Late glacial initiation of Holocene eastern Mediterranean sapropel formation

Rosina Grimm (), Ernst Maier-Reimer, Uwe Mikolajewicz, Gerhard Schmiedl, Katharina Müller-Navarra, Fanny Adloff, Katharine M. Grant, Martin Ziegler, Lucas J. Lourens and Kay-Christian Emeis
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Rosina Grimm: Max Planck Institute for Meteorology
Ernst Maier-Reimer: Max Planck Institute for Meteorology
Uwe Mikolajewicz: Max Planck Institute for Meteorology
Gerhard Schmiedl: Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability, Institute of Geology, University of Hamburg
Katharina Müller-Navarra: Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability, Institute of Geology, University of Hamburg
Fanny Adloff: CNRM-GAME, Météo-France, CNRS
Katharine M. Grant: Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University
Martin Ziegler: ETH Zürich, Geological Institute
Lucas J. Lourens: University of Utrecht
Kay-Christian Emeis: Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability, Institute of Geology, University of Hamburg

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Recurrent deposition of organic-rich sediment layers (sapropels) in the eastern Mediterranean Sea is caused by complex interactions between climatic and biogeochemical processes. Disentangling these influences is therefore important for Mediterranean palaeo-studies in particular, and for understanding ocean feedback processes in general. Crucially, sapropels are diagnostic of anoxic deep-water phases, which have been attributed to deep-water stagnation, enhanced biological production or both. Here we use an ocean-biogeochemical model to test the effects of commonly proposed climatic and biogeochemical causes for sapropel S1. Our results indicate that deep-water anoxia requires a long prelude of deep-water stagnation, with no particularly strong eutrophication. The model-derived time frame agrees with foraminiferal δ13C records that imply cessation of deep-water renewal from at least Heinrich event 1 to the early Holocene. The simulated low particulate organic carbon burial flux agrees with pre-sapropel reconstructions. Our results offer a mechanistic explanation of glacial–interglacial influence on sapropel formation.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms8099

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