Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T16:35:22.572Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Late Quaternary climatic events and sea-level changes recorded by turbidite activity, Dakar Canyon, NW Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Roberto Pierau ,
Till J.J. Hanebuth ,
Sebastian Krastel  and
Rüdiger Henrich
Roberto Pierau*
Affiliation:
MARUM — Center for Marine Environmental Sciences and Faculty of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Klagenfurter Straße, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Till J.J. Hanebuth
Affiliation:
MARUM — Center for Marine Environmental Sciences and Faculty of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Klagenfurter Straße, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Sebastian Krastel
Affiliation:
IFM Geomar, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany
Rüdiger Henrich
Affiliation:
MARUM — Center for Marine Environmental Sciences and Faculty of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Klagenfurter Straße, 28359 Bremen, Germany
*
*Corresponding author. PanTerra Geoconsultants B.V., Weversbaan 1-3, 2352BZ Leiderdorp, The Netherlands. Fax: +31 71 301 0802.E-mail address:[email protected] (R. Pierau).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The relationship of sea-level changes and short-term climatic changes with turbidite deposition is poorly documented, although the mechanisms of gravity-driven sediment transport in submarine canyons during sea-level changes have been reported from many regions. This study focuses on the activity of the Dakar Canyon off southern Senegal in response to major glacial/interglacial sea-level shifts and variability in the NW-African continental climate. The sedimentary record from the canyon allows us to determine the timing of turbidite events and on the basis of XRF-scanning element data, we have identified the climate signal at a sub-millennial time scale from the surrounding hemipelagic sediments. Over the late Quaternary the highest frequency in turbidite activity in the Dakar Canyon is confined to major climatic terminations when remobilisation of sediments from the shelf was triggered by the eustatic sea-level rise. However, episodic turbidite events coincide with the timing of Heinrich events in the North Atlantic. During these times continental climate has changed rapidly, with evidence for higher dust supply over NW Africa which has fed turbidity currents. Increased aridity and enhanced wind strength in the southern Saharan–Sahelian zone may have provided a source for this dust.

Keywords

Turbidite systemSea-level changePalaeoclimateNW AfricaHeinrich equivalents
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 73 , Issue 2 , March 2010 , pp. 385 - 392
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arz, H.W., Pätzold, J., Wefer, G., (1998). Correlated millennial-scale changes in surface hydrography and terrigenous sediment yield inferred from last-glacial marine deposits off Northeastern Brazil. Quaternary Research 50, 157–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bard, E., Arnold, M., Hamelin, B., Tisnerat-Laborde, N., Cabioch, G., (1998). Radiocarbon calibration by means of mass spectrometric 230Th/234U and 14C ages of corals. An updated data base including samples from Barbados, Mururoa and Tahiti. Radiocarbon 40, 1041–1085.Google Scholar
Barusseau, J.P., Giresse, P., Faure, H., Lezinet, A.M., Masse, J.P., (1988). Marine sedimentary environments on some parts of the tropical and equatorial Atlantic margins of Africa during the Late Quaternary. Continental Shelf Research 8, 1–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bouma, A.H., (1962). Sedimentology of Some Flysch Deposits: A Graphic Approach to Facies Interpretation. Elsevier, Amsterdam. Google Scholar
deMenocal, P., Ortiz, J., Guilderson, T., Adkins, J., Sarnthein, M., Baker, L., Yarusinsky, M., (2000a). Abrupt onset and termination of the African Humid Period: rapid climate response to gradual insolation forcing. Quaternary Science Review 19, 347–361.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
deMenocal, P.B., Ortiz, J., Guilderson, T., Sarnthein, M., (2000b). Coherent high- and low-latitude climate variability during the Holocene Warm Period. Science 288, 2198–2202.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fairbanks, R.G., (1989). A 17,000 year glacial eustatic sea level record: influence of glacial melting rates on the Younger Dryas event and deep ocean circulation. Nature 342, 637–641.Google Scholar
Gasse, F., Lédée, V., Massault, M., Fontes, J.-C., (1989). Water-level fluctuations of Lake Tanganyika in phase with oceanic changes during the last glaciation and deglaciation. Nature 342, 57–59.Google Scholar
Hagen, E., (2001). Northwest African upwelling scenario. Oceanologica 24, 113–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanebuth, T., Stattergger, K., Grootes, P.M., (2000). Rapid flooding of the Sunda Shelf: a late-glacial sea-level record. Science 288, 1033–1035.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hooghiemstra, H., Lézine, A.-M., Leroy, S.A.G., Dupont, L., Marret, F., (2006). Late Quaternary palynology in marine sediments: a synthesis of the understanding of pollen distribution patterns in the NW African setting. Quaternary International 148, 29–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jennerjahn, T.C., Ittekkot, V., Arz, H.W., Behling, H., Pätzold, J., Wefer, G., (2004). Asynchronous terrestrial and marine signals of climate change during Heinrich Events. Science 306, 2236–2239.Google Scholar
Jullien, E., Grousset, F., Malaizé, B., Duprat, J., Sanchez-Goni, M.F., Eynaud, F., Charlier, K., Schneider, R., Bory, A., Bout, V., Flores, J.A., (2007). Low-latitude “dusty events” vs. high-latitude “icy Heinrich events”. Quaternary Research 68, 379–386.Google Scholar
Koopmann, B., (1981). Sedimentation von Saharastaub im subtropischen Nordaltantik während der letzten 25.000Jahre. Meteor Forschungs-Ergebnisse 35, 23–59.Google Scholar
Kuhlmann, H., Meggers, H., Freudenthal, T., Wefer, G., (2004). The transition of the monsoonal and the N Atlantic climate system off NW Africa during the Holocene. Geophysical Research Letters 31. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambeck, K., Esat, T.M., Potter, E.-K., (2002). Links between climate and sea levels for the past three million years. Nature 419, 199–206.Google Scholar
Lancaster, N., Kocurek, G., Singhvi, A., Pandey, V., Deynoux, M., Ghienne, J.-F., Lô, K., (2002). Late Pleistocene and Holocene dune activity and wind regimes in the western Sahara Desert of Mauritania. Geology 30, 991–994.Google Scholar
Lèzine, A.-M., (1991). West African paleoclimates during the last climatic cycle inferred from an Atlantic deep-sea pollen record. Quaternary International 35, 456–463.Google Scholar
Lonsdale, P., (1982). Sediment drift of the Northeast Atlantic and their relationship to the observed abyssal currents. Bulletin de I'Institut de Geologie du Bassin d'Aquitaine 141–150.Google Scholar
Martinez, P., Bertrand, P., Shimmield, G.B., Cochrane, K., Jorissen, F.J., Dignan, M., (1999). Upwelling intensity and ocean productivity changes off Cape Blanc (northwest Africa) during the last 70.000 years: geochemical and micropalaeontological evidence. Marine Geology 158, . CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martinson, D.G., Pisias, N.G., Hays, J.D., Imbrie, J.D., Moore, T.C., Shackleton, N.J., (1987). Age dating and the orbital theory of the ice ages: development of a high-resolution 0 to 300,000-year chronostratigraphy. Quaternary Research 27, 1–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matthewson, A.P., Shimmield, G.B., Kroon, D., (1995). A 300 kyr high-resolution aridity record of the North African continent. Paleoceanography 10, 677–692.Google Scholar
McMaster, R.L., Lachance, T.P., (1969). Northwestern African continental shelf sediments. Marine Geology 7, 57–67.Google Scholar
Mittelstaedt, E., (1991). The ocean boundary along the North-west African coast: circulation and oceanographic properties at the sea surface. Progress in Oceanography 26, 307–355.Google Scholar
Moreno, A., Targarona, J., Henderiks, J., Canals, M., Freudenthal, T., Meggers, H., (2001). Orbital forcing of dust supply to the North Canary Basin over the last 250 kyr. Quaternary Science Review 20, 1327–1339.Google Scholar
Moreno, E., Thouveny, N., Delanghe, D., McCave, I.N., Shackelton, N.J., (2002). Climatic and oceanographic changes in the Northeast Atlantic reflected by magnetic properties of sediments deposited on the Portuguese Margin during the last 340"ka. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 202, 465–480.Google Scholar
Nicholson, S.E., (2000). The nature of rainfall variability over Africa on time scales of decades to millenia. Global and Planetary Change 26, 137–158.Google Scholar
Pailler, D., Bard, E., (2002). High frequency palaeoceanographic changes during the past 140000 yr recorded by the organic matter in sediments of the Iberian Margin. Palaeogeographgy, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 181, 431–452.Google Scholar
Peltier, W.R., Fairbanks, R.G., (2006). Global glacial ice volume and Last Glacial Maximum duration from an extended Barbados sea level record. Quaternary Science Review 25, 3322–3337.Google Scholar
Prospero, J.M., Lamb, P.J., (2003). African droughts and dust transport to the Caribbean: climate change implications. Science 302, 1024–1027.Google Scholar
Redois, F., Debenay, J.-P., (1999). Répartition des foraminifères benthiques actuels sur le plateau continental sénégalais au sud de Dakar. Oceanologica Acta 22, 215–232.Google Scholar
Rognon, P., Coudé-Gaussen, G., (1996). Paleoclimates off Northwest Africa (28°-35°N) about 18.00 yr B.P. based on continental eolian deposits. Quaternary Research 46, 118–126.Google Scholar
Sarnthein, M., (1978). Sand deserts during glacial maximum and climate optimum. Nature 272, 43–46.Google Scholar
Sarnthein, M., Diester-Haass, L., (1977). Eolian-sand turbidites. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 47, 868–890.Google Scholar
Sarnthein, M., Thiede, J., Pflaumann, U., Erlenkeuser, H., Fütterer, D., Koopmann, B., Lange, H., Seibold, E., (1982). Atmospheric and Oceanic Circulation Patterns Off Northwest Africa during the past 25 Million Years. von Rad, U., Hinz, K., Sarnthein, M., Seibold, E., Geology of the Northwest African Continental Margin. Springer, Berlin., 545–604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seibold, E., Fütterer, D., (1982). Sediment dynamics on the Northwest African continental margin. Scrutton, R.A., Talwabi, M., The Ocean Floor. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester., 147–163.Google Scholar
Siddall, M., Bard, E., Rohling, E.J., Hemleben, C., (2006). Sea-level reversal during Termination II. Geology 34, 817–820.Google Scholar
Siddall, M., Rohling, E.J., Almogi-Labin, A., Hemleben, C., Meischer, D., Schmelzer, I., Smeed, D.A., (2003). Sea-level fluctuations during the last glacial cycle. Nature 423, 853–858.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stramma, L., Hüttl, S., Schafstall, J., (2005). Water masses and currents in the upper tropical northeast Atlantic off northwest Africa. Journal of Geophysical Reserarch 110, . Google Scholar
Stramma, L., Schott, F., (1999). The mean flow field of the tropical Atlantic Ocean. Deep-Sea Research II 46, 279–303.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M., Reimer, P.J., Bard, E., Beck, J.W., Burr, G.S., Hughen, K.A., Kromer, B., McCormac, G., Van der Plicht, J., Spurk, M., (1998). INTCAL98 radiocarbon age calibration, 24.000-0 cal BP. Radiocarbon 40, 1041–1084.Google Scholar
Thouveney, N., Moreno, E., Delanghe, D., Candon, L., Lancelot, Y., Shackelton, N.J., (2000). Rock magnetic detection of distal ice-rafted debris: clue for the identification of Heinrich events on the Portuguese margin. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 180, 61–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vidal, L., Labeyrie, L., Cortijo, E., Arnold, M., Duplessy, J.C., Michel, E., Becqué, S., van Weering, T.C.E., (1997). Evidence for changes in the North Atlantic Deep Water linked to meltwater surges during the Heinrich events. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 146, 13–27.Google Scholar
Weaver, P.P.E., Wynn, R.B., Kenyon, N.H., Evans, J., (2000). Continental margin sedimentation, with special reference to the north-east Atlantic margin. Sedimentology 47, 239–356.Google Scholar
Wynn, R.B., Masson, D.G., Stow, D.A.V., Weaver, P.P.E., (2000). The Northwest African slope apron: a modern analogue for deep-water systems with complex seafloor topography. Marine and Petroleum Geology 17, 253–265.Google Scholar
Yokoyama, Y., Esat, T.M., Lambeck, K., (2001). Coupled climate and sea-level changes deduced from Huon Peninsula coral terraces of the last ice age. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 193, 579–587.Google Scholar
Zhao, M., Beveridge, N.A.S., Shackelton, N.J., Sarnthein, M., Eglinton, G., (1995). Molecular stratigraphy of cores off northwest Africa: Sea surface temperature history over the last 80 ka. Paleoceanography 10, 661–675.Google Scholar
Zühlsdorff, C., Wien, K., Stuut, J.-B. W., Henrich, R., (2007). Late Quaternary sedimentation within a submarine channel-levee system offshore Cap Timiris. Mauritania. Marine Geology 240, 217–234.Google Scholar