Browsing by Author "Balestra, B."
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- Control mechanisms of primary productivity revealed by Calcareous Nannoplankton from marine isotope stages 12 to 9 at the Shackleton Site (IODP Site U1385)Publication . González‐Lanchas, A.; Flores, J.‐A.; Sierro, F. J.; Sánchez Goñi, M. F.; Rodrigues, Teresa; Ausín, B.; Oliveira, Dulce; Naughton, F.; Marino, M.; Maiorano, P.; Balestra, B.Nowadays, primary productivity variations at the SW Iberian Margin (IbM) are primarily controlled by wind-driven upwelling. Thus, major changes in atmospheric circulation and wind regimes between the Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 12 and 9 could have driven substantial changes in phytoplankton productivity which remains poorly understood. We present a high-resolution calcareous nannofossil record from the Shackleton Site Integrated Ocean Discovery Program Site U1385 that allow the assessment of primary productivity and changing surface conditions on orbital and suborbital timescales over the SW IbM. These records are directly compared and integrated with terrestrial – Mediterranean forest pollen – and marine – benthic and planktic oxygen stable isotopes (δ18O), alkenone concentration [C37], Uk´37-Sea Surface Temperature and % C37:4 – proxy records from Site U1385. Our results indicate intra-interglacial increase in primary productivity together with intensification of the Azores anticyclonic high-pressure cell beyond the summer that suggests a two-phase upwelling behavior during the full interglacial MIS 11c (420–397ka), potentially drived by atmospheric NAO-like variability. Primary productivity is largely enhanced during the inception of glacial MIS 10 and the early MIS 10 (392–356ka), linked to intensified upwelling and associated processes during a period of strengthened atmospheric circulation. In agreement with the conditions observed during Heinrich events of the last glacial cycle, primary productivity reductions during abrupt cold episodes, including the Heinrich-type (Ht) events 4 to 1 (436, 392, 384 and 339ka) and the Terminations V and IV, seems to be the result of halocline formation induced by meltwater arrival, reducing the regional upward nutrient transference
- Data report: early Pleistocene calcareous nannofossils, IODP Expedition 339, Site U1387Publication . Balestra, B.; Voelker, Antje; Flores, J.A.; Stow, D. A. V.; Hernandez-Molina, F. Javier; Alvarez Zarikian, Carlos A.; Expedition 339 ScientistsWe present a revision and refinement of semiquantitative analyses of calcareous nannofossil assemblages in early Pleistocene samples from Holes U1387A and U1387C recovered toward the eastern end of the Faro Drift (36°48.3210N, 7°43.1321W) during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 339, Mediterranean Outflow (November 2011–January 2012). The record is characterized by intervals very rich in calcareous nannofossils that are in general moderately to well preserved. On the other hand, the record contains an interval directly above the youngest dolomite layer in Section 339-U1387C-19R-4 (~0.7 m) where no coccoliths were preserved. The new stratigraphic constraints of events such as the lowest occurrence (LO) of large Gephyrocapsa, the highest occurrence (HO) of Calcidiscus macintyrei (1.66 Ma), the LO of medium-sized Gephyrocapsa group, and the HO of Discoaster brouweri (1.95 Ma) allow better interpretation of the isotope stratigraphy applied to this interval.