skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Title: Data report: paleomagnetic directions from IODP Expedition 354, Hole U1451A, Cores 23H and 24H
International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 354 Site U1451 was drilled as the easternmost of seven sites forming a transect across the Bengal Fan at 8°N. Site U1451 recovered the oldest Bengal Fan sediments of the expedition, providing a long sedimentary record and valuable chronostratigraphic constraints on seismic imaging. Two cores recovered from Hole U1451A, Cores 23H and 24H, had uninterpretable archive-half remanent magnetizations measured on ship, despite having a calcareous clay lithology that was generally suitable for magnetostratigraphy in middle Pleistocene sediments. Shipboard biostratigraphy places these cores around the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary. Paleomagnetic measurements of discrete subsamples, reported here, indicate that both Cores 23H and 24H contain no magnetic reversals, implying each core was deposited during a single polarity chron. These results suggest, based on sedimentation rate estimates, that the Gauss–Matuyama reversal and the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary in Hole U1451A is located between the base of Core 23H and top of Core 24H (129.54–131.33 m CSF-A), although this needs to be confirmed by postexpedition biostratigraphic studies.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1326927
PAR ID:
10229643
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program
Volume:
354
ISSN:
2377-3189
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Site U1455 (proposed Site MBF-1A) is the last site drilled during Expedition 354 in the Bengal Fan. It is a reoccupation of Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 218 (see Figure F11 in the Expedition 354 summary chapter [France-Lanord et al., 2016e]) (von der Borch, Sclater, et al., 1974), which was the first attempt to drill the Bengal Fan and was only spot cored with the rotary core barrel (RCB) system to 773 meters below seafloor (mbsf). The site is above the eastern flank of the 85°E Ridge at 8°0.42′N, 86°16.97′E at 3743 m water depth. Site U1455 is one of three deep-penetration sites along the Expedition 354 transect dedicated to reveal Neogene fan evolution and Himalayan erosion. This site will also document Pleistocene fan architecture when integrated into the complete seven-site transect. Coring to 900 mbsf was planned to determine Miocene to Pliocene accumulation rates and changes related to Himalayan erosion and environment. The deeper part of the site will extend the existing Site 218 record back into the middle Miocene. Because of time constraints at the end of the expedition, we focused coring on three objectives: the Pleistocene (0–122 mbsf), the late Miocene terrestrial vegetation transition from C3 to C4 plants (360–431 mbsf), and the middle Miocene (773–949 mbsf) to extend the existing core record of Site 218. 
    more » « less
  2. Site U1451 (proposed Site MBF-3A) is the easternmost site of our Bengal Fan transect at 8°N and was the only one aimed at coring the oldest part of the fan. The site is located above the western flank of the Ninetyeast Ridge at 8°0.42′N, 88°44.50′E in 3607.3 m water depth. Seismic data show that the overall fan section is condensed at Site U1451 compared to the axial part of the fan because of ongoing deformation along the Ninetyeast Ridge since the Miocene (Schwenk and Spiess, 2009). The drilling objective was to recover the complete fan section down to a seismic unconformity, which is believed to indicate the onset of fan deposition at this location. Site U1451 also contributes to the Miocene–Pliocene transect of three ~900 m deep holes documenting Himalayan erosion and paleoenvironment. Finally, the upper section of the site is part of the seven-site transect drilled to investigate late Pliocene to recent depocenter migration and overall fan sedimentation. 
    more » « less
  3. Site U1450 (proposed Site MBF-2A) occupies a central position at 8°0.42′N and 87°40.25′E in the east–west transect across the Bengal Fan at 8°N. It is located at equal distance from Site U1451 on the flank of the Ninetyeast Ridge and Site U1455 on the flank of the 85°E Ridge. The overall thickness of the fan reaches ~4 km at this location (Curray et al., 2003). Neogene sediment thickness decreases toward the two ridges, which is likely the result of ongoing deformation on both ridges during the Neogene (Schwenk and Spiess, 2009). At this central position of the transect, the upper Miocene and Pliocene–Pleistocene sections of the fan appear to be most expanded and are inferred to contain a higher resolution record, as well as accumulating, on average, coarser grained material. The shallow section at this site is one of the seven ~200 m deep sections along the 8°N transect that constrain the Middle Bengal Fan architecture in space, time, and sediment delivery rate during the Pleistocene. The deeper section at this site will document the delivery mechanisms of the fan and the climatically and tectonically influenced sediment supply from the Himalaya during the Neogene. Changes in the source regions in response to tectonic and climatic evolution of the Himalaya are expected to be reflected in the sediment’s mineralogical and geochemical compositions, the geochronological data, and in accumulation rates across the transect. 
    more » « less
  4. null (Ed.)
    International Ocean Discovery Expedition 354 to 8°N in the Bay of Bengal drilled a seven site, 320 km long transect across the Bengal Fan. Three deep-penetration and an additional four shallow holes give a spatial overview of the primarily turbiditic depositional system that comprises the Bengal deep-sea fan. Sediments originate from Himalayan rivers, documenting terrestrial changes of Himalayan erosion and weathering, and are transported through a delta and shelf canyon, supplying turbidity currents loaded with a full spectrum of grain sizes. Mostly following transport channels, sediments deposit on and between levees while depocenters laterally shift over hundreds of kilometers on millennial timescales. During Expedition 354, these deposits were documented in space and time, and the recovered sediments have Himalayan mineralogical and geochemical signatures relevant for reconstructing time series of erosion, weathering, and changes in source regions, as well as impacts on the global carbon cycle. Miocene shifts in terrestrial vegetation, sediment budget, and style of sediment transport were tracked. Expedition 354 has extended the record of early fan deposition by 10 My into the late Oligocene. 
    more » « less
  5. International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 354 to 8°N in the Bay of Bengal drilled a seven-site, 320 km long transect across the Bengal Fan. Three deep-penetration and an additional four shallow holes give a spatial overview of the primarily turbiditic depositional system that comprises the Bengal deep-sea fan. Sediments originate from Himalayan rivers, documenting terrestrial changes of Himalayan erosion and weathering, and are transported through a delta and shelf canyon, supplying turbidity currents loaded with a full spectrum of grain sizes. Mostly following transport channels, sediments deposit on and between levees while depocenters laterally shift over hundreds of kilometers on millennial timescales. During Expedition 354, these deposits were documented in space and time, and the recovered sediments have Himalayan mineralogical and geochemical signatures relevant for reconstructing time series of erosion, weathering, and changes in source regions, as well as impacts on the global carbon cycle. Miocene shifts in terrestrial vegetation, sediment budget, and style of sediment transport were tracked. Expedition 354 has extended the record of early fan deposition by 10 My into the late Oligocene. 
    more » « less