Summary:
The present study aims to high resolution paleoecological reconstruction of the
Holocene SE
Aegean archive in the shallow, very rapidly accumulated core NS-14 and the
nearby NS-40,
SE Aegean. A special effort is being made towards to the detailed investigation
of the
remarkably thick S1 exposed at the core, and to the establishment of a refined
ecostratigraphic scheme based on coccolithophore and planktonic foraminiferal
patterns. This research uses the inorganic and organic chemistry of
coccolithophores to monitor changes in sea water chemistry and ecology during
the sapropel S1 deposition in the Aegean Sea. In particular d18O on coccoliths
of Emiliania huxleyi has been analyzed from a number of samples spanning S1
from the SE Aegean core NS-14 and the North Aegean core 152SL. Age model,
marine biogeochemical conditions and SSTs derived from alkenones, are well
determined in both cores. The calculated d18Ow variability is related to both
changes in freshwater input and carbonate ion concentration. d18Ow decreases
(approx. 0.6 o/oo) before S1 deposition, demonstrating fresher conditions and a
possible runoff source for nutrient delivery.
Keywords:
Micropaleontology, Coccoliths, Sapropel, Isotopes, Aegean
