ALBERT

Description: Present day oceans are well ventilated, with the exception of mid-depth oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) under high surface water productivity, regions of sluggish circulation, and restricted marginal basins. In the Mesozoic, however, entire oceanic basins transiently became dysoxic or anoxic. The Cretaceous ocean anoxic events (OAEs) were characterised by laminated organic-carbon rich shales and low-oxygen indicating trace fossils preserved in the sedimentary record. Yet assessments of the intensity and extent of Cretaceous near-bottom water oxygenation have been hampered by deep or long-term diagenesis and the evolution of marine biota serving as oxygen indicators in today's ocean. Sedimentary features similar to those found in Cretaceous strata were observed in deposits underlying Recent OMZs, where bottom-water oxygen levels, the flux of organic matter, and benthic life have been studied thoroughly. Their implications for constraining past bottom-water oxygenation are addressed in this review. We compared OMZ sediments from the Peruvian upwelling with deposits of the late Cenomanian OAE 2 from the north-west African shelf. Holocene laminated sediments are encountered at bottom-water oxygen levels of 〈 7 μmol kg−1 under the Peruvian upwelling and 〈 5 μmol kg−1 in California Borderland basins and the Pakistan Margin. Seasonal to decadal changes of sediment input are necessary to create laminae of different composition. However, bottom currents may shape similar textures that are difficult to discern from primary seasonal laminae. The millimetre-sized trace fossil Chondrites was commonly found in Cretaceous strata and Recent oxygen-depleted environments where its diameter increased with oxygen levels from 5 to 45 μmol kg−1. Chondrites has not been reported in Peruvian sediments but centimetre-sized crab burrows appeared around 10 μmol kg−1, which may indicate a minimum oxygen value for bioturbated Cretaceous strata. Organic carbon accumulation rates ranged from 0.7 and 2.8 g C cm−2 kyr−1 in laminated OAE 2 sections in Tarfaya Basin, Morocco, matching late Holocene accumulation rates of laminated Peruvian sediments under Recent oxygen levels below 5 μmol kg−1. Sediments deposited at 〉 10 μmol kg−1 showed an inverse exponential relationship of bottom-water oxygen levels and organic carbon accumulation depicting enhanced bioirrigation and decomposition of organic matter with increased oxygen supply. In the absence of seasonal laminations and under conditions of low burial diagenesis, this relationship may facilitate quantitative estimates of palaeo-oxygenation. Similarities and differences between Cretaceous OAEs and late Quaternary OMZs have to be further explored to improve our understanding of sedimentary systems under hypoxic conditions.

Description: Oceanic Anoxic Events (OAEs) document major perturbations of the global carbon cycle with repercussions on the Earth’s climate and ocean circulation that are relevant to understand future climate trends. Here, we compare sedimentation patterns, nutrient cycling, organic carbon accumulation and carbon isotope variability across Cretaceous Oceanic Anoxic Events OAE1a and OAE2 in two drill cores with unusually high sedimentation rates from the Vocontian Basin (southern France) and Tarfaya Basin (southern Morocco). OAE1a and OAE2 exhibit remarkable similarities in the evolution of their δ13C excursion with long-lasting negative carbon isotope excursions preceding the onset of both anoxic events, supporting the view that OAEs were triggered by massive emissions of volcanic CO2 into the atmosphere. Based on analysis of cyclic sediment variations, we estimated the duration of the individual phases within the carbon isotope excursions. For both events, we identify: (1) a precursor phase lasting ~ 430 kyr and ~ 130 kyr, (2) an onset phase of ~ 390 and ~ 70 kyr, (3) a peak phase of ~ 600 and ~ 90 kyr, (4) a plateau phase of ~ 1400 and ~ 200 kyr and (5) a recovery phase of ~ 630 and ~ 440 kyr, respectively. The total duration of the positive carbon isotope excursion is estimated as 3400 kyr and 790 kyr and that of the main carbon accumulation phase as 980 kyr and 180 kyr, for OAE1a and OAE 2 respectively. The extended duration of the peak, plateau and recovery phases requires fundamental changes in global nutrient cycles either (1) through excess nutrient inputs to the oceans by increasing continental weathering and river discharge or (2) through nutrient-recycling from the marine sediment reservoir. We investigated the role of phosphorus on the development of carbon accumulation by analysing phosphorus speciation across OAE2 and the mid-Cenomanian Event (MCE) in the Tarfaya Basin. The ratios of organic carbon and total nitrogen to reactive phosphorus (Corg/Preact and Ntotal/Preact) prior to OAE2 and the MCE hover close to or below the Redfield ratio characteristic of marine organic matter. Decreases in reactive phosphorus resulting in Corg/Preact and Ntotal/Preact above the Redfield ratio during the later phase of OAE2 and the MCE indicate leakage from the sedimentary column into the water column under the influence of intensified and expanded oxygen minimum zones. These results suggest that a positive feedback loop, rooted in the benthic phosphorus cycle, contributed to increased marine productivity and carbon burial over an extended period of time during OAEs.