Terrigenous sediment delivery and redistribution in the North Atlantic Ocean Basin

For this project we analyzed the strontium and neodymium isotope composition of terrigenous sediments delivered to the North Atlantic Ocean basin during the Holocene and Last Glacial Maximum. The goal was to understand how sedimentation patterns change during periods of different climate.

Research Projects:

Modeling the distribution of Nd isotopes in the oceans using an ocean general circulation model

We set up some simple experiments that test the possibility of conservative transport of Nd isotopes in the modern ocean. We found that some inputs within the interior ocean must exist in order for our model output to match the measured data. However, the model results for parts of the Atlantic Ocean were consistent with quasi-conservative behavior.

 

Coretop calibration of Nd isotopes from Holocene South African margin sediments with modern seawater

The ferro-manganese fraction of sediments from cores collected along a depth transect during cruise CD154 have been analyzed for Nd isotopes and will be compared to seawater from the same depths. If the sediments match the proximal seawater, then we will look at down-core sediments to identify changes in ocean circulation during times of different climate.