Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : Grain-size analyses, coupled with end-member modelling, have been performed on the terrigenous fraction of two Leg 184 Ocean Drilling Program sites (1144 and 1146) from the South China Sea. The grain-size distributions over the last 1.8 Ma enable a new interpretation of their connections to sea-level variations and East Asian monsoon strength. Previous investigations in this area have associated grain-size variability with enhanced eolian input during glacial stages. End-member modelling downgrades the importance of this eolian contribution and indicates that the sediments can be described as a mixture of three end-members: fluvial mud inputs, shelf reworking and river mouth migration. Grain-size variations in the Pleistocene section of the cores indicate a multiple-stage evolution: (i) from 1.8 to 1.25 Ma, the downcore grain-size variations are low but show a correspondence between monsoon rainfall intensity and the fine grain-sized fluvial inputs; no link with sea-level variations is noticeable; (ii) from 1.25 to 0.9 Ma, there is an increase (decrease) in the intermediate (fine) end-member (not, vert, similar 100 kyr cycle) that is associated with the onset of a stronger summer monsoon and modest shelf reworking; (iii) from 0.9 to 0 Ma the grain-size record is dominated by global sea-level variations; each glacial stage is associated with extensive shelf reworking and conveyance of coarse particles to the basin.
ISSN: 0033-5894

hal-00404671
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00404671
DOI : 10.1016/j.yqres.2007.03.004

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier Masson
Résumé : Reconstruction of Northern African monsoon between 6.2 and 4.9 Ma and possible relationships with Late Miocene events. Mineralogical and geochemical investigations have been realized on ODP Site 659 in order to better understand the detrital sedimentation of the Cap Verde plateau and to reconstruct African monsoon intensity variations between 6.2 and 4.9 Ma. Time intervals corresponding to an intensification of the summer African monsoon rainfall are associated to a reduction of eolian input from the Sahara and an intensification of the African river input. The reflooding of the Mediterranean Sea at the end of the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC) (5.33 Ma) is correlated to a greater aridity in the Sahara.
ISSN: 1631-0713

hal-00412151
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00412151
DOI : 10.1016/j.crte.2008.07.005