ALBERT

Description: Benthic foraminifera have been used as proxies for the prevailing conditions at the sediment–water interface. Their distribution patterns are thought to facilitate reconstruction of past environmental conditions. Variations of bottom water oxygenation can be traced by the downcore distribution of benthic foraminifera and some of their morphological characters. Being one of the strongest and most pronounced OMZs in today’s world oceans, the Peruvian OMZ is a key area to study such variations in relation with changing climate. Spatial changes or an extension of the OMZ through time and space are investigated using sediment cores from the lower OMZ boundary. We focus on time intervals Late Holocene, Early Holocene, Bølling Allerød, Heinrich-Stadial 1 and Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to investigate changes in bottom-water oxygen and redox conditions. The recent distributions of benthic foraminiferal assemblages provide background data for an interpretation of the past conditions. Living benthic foraminiferal faunas from the Peruvian margin are structured with the prevailing bottom-water oxygen concentrations today (Mallon et al., 2012). Downcore distribution of benthic foraminiferal assemblages showed fluctuations in the abundance of the indicator species depicting variations and a decreasing trend in bottom water oxygen conditions since the LGM. In addition, changes in bottom-water oxygen and nitrate concentrations are reconstructed for the same time intervals by the pore density in tests of Planulina limbata and Bolivina spissa (Glock et al., 2011), respectively. The pore densities also indicate a trend of higher oxygen and nitrate concentrations in the LGM compared to the Holocene. Combination of both proxies provide information on past bottom-water conditions and changes of oxygen concentrations for the Peruvian margin. Glock et al., 2011: Environmental influences on the pore density of Bolivina spissa (Cushman), Journal of Foraminiferal Research, v. 41, no. 1, p. 22–32. Mallon et al., 2012: The response of benthic foraminifera to low-oxygen conditions of the Peruvian oxygen minimum zone, in ANOXIA, pp.305-322.

Description: Highlights • Review of sediment archives from the Peruvian margin since the LGM. • Focus on the evolutionary feature of the hiatus found in archives. • Modern analogue for current-dominated environments for paleo reconstructions. • New results for erosional potential of the non-linear internal waves (NLIWs). Abstract The Peruvian continental margin is characterized by the presence of one of the strongest and most distinct Oxygen Minimum Zones (OMZs) in today's oceans. Therefore, it has long been in the focus of oceanographic and geological investigations. Observations indicate that OMZs are expanding in relation with currently changing climate. To advance understanding of the temporal evolution of OMZs and climate change, complete paleoceanographic and palaeoclimatological reconstructions are needed. However, the development of paleoenvironmental scenarios for the period since the Last Glacial Maximum at this region was hampered by a ubiquitous hiatus and short-term interruptions of the stratigraphical record. In the present study, we combined the stratigraphical information from 31 sediment cores from the Peruvian margin located between 3 and 18°S and water depths of 90 to 1300 m within and below today's OMZ, in order to determine the extent of the hiatus and assess the responsible mechanisms. A widespread unconformity and related erosional features, omission surfaces and phosphorites, were observed in sediment cores from the area south of 7°S, depicting a prograding feature on the continental slope from south to north during the deglaciation. Combining recent oceanographic and sedimentological observations, it is inferred that, tide-topography interaction and resulting non-linear internal waves (NLIWs) shape the slope by erosion, carry sediments upslope or downslope and leave widespread phosphoritic lag sediments, while the Peru Chile Undercurrent (PCUC) transports the resuspended sediments southward causing non-deposition. This exceptional sedimentary regime makes the Peruvian margin a modern analogue for such environments. Overall, our compilation of downcore records showed that enhanced bottom currents due to tide-topography interaction were progressively evolving and affected a wider area with the onset of the last deglaciation. Elevated tidal amplitudes and variability of mid-depth water masses (i.e.; density changes) and hydrodynamics in relation with changing climate were potential reasons of this evolving feature of erosion and reworking. Additionally, erosion and non-deposition was observed widest and even was encountered on the continental shelf during the early Holocene, potentially indicating a strong phase of the PCUC mirroring today's El Niño-like conditions.

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: The Peruvian Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ) is one of the strongest and most pronounced OMZs in today’s world oceans and thus is a key area to understand changing redox conditions in relation with changing climate. Vertical and horizontal changes or an extension of the OMZ through time and space are investigated using a sediment core from the lower OMZ boundary. This core has a complete record since the Last Glacial Maximum. We focus on time intervals Late Holocene, Early Holocene, Bølling Allerød, Heinrich-Stadial 1 and Last Glacial Maximum to investigate changes in bottom-water oxygen conditions by using benthic foraminiferal assemblages. Living benthic foraminiferal faunas are structured with the prevailing bottom-water oxygen concentrations today (Mallon et al., 2012). Bolivina species are frequent at the most oxygen-depleted conditions. Cassidulina and Uvigerina species dominate the faunas under higher oxygen concentrations. Downcore distribution of benthic foraminiferal assemblages showed fluctuations in the abundance of the indicator species depicting variations in past bottom-water oxygenation. In addition, changes in bottom-water nitrate concentrations are reconstructed by using the pore density in tests of Bolivina spissa (Glock et al., 2011) for the same time intervals. Combination of both proxies will provide information on past bottom-water conditions and changes of oxygen concentrations for the Peruvian margin.

Description: New records of stable silicon isotope signatures (δ30Si) together with concentrations of biogenic opal and organic carbon from the central (9° S) and northern (5° S) Peruvian margin reveal changes in diatom productivity and nutrient utilization during the past 20,000 years. The findings are based on a new approach using the difference between the δ30Si signatures of small (11-32μm) and large (〉150μm) diatom fractions (Δ30Sicoscino-bSi) in combination with the variance in diatom assemblages for reconstruction of past upwelling intensity. Combination of our records with two previously published records from the southern upwelling area off Peru (12-15° S) shows a general decoupling of the environmental conditions at the central and southern shelf mainly caused by a northward shift of the main upwelling cell from its modern position (12-15° S) towards 9° S during Termination 1. At this time only moderate upwelling intensity and productivity levels prevailed between 9° S and 12° S interpreted by a more northerly position of Southern Westerly Winds and the South Pacific Subtropical High. Furthermore, a marked decrease in productivity at 12-15° S during Heinrich Stadial 1 coincided with enhanced biogenic opal production in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific, which was induced by a southward shift of the Intertropical Convergence zone and enhanced northeasterly trade winds. Modern conditions were only established at the onset of the Holocene. Past changes in preformed δ30Si signatures of subsurface waters reaching the Peruvian Upwelling System did not significantly affect the preserved δ30Si signatures.

Description: In this paper we provide an overview of new knowledge on oxygen depletion (hypoxia) and related phenomena in aquatic systems resulting from the EU-FP7 project HYPOX ("In situ monitoring of oxygen depletion in hypoxic ecosystems of coastal and open seas, and landlocked water bodies", www.hypox.net). In view of the anticipated oxygen loss in aquatic systems due to eutrophication and climate change, HYPOX was set up to improve capacities to monitor hypoxia as well as to understand its causes and consequences. Temporal dynamics and spatial patterns of hypoxia were analyzed in field studies in various aquatic environments, including the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, Scottish and Scandinavian fjords, Ionian Sea lagoons and embayments, and Swiss lakes. Examples of episodic and rapid (hours) occurrences of hypoxia, as well as seasonal changes in bottom-water oxygenation in stratified systems, are discussed. Geologically driven hypoxia caused by gas seepage is demonstrated. Using novel technologies, temporal and spatial patterns of water-column oxygenation, from basin-scale seasonal patterns to meter-scale sub-micromolar oxygen distributions, were resolved. Existing multidecadal monitoring data were used to demonstrate the imprint of climate change and eutrophication on long-term oxygen distributions. Organic and inorganic proxies were used to extend investigations on past oxygen conditions to centennial and even longer timescales that cannot be resolved by monitoring. The effects of hypoxia on faunal communities and biogeochemical processes were also addressed in the project. An investigation of benthic fauna is presented as an example of hypoxia-devastated benthic communities that slowly recover upon a reduction in eutrophication in a system where naturally occurring hypoxia overlaps with anthropogenic hypoxia. Biogeochemical investigations reveal that oxygen intrusions have a strong effect on the microbially mediated redox cycling of elements. Observations and modeling studies of the sediments demonstrate the effect of seasonally changing oxygen conditions on benthic mineralization pathways and fluxes. Data quality and access are crucial in hypoxia research. Technical issues are therefore also addressed, including the availability of suitable sensor technology to resolve the gradual changes in bottom-water oxygen in marine systems that can be expected as a result of climate change. Using cabled observatories as examples, we show how the benefit of continuous oxygen monitoring can be maximized by adopting proper quality control. Finally, we discuss strategies for state-of-the-art data archiving and dissemination in compliance with global standards, and how ocean observations can contribute to global earth observation attempts.