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Creators/Authors contains: "O'Connell, Suzanne"

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  1. Data files for rock magnetic data collected on discrete samples at the Institute for Rock Magnetism, University of Minnesota on a Quantum Designs Magnetic Properties System 3 (MPMS3) and Lakeshore Model 8600 Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM). Data include Field Cooled (FC), Zero Field Cooled (ZFC), and Low Temperature Cycling of Room Temperature Saturation Isothermal Remanent Magnetization (LTC-RTSIRM) curves measured on the MPMS and Hysteresis Loops, Direct Current Demagnetization Curves, and Hysteresis Loops collected on the VSM. 
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  2. {"Abstract":["Supplementary tables in support of "Antarctic response to orbital forcing during the intensification of extensive bipolar glaciation (1.75-3.30 Ma) from relative paleomagnetic intensity (RPI) stratigraphy of the Dove Basin, Scotia Sea, in Iceberg Alley.""]} 
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  3. Glacial-marine sediments from the Antarctic continental margin provide a record of depositional environment, oceanographic variability and ice dynamics that is tapped with scientific ocean drilling. This study focuses on Ocean Drilling Program Core 693A-2R, a 9.7 m sediment core retrieved from near the continental margin of the Archean Grunehogna Craton in Dronning Maud Land (DML), East Antarctica. The results contribute to a better understanding of ice-shelf behavior in DML during the mid-Pleistocene transition (MPT), a well-known transition from 40-kyr to 100-kyr cycle periods. The age model, constructed based on Sr isotope stratigraphy and geomagnetic reversals, indicates that the core spans 1.20 to 0.65 Ma. The dynamic behavior of DML ice shelves with periodic iceberg calving is revealed by the glacial–interglacial variation in sedimentation patterns, with interglacials characterized by higher concentrations of ice-rafted debris (IRD) associated with enhanced paleo- productivity than glacial intervals. The responses of DML ice shelves to warm climates are represented by a prolonged interglacial period at 1.0–1.1 Ma (MIS 31–27) and significant interglacial expressions during MIS 19 and 17. The 40Ar/39Ar ages of individual ice-rafted hornblende grains are compared with the on-land geology of DML and neighboring regions to determine the provenances of IRD. Specifically, 40Ar/39Ar results record pri- marily late Neoproterozoic to Cambrian ages (600–400 Ma) with a predominant peak of 520–480 Ma. This Pan- African/Ross orogeny signature is very common in East Antarctica but is not found in the most proximal margin of the Grunehogna Craton, and is instead associated with the region of DML several hundred kilometers east of the deposition site. This indicates that significant discharges of icebergs occurred in the remote DML, which were then transported by the westward-flowing Antarctic Coastal Current to deposit IRD at the studied site during the MPT. This study establishes a confirmed MPT sedimentary sequence off DML, against which future MPT proxy records from the Weddell Sea embayment and other sectors in Antarctica can be compared and correlated, and provides a basis for more detailed analyses of the response of DML ice sheet to Pleistocene climate variations. 
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  4. Abstract By studying deep‐sea drilled records from the North Atlantic Ocean, several magnetic instabilities of short duration, such as the Iceland Basin (188 ka), the Björn (1,255 ka) and the Gardar (1,460 ka) excursions, were discovered. These records have contributed to our understanding of Earth's magnetic field and are the foundation of the Geomagnetic Instability Time Scale (GITS) in the Quaternary. Here, we present the magnetostratigraphy from Sites U1555 (0 to ∼2.7 Ma) and U1563 (0 to ∼5.2 Ma) drilled during the International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 395C on the eastern side of the modern Mid‐Atlantic Ridge (∼60°N, 20–30°W). Shipboard paleomagnetic and microfossil data provided a preliminary age model, extending the regional record to 3.4 Ma. The Virtual Geomagnetic Pole latitudes from archive halves, corroborated with data from discrete samples, were used to build a high‐resolution magnetostratigraphy, which contained the expected Brunhes and Matuyama Chrons and their respective Subchrons. We also identified most of the magnetic events reported in the GITS, including the less well‐documented ones, such as Osaka, Kamitzukara, Huckleberry Ridge, Reunion, Gardar, Halawa and L4 events. The high‐resolution magnetostratigraphy from Sites U1555 and U1563 is compared with two previous legacy sites and contributes toward an increasingly robust GITS, expanding its use as a correlation and dating tool. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available June 1, 2026
  5. Abstract Ice loss in the Southern Hemisphere has been greatest over the past 30 years in West Antarctica. The high sensitivity of this region to climate change has motivated geologists to examine marine sedimentary records for evidence of past episodes of West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) instability. Sediments accumulating in the Scotia Sea are useful to examine for this purpose because they receive iceberg‐rafted debris (IBRD) sourced from the Pacific‐ and Atlantic‐facing sectors of West Antarctica. Here we report on the sedimentology and provenance of the oldest of three cm‐scale coarse‐grained layers recovered from this sea at International Ocean Discovery Program Site U1538. These layers are preserved in opal‐rich sediments deposited ∼1.2 Ma during a relatively warm regional climate. Our microCT‐based analysis of the layer's in‐situ fabric confirms its ice‐rafted origin. We further infer that it is the product of an intense but short‐lived episode of IBRD deposition. Based on the petrography of its sand fraction and the Phanerozoic40Ar/39Ar ages of hornblende and mica it contains, we conclude that the IBRD it contains was likely sourced from the Weddell Sea and/or Amundsen Sea embayment(s) of West Antarctica. We attribute the high concentrations of IBRD in these layers to “dirty” icebergs calved from the WAIS following its retreat inland from its modern grounding line. These layers also sit at the top of a ∼366‐m thick Pliocene and early Pleistocene sequence that is much more dropstone‐rich than its overlying sediments. We speculate this fact may reflect that WAIS mass‐balance was highly dynamic during the ∼41‐kyr (inter)glacial world. 
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