Abundance of color bands in Neogene carbonate sediments on Ontong Java Plateau:: a proxy for sedimentation rate?

When comparing color-band abundances within one sediment section with those of others of the same age but deposited at different depths along a transect on the northeastern flank of Ontong Java Plateau in the western equatorial Pacific (ODP Leg 130), one notes that the sections with the highest sedimentation rates tend to have the greatest number of color bands.

Also, a section characterized by a prominent peak in sedimentation rate at all depths, in the latest Miocene, has maximum values in each site (up to 20 bands per meter). The cause for this association between sedimentation rate and color-band abundance is not known. We assume (following previous workers) that color bands are a result of volcanic activity (i.e., ash fall).

If so, sediments should have equal potential for bands at all depths. However, high sedimentation rates lead to better separation of adjacent bands, thus increasing their apparent number. Hiatuses decrease overall sedimentation rate at the receiving site and destroys color bands, Thus, in undisturbed sections they provide clues for detecting hiatuses and redeposition events.