Southern Ocean laminated diatom ooze: mat deposits and potential for palaeo-flux studies, ODP leg 177, Site 1093

Laminated diatom ooze samples collected during ODP Leg 177 were analysed using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and optical microscopy to test their potential as high-resolution records of Polar Front hydrography, surface production, and export. SEM analysis from two intervals, marine isotope stage (MIS) 29 and 12/11, respectively, recovered from 50°S in the Atlantic Ocean (ODP Site 1093, Hole A, sections 13H-4 0–18cm and 23H-4 0–22cm), show abundant and well-preserved Thalassiothrix antarctica mats, thought to be indicative of rapid export from the surface and deposition in the sediment.

A preliminary analysis of laminae succession points to a possible annual couplet/triplet succession of laminae, and suggests exceptionally high local sedimentation rates of 57 and 80cmkyr−1 for MIS 12/11 and 29, respectively. Such high accumulation rates imply that local export from the surface layer and sequestration of biogenic silica and organic matter to the sediments may have been much higher than previously suggested.