environmental magnetic implications of magnetofossil occurrence during the middle eocene climatic optimum meco in pelagic sediments from the equatorial indian ocean abstract magnetic properties of pelagic marine sediments that record the middle eocene climatic optimum meco at 40 ma provide information about major environmental changes the main variations observed during this transient warming event reflect a bacterial magnetofossil signal but the cause of the linkage between bacterial production and climate remains unclear we present an environmental magnetic study of middle eocene deep sea sediments from the northern edge of madingley rise ocean drilling program hole 711a equatorial indian ocean to investigate the origin of the increased magnetic mineral concentration concomitant with subchron c18n 2n which corresponds to the meco interval in odp hole 711a this magnetic mineral peak also coincides with a change in lithofacies from calcareous nannofossils to radiolarian ooze and a slight increase in clay concentration magnetite is the main magnetic mineral in the meco sediments which occurs as magnetically non interacting single domain biogenic particles the increased magnetic mineral concentration across the meco event is likely to have been caused by increased eolian iron fertilization this is interpreted to have given rise to increased surface ocean productivity where increased delivery of iron and nutrients to the seafloor enhanced magnetotactic bacterial populations during the meco event

characterizing magnetofossils from first order reversal curve forc central ridge signatures the central ridge structure of a first order reversal curve forc distribution is indicative of uniaxial noninteracting single domain magnetic particles which provides the opportunity to identify and characterize biogenic magnetic mineral remains magnetofossils in sediments recent studies have shown that magnetofossils are widespread in the geological record and that they carry useful environmental information and contribute to paleomagnetic recording which makes it essential to quantify how these biogenic components contribute to the magnetic properties of sediments we present results from six sedimentary sequences whose magnetic mineral assemblages contain a significant magnetofossil contribution using principal component analysis we find that the central ridge properties exhibit both intra sequnce and inter sequence variability that may be ascribed to external environmental factors while samples from individual sediment sequences tend to cluster together there is a continuum of inter sequence behavior that appears to be related to a variety of magnetofossil properties we demonstrate the complexity of biogenic magnetic components in sedimentary environments but also the power and potential of forc central ridges for understanding magnetic mixtures and unraveling environmental information

seismic evidence for accumulated oceanic crust above the 660 km discontinuity beneath southern africa 1 high pressure assemblages of subducted oceanic crust are denser than the normal upper mantle but less dense than the uppermost lower mantle thus subducted oceanic crust may accumulate at the base of the upper mantle direct observational evidence for this hypothesis however remains elusive we present an analysis of a negative polarity shear wave converted from compressional wave at a seismic discontinuity near 570 600 km depth beneath southern africa the negative polarity of the converted phase indicates a 2 2 0 2 s velocity decrease with depth at the seismic discontinuity this velocity reduction is associated however with a low velocity contrast at the 660 km discontinuity the exsolution of ca perovskite in former oceanic crust at depth greater than 600 km and the associated small volume fraction of ringwoodite are plausible explanations for the apparent paradox between the negative velocity discontinuity and the low velocity contrast at the 660 km discontinuity

middle eocene to late oligocene antarctic glaciation deglaciation and southern ocean productivity during the eocene oligocene transition earth cooled significantly from a greenhouse to an icehouse climate nannofossil assemblages from southern ocean sites enable evaluation of paleoceanographic changes and hence of the oceanic response to antarctic ice sheet evolution during the eocene and oligocene a combination of environmental factors such as sea surface temperature and nutrient availability is recorded by the nannofossil assemblages of and can be interpreted as responses to the following changes a cooling trend started in the middle eocene was interrupted by warming during the middle eocene climatic optimum and by short cooling episodes the cooling episode at 39 6 ma preceded a shift toward an interval that was dominated by oligotrophic nannofossil assemblages from 39 1 to 36 2 ma we suggest that oligotrophic conditions were associated with increased water mass stratification low nutrient contents and high efficiency of the oceanic biological pump that in turn promoted sequestration of carbon from surface waters which favored cooling after 36 2 ma we document a large synchronous surface water productivity turnover with a dominant eutrophic nannofossil assemblage that was accompanied by a pronounced increase in magnetotactic bacterial abundance this turnover reflects a response of coccolithophorids to changed nutrient inputs that was likely related to partial deglaciation of a transient antarctic ice sheet and or to iron delivery to the sea surface eutrophic conditions were maintained throughout the oligocene which was characterized by a nannofossil assemblage shift toward cool conditions at the eocene oligocene transition finally a warm nannofossil assemblage in the late oligocene indicates a warming phase

abrupt deep sea warming palaeoceanographic changes and benthic extinctions at the end of the palaeocene a remarkable oxygen and carbon isotope excursion occurred in antarctic waters near the end of the palaeocene 57 33 myr ago indicating rapid global warming and oceanographic changes that caused one of the largest deep sea benthic extinctions of the past 90 million years in contrast the oceanic plankton were largely unaffected implying a decoupling of the deep and shallow ecosystems the data suggest that for a few thousand years ocean circulation underwent fundamental changes producing a transient state that although brief had long term effects on environmental and biotic evolution

volcanic iron fertilization of primary productivity at kerguelen plateau southern ocean through the middle miocene climate transition abstract odp site 747 central kerguelen plateau contains a nearly complete record of the middle miocene climate transition mmct its unusually well preserved and rich foraminiferal assemblages have resulted in the mmct interval at site 747 becoming a focus of high resolution paleoclimatic studies that have established this sequence as a southern ocean reference we combine x ray fluorescence xrf elemental counts of fe ti and al and concentration dependent magnetic parameters to trace volcanic ash input to sediments at odp hole 747a we observe systematic variations in al ti and fe ti ratios that are consistent with increased primary productivity at times of increased terrigenous input and therefore increased nutrient supply a spike in terrigenous material which we interpret as volcanic ash coincides with major changes in species abundance and stable oxygen and carbon isotopic shifts within the mmct interval this correlation suggests that nutrient flux associated with volcanic iron fertilization played a significant role in controlling phytoplankton communities at site 747 we demonstrate that rapidly obtained xrf and magnetic parameters can provide useful proxies for terrigenous input and therefore nutrient fluxes in pelagic marine settings that can help to resolve local versus global drivers of paleoenvironmental and paleoceanographic changes

rock magnetic artifacts on long term relative paleointensity variations in sediments 1 long term changes of geomagnetic field intensity including possible dependence on lengths of polarity intervals provide fundamentally important information for understanding the geodynamo a positive correlation between paleointensity and polarity interval length was previously suggested from an oligocene ca 23 34 ma relative paleointensity record at deep sea drilling program site 522 in the atlantic ocean which is the only continuous paleointensity data set published so far for this age interval we have conducted a paleomagnetic study of eocene to oligocene sediments at three sites in the eastern equatorial pacific ocean our objectives include revisiting the issue of the paleointensity polarity length correlation magnetic properties of the sediments meet the frequently used criteria for reliable relative paleointensity estimation although short wavelength normalized remanence intensity fluctuations associated with polarity boundaries and possible geomagnetic excursions agree among the three sites long term changes are inconsistent apparent positive correlation between normalized intensity and polarity length was observed but the normalized intensity has an obvious anti correlation with the ratio of anhysteretic remanent magnetization arm to isothermal remanent magnetization irm which is mainly controlled by the relative abundance of biogenic and terrigenous magnetic minerals furthermore the normalized intensity correlates with sedimentation rate these facts indicate a lithological contamination on the normalized intensity records the dependence on arm irm and sedimentation rate is also evident at site 522 it is inferred that variations in sedimentation rate and the relative abundance of biogenic magnetite on depositional remanent magnetization acquisition efficiency may not be well compensated by the normalization it is therefore premature to conclude that stronger geomagnetic fields were recorded during longer polarity intervals from currently available normalized intensity records

detection of noninteracting single domain particles using first order reversal curve diagrams we present a highly sensitive and accurate method for quantitative detection and characterization of noninteracting or weakly interacting uniaxial single domain particles unisd in rocks and sediments the method is based on high resolution measurements of first order reversal curves forcs unisd particles have a unique forc signature that can be used to isolate their contribution among other magnetic components this signature has a narrow ridge along the hc axis of the forc diagram called the central ridge which is proportional to the switching field distribution of the particles therefore the central ridge is directly comparable with other magnetic measurements such as remanent magnetization curves with the advantage of being fully selective to sd particles rather than other magnetic components this selectivity is unmatched by other magnetic unmixing methods and offers useful applications ranging from characterization of sd particles for paleointensity studies to detecting magnetofossils and ultrafine authigenically precipitated minerals in sediments

environmental magnetism of pleistocene sediments in the north pacific and ontong java plateau temporal variations of detrital and biogenic components 1 an environmental magnetic study was conducted to investigate temporal variations of the sources of magnetic minerals in the pacific ocean using sediment cores of pleistocene age the proportion of interacting i to noninteracting n i single domain components was estimated from first order reversal curve diagrams and the proportion of middle m to low l coercivity components was determined from decomposition of isothermal remanent magnetization irm acquisition curves the i and m components are interpreted to be carried by terrigenous maghemite while the n i and l components represent biogenic magnetite an inverse correlation between the ratio of anhysteretic remanent magnetization susceptibility arm to saturation irm sirm and the i n i ratio was confirmed for sediments across wide expanses in the pacific ocean this implies that arm sirm can be used to estimate the relative abundances of biogenic and terrigenous components in sediments in the north pacific the relative abundance of the i and m components increases in glacial periods variations of arm sirm and s ratio s 0 1t resemble each other and decrease in the same time intervals these variations reflect increases of terrigenous input in glacial periods as eolian dust on the ontong java plateau in the western equatorial pacific on the other hand minima in arm sirm and s 0 1t occur at glacial to interglacial transitions and the relative abundance of the i and m components increases in these periods terrigenous material in this region is considered to be transported mainly from the new guinea and solomon islands by the equatorial undercurrent the higher proportion of the terrigenous component at glacial to interglacial transitions is coeval with carbonate preservation maxima reported from the ontong java plateau suggesting a linkage between the two

biogenic magnetite detrital hematite and relative paleointensity in quaternary sediments from the southwest iberian margin magnetic properties of late quaternary sediments on the sw iberian margin are dominated by bacterial magnetite observed by transmission electron microscopy tem with contributions from detrital titanomagnetite and hematite reactive hematite together with low organic matter concentrations and the lack of sulfate reduction lead to dissimilatory iron reduction and availability of fe ii for abundant magnetotactic bacteria magnetite grain size proxies arm and arm irm and s ratios sensitive to hematite vary on stadial interstadial timescales contain orbital power and mimic planktic 18 o the detrital biogenic magnetite ratio and hematite concentration are greater during stadials and glacial isotopic stages reflecting increased detrital magnetite input during times of lowered sea level coinciding with atmospheric conditions favoring hematitic dust supply magnetic susceptibility on the other hand has a very different response being sensitive to coarse detrital multidomain md magnetite associated with ice rafted debris ird high susceptibility and or magnetic grain size coarsening mark heinrich stadials hs particularly hs2 hs3 hs4 hs5 hs6 and hs7 as well as older heinrich like detrital layers indicating the sensitivity of this region to fluctuations in the position of the polar front relative paleointensity rpi records have well constrained age models based on planktic 18 o correlation to ice core chronologies however they differ from reference records e g piso particularly in the vicinity of glacial maxima mainly due to inefficient normalization of rpi records in intervals of enhanced hematite input

magnetostatic interactions in deep sea sediments inferred from first order reversal curve diagrams implications for relative paleointensity normalization 1 understanding magnetostatic interactions in sediments is important for paleomagnetism and rock magnetism magnetostatic interactions are known to affect significantly the efficiency of anhysteretic remanent magnetization arm acquisition and hence the ratio of arm susceptibility arm to saturation isothermal remanent magnetization sirm a magnetic grain size proxy widely used for environmental applications can be controlled by magnetostatic interactions relative paleointensity estimations may also be influenced by magnetostatic interactions because arm is often used as a normalizer to correct for the difference in magnetizability of sediments in this study characterization of magnetic grains in deep sea sediments from the north pacific ocean was conducted using first order reversal curve forc diagrams and irm acquisition curves the forc diagrams indicate that the magnetic grains consist mainly of a noninteracting single domain sd component and an interacting sd component and additionally of a multidomain md component the relative abundances of these components were semiquantitatively estimated by curve fitting of cross sections along a line parallel to the axis of local interaction fields hu and through a peak in the coercivity hc three components were fitted assuming a gaussian distribution of interaction fields hu the irm acquisition curves can be described by two dominant components assuming a log gaussian distribution the mean coercivities of the two components are 40 and 100 mt respectively it is estimated that the former component is carried by biogenic magnetite and roughly corresponds to the noninteracting sd component derived from the forc diagrams and that the latter component is carried by eolian maghemite corresponding to the interacting sd component the arm sirm ratio decreases with increasing concentration of the interacting sd component this implies that the arm sirm ratio is significantly affected by magnetostatic interactions and that it does not necessarily reflect magnetic grain size the effect of magnetostatic interactions on natural remanent magnetization acquisition in sediments is not well understood but if it is similarly sensitive to the sirm normalization by arm in relative paleointensity estimations would overcompensate for the concentration of magnetic grains and cause the significant coherence between the normalized intensity and the normalizer that has been reported in the literature

magnetotactic bacteria and single domain magnetite in hemipelagic sediments remanent magnetism in marine sediments has been used extensively over the past twenty years to calibrate the geological time scale study geomagnetic reversals and secular variation and measure the rates of seafloor spreading although these sediments may contain different magnetic minerals magnetite is the most commonly observed and magnetically stable phase and its size shape and post depositional fate affect the magnetic remanence of the sediments biogenic magnetites are single domain with a high natural magnetic remanence nrm and have been suggested as a significant source of magnetic remanence in marine sediments we have studied surface sediments from the santa barbara basin and report the occurrence of living magnetotactic bacteria and the deposition of biogenic ultra fine grained single domain magnetite using a novel extraction technique transmission electron microscopy and squid magnetometry we show that these bacteria and the magnetite they produce are the major source of stable remanent magnetism in these sediments

searching for single domain magnetite in the pseudo single domain sedimentary haystack implications of biogenic magnetite preservation for sediment magnetism and relative paleointensity determinations 1 magnetic hysteresis measurements of sediments have resulted in widespread reporting of pseudo single domain like magnetic properties in contrast the ideal single domain sd properties that would be expected to be responsible for high quality paleomagnetic records are rare determining whether sd particles are rare or common in sediments requires application of techniques that enable discrimination among different magnetic components in a sediment we apply a range of such techniques and find that sd particles are much more common than has been reported in the literature and that magnetite magnetofossils the inorganic remains of magnetotactic bacteria are widely preserved at depth in a range of sediment types including biogenic pelagic carbonates lacustrine and marine clays and possibly even in glaci marine sediments thus instead of being rarely preserved in the geological record we find that magnetofossils are widespread this observation has important implications for our understanding of how sediments become magnetized and highlights the need to develop a more robust basis for understanding how biogenic magnetite contributes to the magnetization of sediments magnetofossils also have grain sizes that are substantially smaller than the 1 15 m size range for which there is reasonable empirical support for relative paleointensity studies the different magnetic response of coexisting fine biogenic and coarser lithogenic particles is likely to complicate relative paleointensity studies this issue needs much closer attention despite the fact that sediments have been subjected to paleomagnetic investigation for over 60 years much remains to be understood about how they become magnetized

oligocene miocene magnetic stratigraphy carried by biogenic magnetite at sites u1334 and u1335 equatorial pacific ocean 1 sediments from the equatorial pacific ocean at the integrated ocean drilling program sites u1334 and u1335 record reliable magnetic polarity stratigraphies back to 26 5 ma late oligocene at sedimentation rates usually in the 5 20 m myr range putative polarity subchrons that do not appear in current polarity timescales occur within chrons c5acr c5adn and c5bn 1r at site u1335 and within chrons c6aar 2r c6br c7ar and c8n 1n at site u1334 subchron c5dr 1n 17 5 ma is recorded at both sites supporting its apparent recording in the south atlantic ocean and has an estimated duration of 40 kyr the oligocene miocene calcareous oozes have magnetizations carried by submicron magnetite as indicated by thermal demagnetization of magnetic remanences the anhysteretic remanence to susceptibility ratio and magnetic hysteresis parameters transmission electron microscopy of magnetic separates indicates the presence of low titanium iron oxide magnetite grains with size 50 100 nm and shape similar to modern and fossil bacterial magnetite supporting other evidence that biogenic submicron magnetite is the principal remanence carrier in these sediments in the equatorial pacific ocean low organic carbon burial arrests microbial pore water sulfate reduction thereby aiding preservation of bacterial magnetite

benthic foraminiferal response to the middle eocene climatic optimum meco in the south eastern atlantic odp site 1263 the response of marine biota to the middle eocene climatic optimum meco is still poorly constrained specifically changes in deep sea benthic foraminiferal faunas have been documented at few locations only we carried out a quantitative study of benthic foraminiferal assemblages at lower bathyal odp site 1263 walvis ridge se atlantic providing documentation of the response of benthic foraminiferal assemblage to the meco in an open ocean setting there was no major temporary or persistent assemblage turnover in benthic foraminiferal faunas in the se atlantic ocean the benthic foraminiferal accumulation rates bfar and assemblage composition indicate that the delivery of food to the seafloor increased during the early stages of surface and deep sea warming during this period the absolute and relative abundance of phytodetritus exploiters increased pronouncedly indicating that the increase in the flux of organic matter to the sea floor was largely seasonal or otherwise pulsed during later stages and peak warming of meco in contrast the flux of organic matter to the seafloor declined markedly as shown by a decrease in both infaunal and epifaunal benthic foraminiferal accumulation rates the low flux of organic matter during the more extreme parts of the meco thus did not favor one of these broad groups but affected all common taxa paleoceanographic reconstructions combined with data on benthic foraminifera suggest that the meco warming was the main cause of the reduction in the flux of organic matter to the sea floor by increasing the metabolic rates of pelagic consumers which thus used more food preventing it from reaching the sea floor as well as increasing remineralization of organic matter in the water column

surface water conditions and calcium carbonate preservation in the fram strait during marine isotope stage 2 28 8 15 4 kyr 1 we present a high resolution record of calcium carbonate preservation alongside the distribution pattern of planktic foraminifera from the fram strait the record covers the marine isotope stage mis 2 28 8 to 15 4 kyr including the last glacial maximum lgm and the early deglaciation in multidecadal temporal resolution the investigation is based on the distribution patterns of planktic foraminifera stable isotopes mean shell weight of neogloboquadrina pachyderma the degree of fragmentation of planktic shells caco3 content and geochemical and sedimentological data the dissolution proxies indicate long lasting periods of markedly reduced preservation of calcium carbonate at 28 8 27 2 24 1 23 2 and 16 6 15 4 kyr in addition to a number of short lasting periods 300 year during the lgm these periods are accompanied by a simultaneous and significant reduction in specimens of subpolar planktic foraminifera indicating a southward expansion of arctic surface water masses prolonged periods with high abundances of subpolar foraminiferal species and good preservation of calcium carbonate are attributed to increased influence of atlantic water masses which appears to persist throughout most of the mis 2 comparison to holocene mis 1 shell weight records shows that the preservation during mis 2 was overall better even during the events of dissolution this was probably a reflection of the low concentration of atmospheric co2 at the time

the identification and biogeochemical interpretation of fossil magnetotactic bacteria magnetotactic bacteria which most commonly live within the oxic anoxic transition zone oatz of aquatic environments produce intracellular crystals of magnetic minerals specifically magnetite or greigite the crystals cause the bacteria to orient themselves passively with respect to the geomagnetic field and thereby facilitate the bacteria s search for optimal conditions within the sharp chemical gradients of the oatz the bacteria may also gain energy from the redox cycling of their crystals because magnetotactic bacteria benefit from their magnetic moments natural selection has promoted the development of traits that increase the efficiency with which the intracellular crystals impart magnetic moments to cells these traits also allow crystals produced by magnetotactic bacteria called magnetofossils when preserved in sediments to be distinguished from abiogenic particles and particles produced as extracellular byproducts of bacterial metabolism magnetofossils are recognizable based on their narrow size and shape distributions distinctive morphologies with blunt crystal edges chain arrangement chemical purity and crystallographic perfection this article presents a scheme for rating magnetofossil robustness based on these traits the magnetofossil record extends robustly to the cretaceous and with lesser certainty to the late archean because magnetotactic bacteria predominantly live in the oatz the abundance and character of their fossils can reflect environmental changes that alter the chemical stratification of sediments and the water column the magnetofossil record therefore provides an underutilized archive of paleoenvironmental information several studies have demonstrated a relationship between magnetofossil abundance and glacial interglacial cycles likely mediated by changes in pore water oxygen levels more speculatively a better developed magnetofossil record might provide constraints on the long term evolution of marine redox stratification more work in modern and ancient settings is necessary to explicate the mechanisms linking the abundance and character of magnetofossils to ancient biogeochemistry

coupled greenhouse warming and deep sea acidification in the middle eocene 1 the middle eocene climatic optimum meco is an enigmatic warming event that represents an abrupt reversal in long term cooling through the eocene in order to further assess the timing and nature of this event we have assembled stable isotope and calcium carbonate concentration records from multiple deep sea drilling project and ocean drilling program sites for the time interval between 43 and 38 ma revised stratigraphy at several sites and compilation of 18o records place peak warming during the meco event at 40 0 ma chron c18n 2n the identification of the 18o excursion at sites in different geographic regions indicates that the climatic effects of this event were globally extensive the total duration of the meco event is estimated at 500 ka with peak warming lasting 100 ka assuming minimal glaciation in the late middle eocene 4 6 c total warming of both surface and deep waters is estimated during the meco at the study sites the interval of peak warming at 40 0 ma also coincided with a worldwide decline in carbonate accumulation at sites below 3000 m depth reflecting a temporary shoaling of the calcite compensation depth the synchroneity of deep water acidification and globally extensive warming makes a persuasive argument that the meco event was linked to a transient increase in atmospheric pco2 the results of this study confirm previous reports of significant climatic instability during the middle eocene furthermore the direct link between warming and changes in the carbonate chemistry of the deep ocean provides strong evidence that changes in greenhouse gas concentrations exerted a primary control on short term climate variability during this critical period of eocene climate evolution

evidence for bacterial palaeoecological origin of mineral magnetic cycles in oxic and sub oxic tasman sea sediments abstract sediments from the tasman basin in the southwest pacific ocean show a cyclic pattern of variation in mineral magnetic properties including susceptibility and remanence over the brunhes chron the magnetic pattern is dominated by fluctuations in the concentration of a single domain ferrimagnetic component identified as bacterial magnetofossils by tem investigation of the magnetic fraction the intervals of low bacterial magnetite concentration occurring in glacial periods are accompanied by a change of the bacterial magnetosome morphology assemblage interpreted as recording a change in bacterial species assemblage there is no evidence of iron or sulphate reducing conditions during low bacterial magnetite intervals concentrations of bacterial magnetite are low when oxygen concentrations in surface sediment pore waters dropped either as the result of variation in bottom water oxygen concentration or sedimentation rate the variations in the magnetic signal are therefore interpreted as resulting primarily from bacterial palaeoecological control rather than dissolution or alteration the bacteria in this deep sea environment are apparently aerophilic and grow near the sediment surface within the oxic zone implying that magnetic remanence is also acquired near the surface but up to tens of centimetres below where the oxic zone is very thick

magnetic properties of pelagic marine carbonates abstract pelagic carbonates are deposited far from continents usually at water depths of 3000 6000 m at rates below 10 cm kyr and are a globally important sediment type recent advances with recognition of widespread preservation of biogenic magnetite the inorganic remains of magnetotactic bacteria have fundamentally changed our understanding of the magnetic properties of pelagic carbonates we review evidence for the magnetic minerals typically preserved in pelagic carbonates the effects of magnetic mineral diagenesis on paleomagnetic and environmental magnetic records of pelagic carbonates and what magnetic properties can tell us about the open ocean environments in which pelagic carbonates are deposited we also discuss briefly late diagenetic remagnetisations recorded by some carbonates despite recent advances in our knowledge of these phenomena much remains undiscovered we are only at early stages of understanding how biogenic magnetite gives rise to paleomagnetic signals in sediments and whether it carries a poorly understood biogeochemical remanent magnetisation recently developed techniques have potential for testing how different magnetotactic bacterial species which produce different magnetite morphologies respond to changing nutrient and oxygenation conditions future work needs to test whether it is possible to develop proxies for ancient nutrient conditions from well calibrated modern magnetotactic bacterial occurrences a tantalizing link between giant magnetofossils and paleogene hyperthermal events needs to be tested much remains to be learned about the relationship between climate and the organisms that biomineralised these large and novel magnetite morphologies rather than being a well worn subject that has been studied for over 60 years the magnetic properties of pelagic carbonates hold many secrets that await discovery

the middle eocene climatic optimum meco a multiproxy record of paleoceanographic changes in the southeast atlantic odp site 1263 walvis ridge the middle eocene climatic optimum meco 40 ma was a transient period of global warming that interrupted the secular cenozoic cooling trend we investigated the paleoceanographic paleoenvironmental and paleoecological repercussions of the meco in the southeast atlantic subtropical gyre ocean drilling program site 1263 tex86 and 18o records support an 4 c increase in surface and deepwater temperatures during the meco there is no long term negative carbon isotope excursion cie associated with the early warming consistent with other sites and there is no short term negative cie 50 kyr during the peak of the meco in contrast to what has been observed at some sites this lack of a cie during the peak of the meco at site 1263 could be due to poor sediment recovery or geographic heterogeneity of the 13c signal benthic and planktic foraminiferal mass accumulation rates markedly declined during meco indicating a reduction of planktic foraminiferal production and export productivity vertical 13c gradients do not indicate major changes in water column stratification and there is no biomarker or micropaleontological evidence that hypoxia developed we suggest that temperature dependency of metabolic rates could explain the observed decrease in foraminiferal productivity during warming the kinetics of biochemical reactions increase with temperature more so for heterotrophs than for autotrophs steady warming during meco may have enhanced heterotroph i e foraminiferal metabolic rates so that they required more nutrients these additional nutrients were not available because of the oligotrophic conditions in the region and the lesser response of primary producers to warming the combination of warming and heterotroph starvation altered pelagic food webs increased water column recycling of organic carbon and decreased the amount of organic carbon available to the benthos

remedying embankment thaw settlement in a warm permafrost region with thermosyphons and crushed rock revetment due to the special engineering geology characteristics of permafrost construction in permafrost regions tends to result in serious permafrost related engineering problems thaw settlement induced by permafrost degradation is the principal challenge for railway construction on the qinghai tibetan plateau it threatens the stability and safety of the railway system especially in warm and ice rich permafrost regions thaw settlement in section dk1139 780 along the qinghai tibetan railway is a potential risk to the safety of the railway and a combination of closed thermosyphons and crushed rock revetment was used to remedy permafrost warming and thaw settlement of the embankment based on ground temperatures and embankment deformations observed at this site since 2002 the effects of the remedial measures were evaluated the results show that the remedial measures lowered the ground temperature and raised the permafrost table the crushed rock slope protection acted as an insulation layer and reduced heat

mineral magnetic properties of artificial samples systematically mixed from haematite and magnetite summary detailed rock magnetic investigations were carried out on a set of samples with defined ratios of haematite and magnetite the measured parameters provide a reference for interpreting common rock magnetic parameters in investigations of sediments the contribution of haematite to the magnetic fraction must exceed 95 wt of the magnetic fraction when mixed with magnetite in order to visibly influence grain size and coercitivity indicative magnetic parameters coercivity of remanence bcr and coercive force bc do not change in the same way with increasing haematite content which results in a peak bcr bc value at around 99 5 wt haematite variations in haematite content can be ignored when interpreting most rock magnetic parameters especially grain size indicative parameters for samples where haematite contents range from 0 to 98 wt the s ratio is still the most sensitive parameter for estimating the relative amount of haematite in magnetite haematite mixtures a combination of s ratio the saturation isothermal remanent magnetization divided by the low field magnetic susceptibility sirm lf and bcr is the most effective way to identify haematite in natural samples our results agree with literature data and fill the gap between results obtained either from pure magnetite or haematite with comparable grain sizes