A study of paleoclimates as reflected in the mass accumulation rate of ice-rafted debris recovered from ODP Leg 152, Site 918

Abstract

Glaciomarine sediments recently recovered from the Irminger Basin provide the first available long-term record of ice-rafting activity along the southeastern Greenland margin, from the Pleistocene through the late Miocene. Ice-rafted debris mass accumulation rates (IRD MARs) of coarse (250 ?m to 2 mm) terrigenous material in the Irminger Basin were investigated for the last 1.40 My (early Pleistocene). Intensification in IRD MAR peaks throughout the mid-Pleistocene appears to indicate at least a regional change in the history of glaciation along the SE coast of Greenland. Observations made in this study-particularly at 880 Ka-are consistent with the proposal of a mid Pleistocene climate shift in paleoclimatic records.