Giosan Liviu

Last Name

Giosan

First Name

Liviu

ORCID

0000-0001-6769-5204

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Large-scale coastal and fluvial models constrain the late Holocene evolution of the Ebro Delta

(Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union, 2017-09-25) Nienhuis, Jaap H. ; Ashton, Andrew D. ; Kettner, Albert J. ; Giosan, Liviu

The distinctive plan-view shape of the Ebro Delta coast reveals a rich morphologic history. The degree to which the form and depositional history of the Ebro and other deltas represent autogenic (internal) dynamics or allogenic (external) forcing remains a prominent challenge for paleo-environmental reconstructions. Here we use simple coastal and fluvial morphodynamic models to quantify paleo-environmental changes affecting the Ebro Delta over the late Holocene. Our findings show that these models are able to broadly reproduce the Ebro Delta morphology, with simple fluvial and wave climate histories. Based on numerical model experiments and the preserved and modern shape of the Ebro Delta plain, we estimate that a phase of rapid shoreline progradation began approximately 2100 years BP, requiring approximately a doubling in coarse-grained fluvial sediment supply to the delta. River profile simulations suggest that an instantaneous and sustained increase in coarse-grained sediment supply to the delta requires a combined increase in both flood discharge and sediment supply from the drainage basin. The persistence of rapid delta progradation throughout the last 2100 years suggests an anthropogenic control on sediment supply and flood intensity. Using proxy records of the North Atlantic Oscillation, we do not find evidence that changes in wave climate aided this delta expansion. Our findings highlight how scenario-based investigations of deltaic systems using simple models can assist first-order quantitative paleo-environmental reconstructions, elucidating the effects of past human influence and climate change, and allowing a better understanding of the future of deltaic landforms.
Deltas in arid environments

(MDPI, 2021-06-16) Day, John W. ; Goodman, Reed ; Chen, Zhongyuan ; Hunter, Rachael ; Giosan, Liviu ; Wang, Yanna

Due to increasing water use, diversion and salinization, along with subsidence and sea-level rise, deltas in arid regions are shrinking worldwide. Some of the most ecologically important arid deltas include the Colorado, Indus, Nile, and Tigris-Euphrates. The primary stressors vary globally, but these deltas are threatened by increased salinization, water storage and diversion, eutrophication, and wetland loss. In order to make these deltas sustainable over time, some water flow, including seasonal flooding, needs to be re-established. Positive impacts have been seen in the Colorado River delta after flows to the delta were increased. In addition to increasing freshwater flow, collaboration among stakeholders and active management are necessary. For the Nile River, cooperation among different nations in the Nile drainage basin is important. River flow into the Tigris-Euphrates River delta has been affected by politics and civil strife in the Middle East, but some flow has been re-allocated to the delta. Studies commissioned for the Indus River delta recommended re-establishment of some monthly water flow to maintain the river channel and to fight saltwater intrusion. However, accelerating climate impacts, socio-political conflicts, and growing populations suggest a dire future for arid deltas.
Wave reworking of abandoned deltas

(John Wiley & Sons, 2013-11-19) Nienhuis, Jaap H. ; Ashton, Andrew D. ; Roos, Pieter C. ; Hulscher, Suzanne J. M. H. ; Giosan, Liviu

River deltas and individual delta lobes frequently face reduction of sediment supply, either from the geologic process of river avulsion or, more recently, due to human activities such as river damming. Using a process-based shoreline evolution model, we investigate wave reworking of delta shorelines after fluvial input elimination. Model results suggest that littoral sediment transport can result in four characteristic modes of delta abandonment, ranging from diffusional smoothing of the delta (or delta lobe) to the development of recurved spits. A straightforward analysis of delta shape and wave characteristics provides a framework for predicting the mode of delta abandonment. The observed morphologies of historically abandoned delta lobes, including those of the Nile, Ebro, and Rhone rivers, fit within this framework. Our results provide quantitative insight into the potential evolution of active delta environments in light of future extreme reduction of fluvial sediment input.
Pliocene expansion of C-4 vegetation in the core monsoon zone on the Indian Peninsula

(European Geosciences Union, 2020-12-23) Dunlea, Ann G. ; Giosan, Liviu ; Huang, Yongsong

The expansion of C4 vegetation during the Neogene was one of the largest reorganizations of Earth's terrestrial biome. Once thought to be globally synchronous in the late Miocene, site-specific studies have revealed differences in the timing of the expansion and suggest that local conditions play a substantial role. Here, we examine the expansion of C4 vegetation on the Indian Peninsula since the late Miocene by constructing a ∼6-million-year paleorecord with marine sediment from the Bay of Bengal at Site U1445, drilled during International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 353. Analyses of element concentrations indicate that the marine sediment originates from the Mahanadi River in the Core Monsoon Zone (CMZ) of the Indian Peninsula. Hydrogen isotopes of the fatty acids of leaf waxes reveal an overall decrease in the CMZ precipitation since the late Miocene. Carbon isotopes of the leaf wax fatty acids suggest C4 vegetation on the Indian Peninsula existed before the end of the Miocene but expanded to even higher abundances during the mid-Pliocene to mid-Pleistocene (∼3.5 to 1.5 million years ago). Similar to the CMZ on the Indian Peninsula, a Pliocene expansion or re-expansion has previously been observed in northwest Australia and in East Africa, suggesting that these tropical ecosystems surrounding the Indian Ocean remained highly sensitive to changes in hydroclimate after the initial spread of C4 plants in late Miocene.
Middle miocene intensification of South Asian monsoonal rainfall

(American Geophysical Union, 2020-11-27) Yang, Xueping ; Groeneveld, Jeroen ; Jian, Zhimin ; Steinke, Stephan ; Giosan, Liviu

During the middle Miocene, Earth's climate changed from a global warm period (Miocene Climatic Optimum) into a colder one with the expansion of the Antarctic ice sheet. This prominent climate transition was also a period of drastic changes in global atmospheric circulation. The development of the South Asian monsoon is not well understood and mainly derived from proxy records of wind strength. Data for middle Miocene changes in rainfall are virtually non‐existent for India and the Arabian Sea prior to 11 Ma. This study presents planktic foraminiferal trace element (Mg/Ca and Ba/Ca) and stable oxygen isotope records from NGHP‐01 Site 01A off the coast of West India in the Eastern Arabian Sea (EAS) to reconstruct the regional surface hydrography and hydroclimate in the South Asian monsoon (SAM) region during the middle Miocene. The Ba/Ca and local seawater δ18O (δ18Osw) changes reveal a notable gradual increase in SAM rainfall intensity during the middle Miocene. Additionally to this long‐term increase in precipitation, the seawater δ18O is punctuated by a prominent decrease, i.e. freshening, at ~14 Ma contemporary with Antarctic glaciation. This suggests that Southern Ocean Intermediate Waters (SOIW) transmitted Antarctic salinity changes into the Arabian Sea via an “oceanic tunnel” mechanism. The middle Miocene increase in SAM rainfall is consistent with climate model simulations of an overall strengthening Asian monsoon from the Eocene to the middle/late Miocene with a further acceleration after the middle Miocene climate transition.
Testing the physical oceanographic implications of the suggested sudden Black Sea infill 8400 years ago

(American Geophysical Union, 2004-03-17) Siddall, M. ; Pratt, Lawrence J. ; Helfrich, Karl R. ; Giosan, Liviu

We apply a shock-capturing numerical model based on the single-layer shallow water equations to an idealized geometry of the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara in order to test the implications of a suggested sudden Black Sea infill 8400 years ago. The model resolves the two-dimensional flow upstream and downstream of the hydraulic jump provoked by the cascade of water from the Sea of Marmara into the Black Sea, which would occur during a sudden Black Sea infill. The modeled flow downstream of the hydraulic jump in the Black Sea would consist of a jet that is in part constrained by bathymetric contours. Guided by the Bosporus Canyon, the modeled jet reaches depths of up to 2000 m and could explain the origin of the sediment waves observed at this depth. At a late stage of the infill the modeled jet is attached to the coast and might account for the course of a submerged channel at the mouth of the Bosporus. The preservation of continuous barrier-washover-lagoonal fill systems occurring on the Black Sea shelf is, however, not easily reconcilable with the large flows over the southwest Black Sea shelf predicted by the model. Intensified flow in the upstream basin (Sea of Marmara) is restricted to the immediate vicinity of the Bosporus, suggesting that a sudden reconnection need not have disturbed sediments in the wider Sea of Marmara.
On the Holocene evolution of the Ayeyawady megadelta

(Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union, 2018-06-12) Giosan, Liviu ; Naing, Thet ; Tun, Myo Min ; Clift, Peter D. ; Filip, Florin ; Constantinescu, Stefan ; Khonde, Nitesh ; Blusztajn, Jerzy S. ; Buylaert, Jan-Pieter ; Stevens, Thomas ; Thwin, Swe

The Ayeyawady delta is the last Asian megadelta whose evolution has remained essentially unexplored so far. Unlike most other deltas across the world, the Ayeyawady has not yet been affected by dam construction, providing a unique view on largely natural deltaic processes benefiting from abundant sediment loads affected by tectonics and monsoon hydroclimate. To alleviate the information gap and provide a baseline for future work, here we provide a first model for the Holocene development of this megadelta based on drill core sediments collected in 2016 and 2017, dated with radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence, together with a reevaluation of published maps, charts and scientific literature. Altogether, these data indicate that Ayeyawady is a mud-dominated delta with tidal and wave influences. The sediment-rich Ayeyawady River built meander belt alluvial ridges with avulsive characters. A more advanced coast in the western half of the delta (i.e., the Pathein lobe) was probably favored by the more western location of the early course of the river. Radiogenic isotopic fingerprinting of the sediment suggests that the Pathein lobe coast does not receive significant sediment from neighboring rivers. However, the eastern region of the delta (i.e., Yangon lobe) is offset inland and extends east into the mudflats of the Sittaung estuary. Wave-built beach ridge construction during the late Holocene, similar to several other deltas across the Indian monsoon domain, suggests a common climatic control on monsoonal delta morphodynamics through variability in discharge, changes in wave climate or both. Correlation of the delta morphological and stratigraphic architecture information on land with the shelf bathymetry, as well as its tectonic, sedimentary and hydrodynamic characteristics, provides insight on the peculiar growth style of the Ayeyawady delta. The offset between the western Pathein lobe and the eastern deltaic coast appears to be driven by tectonic–hydrodynamic feedbacks as the extensionally lowered shelf block of the Gulf of Mottama amplifies tidal currents relative to the western part of the shelf. This situation probably activates a perennial shear front between the two regions that acts as a leaky energy fence. Just as importantly, the strong currents in the Gulf of Mottama act as an offshore-directed tidal pump that helps build the deep mid-shelf Mottama clinoform with mixed sediments from the Ayeyawady, Sittaung and Thanlwin rivers. The highly energetic tidal, wind and wave regime of the northern Andaman Sea thus exports most sediment offshore despite the large load of the Ayeyawady River.
Holocene palaeoenvironmental evolution of the Ebro Delta (Western Mediterranean Sea) : evidence for an early construction based on the benthic foraminiferal record

( 2015-05) Cearreta, Alejandro ; Benito, Xavier ; Ibanez, Carles ; Trobajo, Rosa ; Giosan, Liviu

Major Mediterranean deltas began to develop during a period between 8000 and 6000 yr BP when the rate of fluvial sediment input overtook the declining rate of sea-level rise. However, different authors have argued that the Ebro Delta primarily formed during the Late Middle Ages as a consequence of increased anthropogenic pressure on its river basin and these arguments are supported by the scarcity of previous geological studies and available radiocarbon dates. To reconstruct the environmental evolution of the Ebro Delta during the Holocene, we used micropalaeontological analysis of continuous boreholes drilled in two different locations (Carlet and Sant Jaume) on the central delta plain. Different lithofacies distributions and associated environments of deposition were defined based on diagnostic foraminiferal assemblages and the application of a palaeowater-depth transfer function. The more landward Carlet sequence shows an older and more proximal progradational delta with a sedimentary record composed of inner bay, lagoonal, and beach materials deposited between 7600 yr BP and >2000 yr BP under rising sea-level and highstand conditions. This phase was followed by a series of delta-plain environments reflected in part by the Carlet deposits that formed before 2000 yr BP. The Sant Jaume borehole is located closer to the present coastline and contains a much younger sequence that accumulated in the 3 last 2.0 ka during the development of three different deltaic lobes under highstand sea40 level conditions. The results of the present study reinforce the idea that the Ebro Delta dates to the early Holocene, similar to other large Mediterranean deltas.
Anomalous porosity preservation and preferential accumulation of gas hydrate in the Andaman accretionary wedge, NGHP-01 site 17A

(Elsevier, 2014-06-06) Rose, Kelly K. ; Johnson, Joel E. ; Torres, Marta E. ; Hong, Wei-Li ; Giosan, Liviu ; Solomon, Evan A. ; Kastner, Miriam ; Cawthern, Thomas ; Long, Philip E. ; Schaef, H. Todd

In addition to well established properties that control the presence or absence of the hydrate stability zone, such as pressure, temperature, and salinity, additional parameters appear to influence the concentration of gas hydrate in host sediments. The stratigraphic record at Site 17A in the Andaman Sea, eastern Indian Ocean, illustrates the need to better understand the role pore-scale phenomena play in the distribution and presence of marine gas hydrates in a variety of subsurface settings. In this paper we integrate field-generated datasets with newly acquired sedimentology, physical property, imaging and geochemical data with mineral saturation and ion activity products of key mineral phases such as amorphous silica and calcite, to document the presence and nature of secondary precipitates that contributed to anomalous porosity preservation at Site 17A in the Andaman Sea. This study demonstrates the importance of grain-scale subsurface heterogeneities in controlling the occurrence and distribution of concentrated gas hydrate accumulations in marine sediments, and document the importance that increased permeability and enhanced porosity play in supporting gas concentrations sufficient to support gas hydrate formation. The grain scale relationships between porosity, permeability, and gas hydrate saturation documented at Site 17A likely offer insights into what may control the occurrence and distribution of gas hydrate in other sedimentary settings.
Wave-angle control of delta evolution

(American Geophysical Union, 2011-07-07) Ashton, Andrew D. ; Giosan, Liviu

Wave-influenced deltas, with large-scale arcuate shapes and demarcated beach ridge complexes, often display an asymmetrical form about their river channel. Here, we use a numerical model to demonstrate that the angles from which waves approach a delta can have a first-order influence upon its plan-view morphologic evolution and sedimentary architecture. The directional spread of incoming waves plays a dominant role over fluvial sediment discharge in controlling the width of an active delta lobe, which in turn affects the characteristic rates of delta progradation. Oblique wave approach (and a consequent net alongshore sediment transport) can lead to the development of morphologic asymmetry about the river in a delta's plan-view form. This plan-form asymmetry can include the development of discrete breaks in shoreline orientation and the appearance of self-organized features arising from shoreline instability along the downdrift delta flank, such as spits and migrating shoreline sand waves—features observed on natural deltas. Somewhat surprisingly, waves approaching preferentially from one direction tend to increase sediment deposition updrift of the river. This ‘morphodynamic groin effect’ occurs when the delta's plan-form aspect ratio is sufficiently large such that the orientation of the shoreline on the downdrift flank is rotated past the angle of maximum alongshore sediment transport, resulting in preferential redirection of fluvial sediment updrift of the river mouth.
Intercomparison of XRF core scanning results from seven labs and approaches to practical calibration

(American Geophysical Union, 2020-09-09) Dunlea, Ann G. ; Murray, Richard W. ; Tada, Ryuji ; Alvarez-Zarikian, Carlos A. ; Anderson, Chloe H. ; Gilli, Adrian ; Giosan, Liviu ; Gorgas, Thomas ; Hennekam, Rick ; Irino, Tomohisa ; Murayama, Masafumi ; Peterson, Larry C. ; Reichart, Gert-Jan ; Seki, Arisa ; Zheng, Hongbo ; Ziegler, Martin

X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) scanning of marine sediment has the potential to yield near‐continuous and high‐resolution records of elemental abundances, which are often interpreted as proxies for paleoceanographic processes over different time scales. However, many other variables also affect scanning XRF measurements and convolute the quantitative calibrations of element abundances and comparisons of data from different labs. Extensive interlab comparisons of XRF scanning results and calibrations are essential to resolve ambiguities and to understand the best way to interpret the data produced. For this study, we sent a set of seven marine sediment sections (1.5 m each) to be scanned by seven XRF facilities around the world to compare the outcomes amidst a myriad of factors influencing the results. Results of raw element counts per second (cps) were different between labs, but element ratios were more comparable. Four of the labs also scanned a set of homogenized sediment pellets with compositions determined by inductively coupled plasma‐optical emission spectrometry (ICP‐OES) and ICP‐mass spectrometry (MS) to convert the raw XRF element cps to concentrations in two ways: a linear calibration and a log‐ratio calibration. Although both calibration curves are well fit, the results show that the log‐ratio calibrated data are significantly more comparable between labs than the linearly calibrated data. Smaller‐scale (higher‐resolution) features are often not reproducible between the different scans and should be interpreted with caution. Along with guidance on practical calibrations, our study recommends best practices to increase the quality of information that can be derived from scanning XRF to benefit the field of paleoceanography.
U‐PB detrital zircon geochronology of the Lower Danube and Its tributaries : implications for the geology of the Carpathians

(John Wiley & Sons, 2018-09-14) Ducea, Mihai N. ; Giosan, Liviu ; Carter, Andrew ; Balica, Constantin ; Stoica, Adriana M. ; Roban, Relu D. ; Balintoni, Ion ; Filip, Florin ; Petrescu, Lucian

We performed a detrital zircon (DZ) U‐Pb geochronologic survey of the lower parts of the Danube River approaching its Danube delta, Black Sea sink, and a few large tributaries (Tisza, Jiu, Olt, and Siret) originating in the nearby Carpathian Mountains. Samples are modern sediments. DZ age spectra reflect the geology and specifically the crustal age formation of the source area, which in this case is primarily the Romanian Carpathians and their foreland with contributions from the Balkan Mountains to the south of Danube and the East European Craton. The zircon cargo of these rivers suggests a source area that formed during the latest Proterozoic and mostly into the Cambrian and Ordovician as island arcs and back‐arc basins in a Peri‐Gondwanan subduction setting (~600–440 Ma). The Inner Carpathian units are dominated by a U‐Pb DZ peak in the Ordovician (460–470 Ma) and little inheritance from the nearby continental masses, whereas the Outer Carpathian units and the foreland have two main peaks, one Ediacaran (570–610 Ma) and one in the earliest Permian (290–300 Ma), corresponding to granitic rocks known regionally. A prominent igneous Variscan peak (320–350 Ma) in the Danube's and tributaries DZ zircon record is difficult to explain and points out to either an extra Carpathian source or major unknown gaps in our understanding of Carpathian geology. Younger peaks corresponding to arc magmatism during the Alpine period make up as much as about 10% of the DZ archive, consistent with the magnitude and surface exposure of Mesozoic and Cenozoic arcs.
From soil to sea: sources and transport of organic carbon traced by tetraether lipids in the monsoonal Godavari River, India

(European Geosciences Union, 2022-09-01) Kirkels, Frédérique M. S. A. ; Zwart, Huub M. ; Usman, Muhammed ; Hou, Suning ; Ponton, Camilo ; Giosan, Liviu ; Eglinton, Timothy I. ; Peterse, Francien

Monsoonal rivers play an important role in the land-to-sea transport of soil-derived organic carbon (OC). However, spatial and temporal variation in the concentration, composition, and fate of this OC in these rivers remains poorly understood. We investigate soil-to-sea transport of soil OC by the Godavari River in India using glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) lipids in soils, river suspended particulate matter (SPM), and riverbed sediments, as well as in a marine sediment core from the Bay of Bengal. The abundance and composition of GDGTs in SPM and sediments in the Godavari River differs between the dry and wet season. In the dry season, SPM and riverbed sediments from the whole basin contain more 6-methyl branched GDGTs (brGDGTs) than the soils. In the upper basin, where mobilisation and transport of soils is limited due to deficient rainfall and damming, contributions of 6-methyl brGDGTs in SPM and riverbed sediments are relatively high year-round, suggesting that they have an aquatic source. Aquatic brGDGT production coincides with elevated values of the isoprenoid GDGT-0 crenarchaeol ratio in SPM and riverbed sediments from the upper basin, indicating low-oxygen conditions. In the wet season, brGDGT distributions in SPM from the lower basin closely resemble those in soils, mostly from the north and east tributaries, corresponding to precipitation patterns. The brGDGT composition in SPM and sediments from the delta suggests that soil OC is only effectively transported to the Bay of Bengal in the wet season, when the river plume extends beyond the river mouth. The sediment geochemistry indicates that also the mineral particles exported by the Godavari River primarily originate from the lower basin, similar to the brGDGTs, suggesting that they are transported together. However, river depth profiles in the downstream Godavari reveal no hydrodynamic sorting effect on brGDGTs in either season, indicating that brGDGTs are not closely associated with mineral particles. The similarity of brGDGT distributions in bulk and fine-grained sediments (≤ 63 µm) further confirms the absence of selective transport mechanisms. Nevertheless, the composition of brGDGTs in a Holocene, marine sediment core near the river mouth appears substantially different from that in the modern Godavari basin, suggesting that terrestrial-derived brGDGTs are rapidly lost upon discharge into the Bay of Bengal and/or overprinted by marine in situ production. The large change in brGDGT distributions at the river–sea transition implies that this zone is key in the transfer of soil OC, as well as that of the environmental signal carried by brGDGTs from the river basin.
Evidence of a South Asian proto-monsoon during the Oligocene-Miocene transition

(American Geophysical Union, 2021-09-04) Beasley, Charlotte ; Kender, Sev ; Giosan, Liviu ; Bolton, Clara T. ; Anand, Pallavi ; Leng, Melanie J. ; Nilsson-Kerr, Katrina ; Ullmann, Clemens Vinzenz ; Hesselbo, Stephen P. ; Littler, Kate

The geological history of the South Asian monsoon (SAM) before the Pleistocene is not well-constrained, primarily due to a lack of available continuous sediment archives. Previous studies have noted an intensification of SAM precipitation and atmospheric circulation during the middle Miocene (∼14 Ma), but no records are available to test how the monsoon changed prior to this. In order to improve our understanding of monsoonal evolution, geochemical and sedimentological data were generated for the Oligocene-early Miocene (30–20 Ma) from Indian National Gas Hydrate Expedition 01 Site NGHP-01-01A in the eastern Arabian Sea, at 2,674 m water depth. We find the initial glaciation phase (23.7–23.0 Ma) of the Oligocene-Miocene transition (OMT) to be associated with an increase in water column ventilation and water mass mixing, suggesting an increase in winter monsoon type atmospheric circulation, possibly driven by a relative southward shift of the intertropical convergence zone. During the latter part of the OMT, or “deglaciation” phase (23.0–22.7 Ma), a long-term decrease in Mn (suggestive of deoxygenation), increase in Ti/Ca and dissolution of the biogenic carbonate fraction suggest an intensification of a proto-summer SAM system, characterized by the formation of an oxygen minimum zone in the eastern Arabian Sea and a relative increase of terrigenous material delivered by runoff to the site. With no evidence at this site for an active SAM prior to the OMT we suggest that changes in orbital parameters, as well as possibly changing Tethyan/Himalayan tectonics, caused this step change in the proto-monsoon system at this intermediate-depth site.
Early anthropogenic transformation of the Danube-Black Sea system

(Nature Publishing Group, 2012-08-30) Giosan, Liviu ; Coolen, Marco J. L. ; Kaplan, Jed O. ; Constantinescu, Stefan ; Filip, Florin ; Filipova-Marinova, Mariana ; Kettner, Albert J. ; Thom, Nick

Over the last century humans have altered the export of fluvial materials leading to significant changes in morphology, chemistry, and biology of the coastal ocean. Here we present sedimentary, paleoenvironmental and paleogenetic evidence to show that the Black Sea, a nearly enclosed marine basin, was affected by land use long before the changes of the Industrial Era. Although watershed hydroclimate was spatially and temporally variable over the last ~3000 years, surface salinity dropped systematically in the Black Sea. Sediment loads delivered by Danube River, the main tributary of the Black Sea, significantly increased as land use intensified in the last two millennia, which led to a rapid expansion of its delta. Lastly, proliferation of diatoms and dinoflagellates over the last five to six centuries, when intensive deforestation occurred in Eastern Europe, points to an anthropogenic pulse of river-borne nutrients that radically transformed the food web structure in the Black Sea.
Isolating detrital and diagenetic signals in magnetic susceptibility records from methane-bearing marine sediments

(American Geophysical Union, 2021-09-12) Johnson, Joel E. ; Phillips, Stephen C. ; Clyde, William C. ; Giosan, Liviu ; Torres, Marta E.

Volume-dependent magnetic susceptibility (κ) is commonly used for paleoenvironmental reconstructions in both terrestrial and marine sedimentary environments where it reflects a mixed signal between primary deposition and secondary diagenesis. In the marine environment, κ is strongly influenced by the abundance of ferrimagnetic minerals regulated by sediment transport processes. Post-depositional alteration by H2S, however, can dissolve titanomagnetite, releasing reactive Fe that promotes pyritization and subsequently decreases κ. Here, we provide a new approach for isolating the detrital signal in κ and identifying intervals of diagenetic alteration of κ driven by organoclastic sulfate reduction (OSR) and the anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) in methane-bearing marine sediments offshore India. Using the correlation of a heavy mineral proxy from X-ray fluorescence data (Zr/Rb) and κ in unaltered sediments, we predict the primary detrital κ signal and identify intervals of decreased κ, which correspond to increased total sulfur content. Our approach is a rapid, high-resolution method that can identify overprinted κ resulting from pyritization of titanomagnetite due to H2S production in marine sediments. In addition, total organic carbon, total sulfur, and authigenic carbonate δ13C measurements indicate that both OSR and AOM can drive the observed κ loss, but AOM drives the greatest decreases in κ. Overall, our approach can enhance paleoenvironmental reconstructions and provide insight into paleo-positions of the sulfate-methane transition zone, past enhancements of OSR or paleo-methane seepage, and the role of detrital iron oxide minerals on the marine sediment sulfur sink, with consequences influencing the development of chemosynthetic biological communities at methane seeps.
Temporal deconvolution of vascular plant-derived fatty acids exported from terrestrial watersheds

( 2018-09) Vonk, Jorien E. ; Drenzek, Nicholas J. ; Hughen, Konrad A. ; Stanley, Rachel H. R. ; McIntyre, Cameron P. ; Montlucon, Daniel B. ; Giosan, Liviu ; Southon, John R. ; Santos, Guaciara M. ; Druffel, Ellen R. M. ; Andersson, August A. ; Sköld, Martin ; Eglinton, Timothy I.

Relatively little is known about the amount of time that lapses between the photosynthetic fixation of carbon by vascular land plants and its incorporation into the marine sedimentary record, yet the dynamics of terrestrial carbon sequestration have important implications for the carbon cycle. Vascular plant carbon may encounter multiple potential intermediate storage pools and transport trajectories, and the age of vascular plant carbon accumulating in marine sediments will reflect these different predepositional histories. Here, we examine down-core 14C profiles of higher plant leaf waxderived fatty acids isolated from high fidelity sedimentary sequences spanning the socalled “bomb-spike”, and encompassing a ca. 60-degree latitudinal gradient from tropical (Cariaco Basin), temperate (Saanich Inlet), and polar (Mackenzie Delta) watersheds to constrain integrated vascular plant carbon storage/transport times (“residence times”). Using a modeling framework, we find that, in addition to a "young" (conditionally defined as < 50 y) carbon pool, an old pool of compounds comprises 49 to 78 % of the fractional contribution of organic carbon (OC) and exhibits variable ages reflective of the environmental setting. For the Mackenzie Delta sediments, we find a mean age of the old pool of 28 ky (±9.4, standard deviation), indicating extensive pre-aging in permafrost soils, whereas the old pools in Saanich Inlet and Cariaco Basin sediments are younger, 7.9 (±5.0) and 2.4 (±0.50) to 3.2 (±0.54) ky, respectively, indicating less protracted storage in terrestrial reservoirs. The "young" pool showed clear annual contributions for Saanich Inlet and Mackenzie Delta sediments (comprising 24% and 16% of this pool, respectively), likely reflecting episodic transport of OC from steep hillside slopes surrounding Saanich Inlet and annual spring flood deposition in the Mackenzie Delta, respectively. Contributions of 5-10 year old OC to the Cariaco Basin show a short delay of OC inflow, potentially related to transport time to the offshore basin. Modeling results also indicate that the Mackenzie Delta has an influx of young but decadal material (20-30 years of age), pointing to the presence of an intermediate reservoir. Overall, these results show that a significant fraction of vascular plant C undergoes pre-aging in terrestrial reservoirs prior to accumulation in deltaic and marine sediments. The age distribution, reflecting both storage and transport times, likely depends on landscape-specific factors such as local topography, hydrographic characteristics, and mean annual temperature of the catchment, all of which affect the degree of soil buildup and preservation. We show that catchment-specific carbon residence times across landscapes can vary by an order of magnitude, with important implications both for carbon cycle studies and for the interpretation of molecular terrestrial paleoclimate records preserved in sedimentary sequences.
What can we learn from X-ray fluorescence core scanning data? A paleomonsoon case study

(American Geophysical Union, 2020-01-12) Gebregiorgis, Daniel ; Giosan, Liviu ; Hathorne, Ed C. ; Anand, Pallavi ; Nilsson-Kerr, Katrina ; Plass, Anna ; Luckge, Andreas ; Clemens, Steven C. ; Frank, Martin

X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) core scanning of marine and lake sediments has been extensively used to study changes in past environmental and climatic processes over a range of timescales. The interpretation of XRF‐derived element ratios in paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic studies primarily considers differences in the relative abundances of particular elements. Here we present new XRF core scanning data from two long sediment cores in the Andaman Sea in the northern Indian Ocean and show that sea level related processes influence terrigenous inputs based proxies such as Ti/Ca, Fe/Ca, and elemental concentrations of the transition metals (e.g., Mn). Zr/Rb ratios are mainly a function of changes in median grain size of lithogenic particles and often covary with changes in Ca concentrations that reflect changes in biogenic calcium carbonate production. This suggests that a common process (i.e., sea level) influences both records. The interpretation of lighter element data (e.g., Si and Al) based on low XRF counts is complicated as variations in mean grain size and water content result in systematic artifacts and signal intensities not related to the Al or Si content of the sediments. This highlights the need for calibration of XRF core scanning data based on discrete sample analyses and careful examination of sediment properties such as porosity/water content for reliably disentangling environmental signals from other physical properties. In the case of the Andaman Sea, reliable extraction of a monsoon signal requires accounting for the sea level influence on the XRF data.
Spatial variations in geochemical characteristics of the modern Mackenzie Delta sedimentary system

( 2015-01) Vonk, Jorien E. ; Giosan, Liviu ; Blusztajn, Jerzy S. ; Montlucon, Daniel B. ; Graf Pannatier, Elisabeth ; McIntyre, Cameron P. ; Wacker, Lukas ; Macdonald, Robie W. ; Yunker, Mark B. ; Eglinton, Timothy I.

The Mackenzie River in Canada is by far the largest riverine source of sediment and organic carbon (OC) to the Arctic Ocean. Therefore the transport, degradation and burial of OC along the land-to-ocean continuum for this riverine system is important to study both regionally and as a dominant representative of Arctic rivers. Here, we apply sedimentological (grain size, mineral surface area), and organic and inorganic geochemical techniques (%OC, δ13C-OC and Δ14C-OC, 143Nd/144Nd,δ2H and δ18O, major and trace elements) on particulate, bank, channel and lake surface sediments from the Mackenzie Delta, as well as on surface sediments from the Mackenzie shelf in the Beaufort Sea. Our data show a hydrodynamic sorting effect resulting in the accumulation of finer-grained sediments in lake and shelf deposits. A general decrease in organic carbon (OC) to mineral surface area ratios from river-to-sea furthermore suggests a loss of mineral-bound terrestrial OC during transport through the delta and deposition on the shelf. The net isotopic value of the terrestrial OC that is lost en route, derived from relationships between δ13C, OC and surface area, is -28.5‰ for δ13C and -417‰ for Δ14C. We calculated that OC burial efficiencies are around 55%, which are higher (~20%) than other large river systems such as the Amazon. Old sedimentary OC ages, up to 12 14C-ky, suggest the delivery of both a petrogenic OC source (with an estimated contribution of 19±9%) as well as a pre-aged terrestrial OC source. We calculated the 14C-age of this pre-aged, biogenic, component to be about 6100 yrs, or -501‰, which illustrates that terrestrial OC in the watershed can reside for millennia in soils before being released into the river. Surface sediments in lakes across the delta (n=20) showed large variability in %OC (0.92% to 5.7%) and δ13C (-30.7‰ to -23.5‰). High-closure lakes, flooding only at exceptionally high water levels, hold high sedimentary OC contents (> 2.5%) and young biogenic OC with a terrestrial or an autochthonous source whereas no-closure lakes, permanently connected to a river channel, hold sediments with pre-aged, terrestrial OC. The intermediate low-closure lakes, flooding every year during peak discharge, display the largest variability in OC content, age and source, likely reflecting variability in for example the length of river-lake connections, the distance to sediment source and the number of intermediate settling basins. Bank, channel and suspended sediment show variable 143Nd/144Nd values, yet there is a gradual but distinct spatial transition in 143Nd/144Nd (nearly three ε units; from -11.4 to -13.9) in the detrital fraction of lake surface sediments from the western to the eastern delta. This reflects the input of younger Peel River catchment material in the west and input of older geological source material in the east, and suggests that lake sediments can be used to assess variability in source watershed patterns across the delta.
Lithogenic particle transport trajectories on the Northwest Atlantic Margin

(American Geophysical Union, 2020-12-04) Hwang, Jeomshik ; Blusztajn, Jerzy S. ; Giosan, Liviu ; Kim, Minkyoung ; Manganini, Steven J. ; Montluçon, Daniel ; Toole, John M. ; Eglinton, Timothy I.

The neodymium isotopic composition of the detrital (lithogenic) fraction (εNd‐detrital) of surface sediments and sinking particles was examined to constrain transport trajectories associated with hemipelagic sedimentation on the northwest Atlantic margin. The provenance of resuspended sediments and modes of lateral transport in the water column were of particular interest given the energetic hydrodynamic regime that sustains bottom and intermediate nepheloid layers over the margin. A large across‐margin gradient of ∼5 εNd units was observed for surface sediments, implying strong contrasts in sediment provenance, with εNd‐detrital values on the lower slope similar to those of “upstream regions” (Scotian margin) under the influence of the Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC). Sinking particles collected at three depths at a site (total water depth, ∼3,000 m) on the New England margin within the core of the DWBC exhibited a similarly large range in εNd‐detrital values. The εNd‐detrital values of particles intercepted at intermediate water depths (1,000 and 2,000 m) were similar to each other but significantly higher than those at 3,000 m (∼50 m above the seafloor). These observations suggest that lithogenic material accumulating in the upper two traps was primarily advected in intermediate nepheloid layers emanating from the adjacent shelf, while that at 3,000 m is strongly influenced by sediment resuspension and along‐margin, southward lateral transport within the bottom nepheloid layer via entrainment in the DWBC. Our results highlight the importance of both along‐ and across‐margin sediment transport as vectors for lithogenic material and associated organic carbon transport.

Giosan Liviu

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