We are grateful for the support of the captain and the crew members as well as all cruise members of Meteor Cruise M49/1 for their help during the expedition. We also want to thank the Scientific Shipboard Party of the ODP Leg 208, who did a great job, especially Jim Zachos for his comments and help during this study. This research used samples and/or data provided by the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP). ODP is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and participating countries under management of Joint Oceanographic Institutions (JOI), Inc. This research was funded by Deutsche Forschungs Gemeinschaft, Grant Sp 296/24-1, "Sedimentation processes on Walvis Ridge—correlation of high resolution seismic records with ODP Leg 208 physical properties data."