Skip to main content
Log in

Abstract

An increase in the cosmogenic beryllium-10 content of the Orca basin sediments due to the flooding of the Gulf of Mexico (GM) by meltwaters during the late Wisconsin interglacial is reported. A strong negative correlation (γ =-0.99) betweenδ 18O (in the range o f-1.5‰ to +0.5‰) and10Be/Al ratio is seen. During intense flooding reflected by a decrease in δ18O by ∼ 2‰, this correlation may not hold as some of the sediments with low10Be/Al ratio and deposited on the shelf and slope regions of the GM during the earlier glacial period would also be washed into the basin. The deposited sediment would then be a mixture with a10Be/Al ratio lower than expected from the correlation

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Amin B S, Kharkar D P and Lal D 1966 Cosmogenic10Be and26A1 in marine sediments;Deep Sea. Res. 13 805–824

    Google Scholar 

  • Broecker W S, Andree M, Wolfli W, Oeschger H, Bonani G, Kennett J P and Peteet D 1988 The chronology of the last deglaciation: Implications to the cause of the Younger Dryas event;Palaeoceanogr. 3 1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Broecker W S, Kennett J P, Flower B P, Teller J T, Trumbore S, Bonani G and Wolfli W 1989 Routing of meltwater the Laurentide ice sheet during the Younger Dryas cold episode;Nature (London) 341 318–320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Broecker W S, Klas M, Clark E, Trumbore S, Bonani G, Wolfli W and Ivy S 1990 Accelerator mass spectro-metric radiocarbon measurements of foraminifera shells from deep-sea cores;Radiocarbon 32 119–133

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown L, Sacks I S, Tera F, Klein J and Middleton R 1984 Beryllium-10 in continental sediments;Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 55 370–376

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenhauer A, Spielhagen R F, Frank M, Hentzschel G, Mangini A, Kubik P W, Dittrich-Hannen B and Billen T 199410Be records in sediment cores from high northern latitudes: Implications to environmental and climatic changes;Earth Planet Sci. Lett. 124 171–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emiliani C 1955 Pleistocene temperatures;J. Geol. 63 538–578

    Google Scholar 

  • Emiliani C, Gartner S, Lidz B, Eldridge D K, Elvey D K, Huang T C, Stipp J J and Swanson M F 1975 Paleoclimatological analysis of late Quaternary cores from the north eastern Gulf of Mexico;Science 189 1083–1088

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flower B P and Kennett J P 1990 The Younger Dryas cool episode in the Gulf of Mexico;Palaeoceanogr. 5 949–961

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frank M, Eisenhauer A, Bonn, W J, Walter P, Grobe H, Kubik P W, Dittrich-Hansen B and Mangini A 1995 Sediment redistribution versus paleoproductivity changes: Weddel Sea margin sediment stratigraphy and biogenic particle flux of the last 250,000 years deduced from230Thex,10Be and biogenic barium profiles;Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 136 559–573

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg E D and Arrhenius G 1958 Chemistry of the Pacific pelagic sediments;Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta,13 153–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grim R E 1953Clay mineralogy (New York: McGraw Hill) pp. 384

    Google Scholar 

  • Imbrie J and Imbrie K P 1979Ice ages solving the mystery, (USA: Enslow Publishers)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennett J P 1990 The Younger Dryas cooling event: An introduction;Paleoceanogr. 5 891–895

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennett J P and Shackleton N J 1975 Laurentide ice sheet meltwater recorded in Gulf of Mexico deep sea cores;Science 188 147–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennett J P, Elmstrom K and Penrose N 1985 The last deglaciation in Orca basin, Gulf of Mexico: High resolution planktonic foraminiferal changes;Paleo. Paleo. Paleo. 50 189–216

    Google Scholar 

  • Kharkar D P, Lal D and Somayajulu B L K 1963 Investigations in marine environments using radioisotopes produced by cosmic rays;Proc. Intl. Symp. Radioactive Dating, Athens, IAEA, p. 175–187

  • Lao Y, Anderson R F, Broecker W S, Trumbore S E, Hofman H J and Wolfli W 1992 Increased production of cosmogenic beryllium-10 during the Last Glacial Maximum;Nature (London) 357 576–578

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leventer A, Williams D F and Kennett J P 1983 Relationships between anoxia, glacial meltwater and microfossil preservation in the Orca basin;Mar. Geol. 53 23–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McHargue L R and Damon P E 1991 The global beryllium-10 cycle;Rev. Geophys.,29 141–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raisbeck G M, Yiou F, Bourles D, Lorius C, Jouzel J and Barkov N I 1987 Evidence of two intervals of enhanced Be deposition during the last glacial period;Nature (London) 326 273–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sarin M M, Borole D V and Krishnaswami S 1979 Geochemistry and Geochronology of sediments from the Bay of Bengal and the equatorial Indian Ocean;Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. A88 131–154

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharma P, Mahannah R, Moore W S, Ku T L and Southon J R 1987 Transport of10Be and9Be in the ocean;Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 86 69–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheu D, Presley B J 1986 Variations of calcium carbonate, organic carbon and iron sulfides in anoxic sediment from the basins of Gulf of Mexico;Mar. Geol. 70 103–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shokes R F, Trabant P K, Presley B J and Reid D F 1977 Anoxic hypersaline basin in the northern Gulf of Mexico;Science 196 1443–1446

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Somayajulu B L K 1977 Analysis of causes for10Be variations in deep sea sediments;Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 41 909–913

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Somayajulu B L K 1995 Cosmogenic beryllium-10 in palaeoceanographic studies, paper presented at the5th Intl. Conf. on Paleoceanogr. Oct. 10–14, Halifax, Canada

  • Somayajulu B L K, Sharma P, Klein J, Middleton R, Williams D F and Moore W S 1991 Changes in the depositional flux of10Be in the Orca basin, Gulf of Mexico: Inverse correlation with δ18O,Chem. Geol. 86 253–258

    Google Scholar 

  • Somayajulu B L K, Sharma P and Naidu A S 1996.10Be and Al concentrations in an Arctic core: Implications to climate and sedimentation,Curr. Sci. 70 1000–1003

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitten D G A and Brooks J R V 1972 A dictionary of geology (England: Penguin Books) pp. 516

    Google Scholar 

  • Williamson J H 1968 Least squares fitting of a straight line;Can. J. Phys. 46 1845–1847

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Somayajulu, B.L.K. 10Be meltwater signal in Orca basin sediments, Gulf of Mexico. Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. (Earth Planet Sci.) 105, 357–364 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02842310

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02842310

Keywords

Navigation