Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2xdlg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-19T17:00:33.109Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mercury content as a new indicator of ocean stratification and primary productivity in Quaternary sediments off Bahama Bank in the Caribbean Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Itsuro Kita ,
Makoto Kojima ,
Hidenao Hasegawa ,
Shun Chiyonobu  and
Tokiyuki Sato
Itsuro Kita*
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Changes, Faculty of Social and Cultural Studies, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan
Makoto Kojima
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Changes, Faculty of Social and Cultural Studies, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan
Hidenao Hasegawa
Affiliation:
Institute for Environmental Sciences, Aomori 039-3212, Japan
Shun Chiyonobu
Affiliation:
Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth, Kyoto 619-0232, Japan
Tokiyuki Sato
Affiliation:
Faculty of Engineering and Resource Science, Akita University, Akita 010-8502, Japan
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail address:kita@scs.kyushu-u.ac.jp (I. Kita).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We report the first evidence of Hg content in marine sediments changing in connection with the climate-driven changes in ocean stratification during the Quaternary Period based on core samples from ODP Hole 1006A off Great Bahama Bank in the Caribbean Sea. The Hg content ranged from 5.9 to 60.7 ng/g with an average value of 33.1 ng/g during 350 and 1330 ka and changed inversely with δ18Oplanktonic values. The change in Hg content was positively correlated with total organic carbon (TOC) content, indicating connections between the δ15Norg and δ13Corg values of organic matter and the absolute abundance of a deep-dwelling calcareous nannoplankton (Florisphaera profunda). The marine Hg is thought to have been incorporated into the organic matter produced by deep-dwelling phytoplankton. Based on these results, we propose a mechanism by which marine Hg can collect in a thermocline formed in the stratified lower photic zone. Mercury content and nannoplankton assemblage in marine sediment provide information about the extent of stratification of the oceanic photic zone and the role of surface- and deep-dwelling phytoplankton in producing marine organic matter and changing its δ15Norg and δ13Corg values.

Keywords

MercuryNannoplankton assemblagesNitrogen and carbon isotopesQuaternary marine sedimentOcean stratificationPrimary productivityClimatic changeCaribbean Sea
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 80 , Issue 3 , November 2013 , pp. 606 - 613
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Al-Majed, N.B., Preston, M.R., (2000). Factors influencing the total mercury and methyl mercury in the hair of the fisherman of Kuwait. Environmental Pollution 109, 239–250.Google Scholar
Altabet, M.A., Francols, R., Murray, D.W., Prell, W.L., (1995). Climate-related variations in denitrification in the Arabian Sea from sediment 15N/14N ratios. Nature 373, 506–509.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beaufort, L., (1996). Dynamics of the monsoon in the equatorial Indian Ocean over the last 260,000 years. Quaternary International 31, 13–18.Google Scholar
Beaufort, L., Lancelot, Y., Camberlin, P., Cayre, O., Vincent, E., Bassinot, F., Labeyrie, L., (1997). Insolation cycles as a major control of equatorial Indian Ocean primary production. Science 278, 1451–1454.Google Scholar
Bollmann, J., (1997). Morphology and biogeography of Gephyrocapsa coccoliths in Holocene sediments. Marine Micropaleontology 29, 319–350.Google Scholar
Bruland, K.W., Oriants, K.J., Cowen, J.P., (1994). Reactive trace metals in the stratified central North Pacific. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 58, 3171–3182.Google Scholar
Brunner, C.A., (1975). Evidence for intensified bottom current activity in the Straits of Florida during the last glaciation (Abs.). Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 7, 1012–1013.Google Scholar
Chiyonobu, S., Sato, T., Narikiyo, R., Yamasaki, M., (2006). Floral changes in calcareous nannofossils and their paleoceanographic significance in the equatorial Pacific Ocean during the last 500000 years. Island Arc 15, 476–482.Google Scholar
Emsley, J., (2001). Nature's building blocks: an A–Z Guide to the elements. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Fontugne, M.R., Duplessy, J.-C., (1986). Variations of the monsoon regime during the upper Quaternary: evidence from carbon isotopic record of organic matter in North Indian ocean sediment cores. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 56, 69–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gill, G.A., Fitzgerald, W.F., (1987). Mercury in surface waters of the open ocean. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 1, 199–212.Google Scholar
Gill, G.A., Fitzgerald, W.F., (1988). Vertical mercury distributions in the oceans. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 52, 1719–1728.Google Scholar
Haq, B.U., (1980). Biogeographic history of Miocene calcareous nannoplankton and paleoceanography of the Atlantic Ocean. Micropaleontology 26, 414–443.Google Scholar
Hasegawa, H., Kita, I., Sato, T., (2003). Correlation between nitrogen isotopic ratios and productivity of calcareous nannoplankton of the Quaternary sediments off Bahama Bank of the Caribbean Sea. Goldschmidt conference. Kurasiki Sayou University, Kurashiki.(Sep. 7–12) pp. A137.Google Scholar
Hayes, M.J., (1993). Factors controlling 13C contents of sedimentary organic compounds: principles and evidence. Marine Geology 113, 111–125.Google Scholar
Henderson, G.M., Rendle, R.H., Slowey, N.C., Reijmer, J.J.G., (2000). U–Th dating and diagenesis of Pleistocene high stand sediments from the Bahamas Slope. Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program: Scientific Results 166, 23–31.Google Scholar
Honjo, S., (1976). Coccoliths: production, transportation and sedimentation. Marine Micropaleontology 1, 65–79.Google Scholar
Iverfeldt, Å., Munthe, J., Brosset, C., Pacyna, J., (1995). Long-term changes in concentration and deposition of atmospheric mercury over Scandinavia. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 80, 227–233.Google Scholar
Jackson, S.T., Webb, R.S., Anderson, K.H., Overpeck, J.T., Webb, T., Williams, J.W., Hansen, B.C.S., (2000). Vegetation and environment in Eastern North America during the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews 19, 489–508.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jonasson, I.R., Boyle, R.W., (1972). Geochemistry of mercury and origins of natural contamination of the environment. Canadian Mining and Metallurgical Bulletin 65, 32–39.Google Scholar
Kita, I., Hasegawa, H., Sato, T., Hayashi, T., Kojima, M., (2009). Correlation between nitrogen isotopic ratios and productivity of calcareous nannoplankton: evidence for the biological consumption of nitrate controlling nitrogen isotopic fluctuation. Fossils 86, 59–66.(in Japanese).Google Scholar
Kroon, D., Reijmer, J.J.G., Rendle, R., (2000). Mid- to Late-Quaternary variations in the oxygen isotope signature of Globigerinoides Ruber at site 1006 in the western subtropical Atlantic. Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program: Scientific Results 166, 13–22.Google Scholar
Kroopnick, P.M., (1985). The distribution of 13C of ΣCO2 in the world oceans. Deep-Sea Research 32, 57–84.Google Scholar
Kudo, A., Fujikawa, Y., Mitui, M., Sugahara, M., Tao, G., Zheng, J., Sasaki, T., Miyahara, S., Muramatsu, T., (2000). History of mercury migration from Minamata Bay to the Yatsushiro Sea. Water Science and Technology 42, 177–184.Google Scholar
Laurier, F.J.G., Mason, R.P., Gill, G.A., Whalin, L., (2004). Mercury distributions in the North Pacific Ocean–20 years of observations. Marine Chemistry 90, 3–19.Google Scholar
Leah, R., Evans, S., Johnson, M., (1991). Mercury in muscle tissue of lesser-spotted dogfish (Scyliorhinus caniculus L.) from the north-east Irish Sea. The Science of the Total Environment 108, 215–224.Google Scholar
Lisiecki, L.E., Raymo, M.E., (2005). A Pliocene–Pleistocene stack of 57 globally distributed benthic δ18O records. Paleoceanography 20, PA1003 10.1029/2004PA001071.Google Scholar
Liu, K.-K., Kaplan, I.R., (1989). The eastern tropical Pacific as a source of 15N-enriched nitrate in seawater off southern California. Limnology and Oceanography 34, 820–830.Google Scholar
Mason, R.P., Sullivan, K.A., (1999). The distribution and speciation of mercury in the South and equatorial Atlantic. Deep-Sea Research II 46, 937–956.Google Scholar
Mason, R.P., Rolfhus, K.R., Fitzgerald, W.F., (1995). Methylated and elemental mercury cycling in surface and deep ocean waters of the North Atlantic. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 80, 665–766.Google Scholar
Mercone, D., Thomson, J., Croudace, I.W., Troelstra, S.R., (1999). A couple natural immobilization mechanism for mercury and selenium in deep-sea sediments. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 63, 1481–1488.Google Scholar
Minagawa, M., Winter, D.A., Kaplan, I.R., (1984). Comparison of Kjeldahl and combustion methods for measurement of nitrogen isotope ratios in organic matter. Analytical Chemistry 56, 1859–1861.Google Scholar
Molfino, B., McIntyre, A., (1990). Precessional forcing of nutricline dynamics in the equatorial Atlantic. Science 249, 766–769.Google Scholar
Naidu, P.D., Niitsuma, N., (2004). Atypical δ13C signature in Globigerina bulloides at the ODP site 723A (Arabian Sea): implications of environmental changes caused by upwelling. Marine Micropaleontology 53, 1–10.Google Scholar
Nakagawa, R., Yumita, Y., Hiromoto, M., (1997). Total mercury intake from fish and shellfish by Japanese people. Chemosphere 35, 2909–2913.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nakatsuka, T., Harada, N., Matsumoto, E., Handa, N., Oba, T., Ikehara, M., Matsuoka, H., Kimoto, K., (1995). Glacial–interglacial migration of an upwelling field in the western equatorial Pacific recorded by sediment 15N/14N. Geophysical Research Letters 22, 2525–2528.Google Scholar
Nakatsuka, T., Handa, N., Harada, N., Sugimoto, T., Imaizumi, S., (1997). Origin and decomposition of sinking particulate organic matter in the deep water column inferred from the vertical distributions of its δ15N, δ13C and δ14C. Deep-Sea Research I 44, 1957–1979.Google Scholar
Newman, J.W., Parker, P.L., Behrens, E.W., (1973). Organic carbon isotope ratios in Quaternary cores from the Gulf of Mexico. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 37, 225–238.Google Scholar
Niitsuma, N., Oba, T., Okada, M., (1991). Oxygen and carbon isotope stratigraphy at site 723, Oman Margin. Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program: Scientific Results 117, 321–341.Google Scholar
Nishigaki, S., Harada, M., (1975). Methylmercury and selenium in umbilical cords of inhabitants of the Minamata area. Nature 258, 324–325.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Okada, H., Honjo, S., (1973). The distribution of oceanic coccolithophorids in the Pacific. Deep-Sea Research 20, 355–374.Google Scholar
Olmez, I., Ames, M.R., Gullu, G., (1998). Canadian and U.S. sources impacting the mercury levels in fine atmospheric particulate material across New York State. Environmental Science and Technology 32, 3048–3054.Google Scholar
Paillard, D., Labeyrie, L., Yiou, P., (1996). Macintosh program performs time series analysis. EOS Transactions. American Geophysical Union 77, 379.Google Scholar
Peters, K.E., Sweeney, R.E., Kaplan, I.R., (1978). Correlation of carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios in sedimentary organic matter. Limnology and Oceanography 23, 598–604.Google Scholar
Saino, T., Hattori, A., (1980). 15N natural abundance in oceanic suspended particulate matter. Nature 283, 752–754.Google Scholar
Sato, T., Kameo, K., (1996). Pliocene to Quaternary calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy of the Arctic Ocean, with reference to Late Pliocene glaciation. Thiede, J., Myhre, A.M., Firth, J.V., Johnson, G.L., Ruddiman, W.F. Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program: Scientific Results 151, 39–59.Google Scholar
Sato, T., Yuguchi, S., Takayama, T., Kameo, K., (2004). Drastic change in the geographical distribution of the cold-water nannofossil Coccolithus pelagicus (Wallich) Schiller at 2.74 Ma in the late Pliocene, with special reference to glaciation in the Arctic Ocean. Marine Micropaleontology 52, 181–193.Google Scholar
Shipboard Scientific Party, . (1997). Site1006. Eberli, G.P., Swart, P.K., Malone, M.J. Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program: Initial Reports 166, 233–287.Google Scholar
Vandal, G.M., Fitzgerald, W.F., Boutron, C.F., Candelone, J.P., (1993). Variations in mercury deposition to Antarctica over the past 34,000 years. Nature 362, 621–623.Google Scholar