The purpose of this study is to establish the oxygen isotopic stratigraphy of the last 0.8 m.y. at Hole 994C, drilled during Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 164. Hole 994C (31º47.1'N, 75º32.8'W) is on the Blake Ridge off the coast of the southeast United States, at a water depth of 2799 m. The sediments from Hole 994C consist of light pale brown calcareous nannofossil clay containing relatively abundant and well-preserved foraminifers. Because the sediment on the Blake Ridge is composed of contourites derived from north by the Western Boundary Undercurrent beneath the Gulf Stream, the oxygen isotopic record is expected to be a mixture of the indigenous and reworked components. However, normal oxygen isotopic curves since the last 20 k.y. have already been reported from the Blake Ridge (Keigwin and Jones, 1989; Haskell et al., 1991). The oxygen isotopic data obtained through this study is also correlatable to the standard oxygen isotopic stratigraphy, although some abnormality exists in certain intervals.
1Paull,
C.K., Matsumoto, R., Wallace, P.J., and Dillon, W.P. (Eds.), 2000. Proc. ODP,
Sci. Results, 164: College Station, TX (Ocean Drilling Program).
2Graduate School of
Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, N10 W5, Kita-ku, Sapporo
060-0810, Japan. Correspondence author: Oba-tad@ees.hokudai.ac.jp
3Graduate School of
Science, Hokkaido University, N10 W8, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan.
Date of
initial receipt: 23 April 1998
Date of acceptance: 10 March 1999
Ms 164SR-230