Chemostratigraphy of the Snorry Drift in the North Atlantic

Abstract

Multielement chemical analysis and oxygen isotopic data has been employed for the first time to study the distribution of certain geochemical indicators in a sediment core recovered on the western slope of the Snorry contourite drift (station AI-3378, North Atlantic) during cruise 49 of the R/V Akademik Ioffe in 2015. Down the core, an asynchronous change in terrigenous (IRD, Al, Si, Ti, Zr, Cr) and biogenic indicators (CaCO₃, C_org) was recorded. The multielement geochemical data have revealed a rhythmic distribution of terrigenous and biogenic sedimentary material in the core. Sedimentary material entered the study area as result of ice and iceberg unloading, as well as bottom currents. The intensity and direction of the bottom contour currents apparently changed dramatically with alternating warming and cooling periods during stages MIS 1–6 (the last 190 ka).