris. Oxygen isotope analysis of the sequence together with detailed nannofossil and palaeomagnetic stratigraphy shows that the first major horizon of ice-rafting occurred at about 2.4 Myr, and was preceded by a minor pulse of ice-rafting at about 2.5 Myr. The carbon isotope record shows that the site has been bathed by a water mass of similar characteristics to present-day North Atlantic deep water at least since 3.5 Myr.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Godwin Laboratory for Quaternary Research, Free School Lane, Cambridge, CB2 3RS

    N. J. Shackleton

  2. Department of Geology, University of Stockholm, Stockholm, S-10690, Sweden

    J. Backman

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, Union College, Schenectady, New York, 12308, USA

    H. Zimmerman

  4. Lamond Doherty Geological Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, New York, 10964, USA

    N. J. Shackleton, D. V. Kent & M. A. Hall

  5. British Petroleum (Overseas) Development Ltd, Britannic House, Moorgate, London, EC1, UK

    D. G. Roberts

  6. Department of Oceanography, University of Maine, Walpole, Maine, 04573, USA

    D. Schnitker

  7. United States Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, California, 94025, USA

    J. G. Baldauf

  8. Laboratoire de Géochimie des Roches Sédimentaires, University of Paris XI, Orsay, 91405, France

    A. Desprairies

  9. Laboratorium für Erdölgewinnung, Deutsche Texaco AG, 3101, Wietze, FRG

    R. Homrighausen

  10. Georgia Geological Survey, 19 Martin Luther King Jr Drive, Atlanta, Georgia, 30334, USA

    P. Huddlestun

  11. Department of Geology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3052, Australia

    J. Backman & J. B. Keene

  12. Denver Research Center, Marathon Oil Co., 7400 South Broadway, Littleton, Colorado, 80160, USA

    A. J. Kaltenback

  13. Geologisches Institut, Nussallee 8, D-53, Bonn, l, FRG

    K. A. O. Krumsiek

  14. Institute of Geological Sciences, Ring Road, Halton, Leeds, LS15 8TQ, UK

    A. C. Morton

  15. Department of Geology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

    J. W. Murray

  16. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California, 92092, USA

    J. Westberg-Smith

Authors
  1. N. J. Shackleton
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  2. J. Backman
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  3. H. Zimmerman
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  4. D. V. Kent
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  5. M. A. Hall
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  6. D. G. Roberts
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  7. D. Schnitker
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  8. J. G. Baldauf
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  9. A. Desprairies
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  10. R. Homrighausen
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  11. P. Huddlestun
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  12. J. B. Keene
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  13. A. J. Kaltenback
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  14. K. A. O. Krumsiek
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  15. A. C. Morton
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  16. J. W. Murray
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  17. J. Westberg-Smith
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Shackleton, N., Backman, J., Zimmerman, H. et al. Oxygen isotope calibration of the onset of ice-rafting and history of glaciation in the North Atlantic region. Nature 307, 620–623 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/307620a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/307620a0

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