Description: Sediment core HLY0503-03JPC from the top of the Northwind Ridge provides the first confirmed Plio-Pleistocene record from the western Arctic Ocean, with calcareous microfossils uniquely preserved to ca. 5 Ma. Results are compared to nearby core P1-93AR-P23 from the ridge slope, which was previously used to reconstruct early Quaternary sea-ice conditions in the region [1], and is now re-dated to at least the late Pliocene. Ages were estimated primarily from strontium isotope stratigraphy (SIS) on benthic foraminifers. Based on multiple physical, paleomagnetic, elemental geochemical, and paleobiological (foraminifers) proxies, we identify three major stratigraphic divisions (Units 1, 2a and 2b) roughly representing upper to middle ("glacial") Quaternary, lower Quaternary to Pliocene, and lower Pliocene to possibly upper Miocene (undated). Benthic foraminiferal assemblages were utilized to evaluate paleo-sea ice conditions, while other proxies were used to interpret paleo-circulation and sediment transport processes. Early Quaternary and older sediments indicate diminutive effect from glaciations, reduced sea-ice conditions, and a periodic strong current impact on the ridge top, possibly due to an enhanced Atlantic water flow. Ages derived from the first foraminiferal tests appearing at ca. 5 Ma likely indicate a redeposition pulse that we attribute to the onset of Pacific water throughflow via the Bering Strait. A large hiatus above this level in JPC3 spans most of the Pliocene. The Unit 2a/1 boundary, estimated to ca. 0.8 Ma, is marked by an abrupt faunal and sedimentary change, which is consistent with the major climatic shift that occurred during this time (Mid-Pleistocene Transition). Unit 1 exhibits a strong control from glacial cyclicity, with a progressive expansion of the Laurentide Ice Sheet primarily affecting the study region, and mostly perennial sea-ice conditions. Overall results suggest that the Pliocene and early Pleistocene may provide relevant paleoclimatic analogs for the rapidly changing Arctic environments of today.

Description: The AND-1B drill core recovered a 13.57 million year Miocene through Pleistocene record from beneath the McMurdo Ice Shelf in Antarctica (77.9°S, 167.1°E). Varying sedimentary facies in the 1285 m core indicate glacial-interglacial cyclicity with the proximity of ice at the site ranging from grounding of ice in 917 m of water to ice free marine conditions. Broader interpretation of climatic conditions of the wider Ross Sea Embayment is deduced from provenance studies. Here we present an analysis of the iron oxide assemblages in the AND-1B core and interpret their variability with respect to wider paleoclimatic conditions. The core is naturally divided into an upper and lower succession by an expanded 170 m thick volcanic interval between 590 and 760 m. Above 590 m the Plio-Pleistocene glacial cycles are diatom rich and below 760 m late Miocene glacial cycles are terrigenous. Electron microscopy and rock magnetic parameters confirm the subdivision with biogenic silica diluting the terrigenous input (fine pseudo-single domain and stable single domain titanomagnetite from the McMurdo Volcanic Group with a variety of textures and compositions) above 590 m. Below 760 m, the Miocene section consists of coarse-grained ilmenite and multidomain magnetite derived from Transantarctic Mountain lithologies. This may reflect ice flow patterns and the absence of McMurdo Volcanic Group volcanic centers or indicate that volcanic centers had not yet grown to a significant size. The combined rock magnetic and electron microscopy signatures of magnetic minerals serve as provenance tracers in both ice proximal and distal sedimentary units, aiding in the study of ice sheet extent and dynamics, and the identification of ice rafted debris sources and dispersal patterns in the Ross Sea sector of Antarctica.

Description: We present revised magnetostratigraphic interpretations for Ocean Drilling Program Sites 1095, 1096, and 1101, cored in sediment drifts located off the Pacific margin of the Antarctic Peninsula. The revised interpretations incorporate a variety of observations and results obtained since the end of Leg 178, of which the most significant are new paleomagnetic measurements from U-channel samples, composite depth scales that allow stratigraphic correlation between multiple holes cored at a site, and revised biostratigraphic interpretations. The U-channel data, which include more than 102,000 paleomagnetic observations from more than 13,400 intervals along U-channel samples, are included as electronic files. The magnetostratigraphic records at all three sites are consistent with sedimentation being continuous over the intervals cored, although the data resolution does not preclude short hiatuses less than a few hundred thousand years in duration. The magnetostratigraphic records start at the termination of Subchron C4Ar.2n (9.580 Ma) at ~515 meters composite depth (mcd) for Site 1095, at the onset of Subchron C3n.2n (4.620 Ma) at ~489.68 mcd for Site 1096, and at the onset of Subchron C2An.1n (3.040 Ma) at 209.38 meters below seafloor for Site 1101. All three sites provide paleomagnetic records that extend upward through the Brunhes Chron.