Fourth‐ to third‐order cycles in the Hakobuchi Formation: Shallow‐marine Campanian final deposition of the Yezo Group,Nakagawa area,northern Hokkaido,Japan

The Yezo Group has a wide longitudinal distribution across Hokkaido, northern Japan. It represents a Cretaceous (Early Aptian–Late Maastrichtian) and Late Paleocene forearc basin‐fill along the eastern margin of the paleo‐Asian continent. In the Nakagawa area of northern Hokkaido, the uppermost part of the Yezo Group consists of the Hakobuchi Formation. Along the western margin of the Yezo basin, 24 sedimentary facies (F) represent 6 facies associations (FA), suggesting prevailing storm‐dominated inner shelf to shoreface environments, subordinately associated with shoreface sand ridges, outer shelf, estuary and fluvial environments. The stacking patterns, thickness and facies trends of these associations allow the discrimination of six depositional sequences (DS). Inoceramids Sphenoceramus schmidti and Inoceramus balticus, and the ammonite Metaplacenticeras subtilistriatum, provide late Early to Late Campanian age constraints to this approximately 370‐m thick final stage of deposition and uplift of the Yezo forearc basin. Six shallow‐marine to subordinately non‐marine sandstone‐dominated depositional sequences include four 10 to 110‐m thick upward‐coarsening regressive successions (FS1), occasionally associated with thin, less than 10‐m thick, upward‐fining transgressive successions (FS2). The lower DS1–3, middle DS4–5 and upper DS6 represent three depositional sequential sets (DSS1–3). These eastward prograding and westward retrograding recurring shallow‐marine depositional systems may reflect third‐ and fourth‐order relative sealevel changes, in terms of sequence stratigraphy.     

Advanced mosasaurs from the Upper Cretaceous Nakaminato Group in Japan

Plotosaurus is a highly aquatically adapted mosasaur, which is supposed to inhabit the deep ocean basin. The geographic occurrence of this genus has been limited only to the west coast of North America. In this study, two Plotosaurus-type mosasaur caudal vertebrae derived from the Upper Cretaceous Nakaminato Group in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, are described with discussion on the paleobiogeographic significance of the Late Cretaceous mosasaur fauna in the Northwestern Pacific region. The two specimens are an intermediate caudal vertebra found in a beach cobble, which presumably originated from the Hiraiso Formation (upper Campanian), and a terminal caudal vertebra found in situ in the lower Isoai Formation (lower Maastrichtian). Because their relative centrum lengths (ratio of centrum length/centrum height, ~0.7) are very close to that of Plotosaurus, the specimens are referred to cf. Plotosaurus sp. The two specimens provide the first evidence that highly specialized Plotosaurus-type mosasaurs inhabited the Northwestern Pacific Ocean, suggesting that such forms had a wider distribution than previously recognized and might have existed since the late Campanian in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean.     

Depositional age of the Himenoura Group on the Amakusa‐Kamishima area,Kyushu, southwest Japan: Using zircon U–Pb dating of the acidic tuffs

The Upper Cretaceous Himenoura Group in the Amakusa‐Kamishima Island area, southwest Japan is subdivided into the Hinoshima and Amura Formations. In order to determine the numerical depositional age of the formations, zircon U–Pb ages were investigated using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA–ICP–MS) for acidic tuff samples from the lower part of the Hinoshima Formation and the upper part of the Amura Formation. Although the two samples contain some accidental zircons, the samples have a definite youngest age cluster and their weighted mean ages are 85.4 ± 1.3 and 81.5 ± 1.1 Ma, respectively (errors are 95 % confidence interval). These age data indicate that the Himenoura Group in the Amakusa‐Kamishima Island area was deposited mainly in the early Santonian to early Campanian which is consistent with biostratigraphic ages. Additionally, zircon age distributions of the two tuff samples from the upper part of the Hinoshima Formation do not show a distinct youngest peak of eruption age but characteristics of detrital zircons suggestive of maximum depositional age of the host sediments. These results demonstrate that the mean age of the youngest zircon age cluster of a tuff sample does not always indicate depositional age of the tuff, and statistical evaluation of age data is effective to determine depositional age of a tuff bed using zircon U–Pb ages.     

Cenomanian (Upper Cretaceous) carbon isotope stratigraphy of terrestrial organic matter for the Yezo Group, Hokkaido, Japan

Abstract Carbon isotope fluctuations of sedimentary organic matter along the two geological traverses in the Yezo Group, Hokkaido, northern Japan, elucidate a detailed chemostratigraphy for the Cenomanian Stage on the northwestern Pacific margin. Visual characterization of the kerogen from mudstone samples shows that the major constituents of sedimentary organic matter originated as terrestrial higher plants. The atomic hydrogen/carbon ratios of the kerogen suggest that the original δ¹³C values of terrestrial organic matter (TOM) have not been affected significantly by thermal diagenesis. The patterns in two δ¹³C_TOM curves are similar and independent of changes in lithology and total organic carbon contents, which suggests that TOM was mixed sufficiently before the deposition in the Yezo forearc basin for the δ¹³C composition having been homogenized. In addition, this implies that the Hokkaido δ¹³C_TOM profiles represent the averaged temporal δ¹³C variations of terrestrial higher‐plant vegetation in the hinterlands of northeast Asia during Cenomanian time. Three shorter‐term (ca. 0.1 my duration) positive‐and‐negative δ¹³C_TOM fluctuations of ∼1‰ are present in the Lower to Middle Cenomanian interval in the Yezo Group. On the basis of the age‐diagnostic taxa (ammonoids, inoceramids and planktic foraminifers), these discrete δ¹³C_TOM events are interpreted to be correlated with those in the δ¹³C curves of pelagic carbonates from European basins. The correlation of δ¹³C events between the European and Yezo Group sections suggests that the shorter‐term δ¹³C fluctuations in Cenomanian ocean‐atmosphere carbon reservoirs are useful for global chemostratigraphic correlation of marine strata. In particular, the correlation of δ¹³C fluctuations of the so‐called ‘Mid‐Cenomanian event’ (MCE) implies: (i) the δ¹³C variations of global carbon reservoir during the MCE are precisely recorded in the δ¹³C_TOM records; and (ii) the MCE δ¹³C_TOM event is an efficient chronostratigraphic index for the Lower/Middle Cenomanian boundary of the Mid‐Cretaceous sequences.     

Middle Miocene to Pleistocene radiolarian biostratigraphy in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, ODP Leg 186

Abstract The Upper Cenozoic sedimentary sequences drilled at Sites 1150 and 1151, Ocean Drilling Program Leg 186, enabled establishment of radiolarian zonation and calibration of the age of bioevents in the forearc area of the northern Japan Islands. The sequences were divided into nine zones from the Pleistocene Botryostrobus aquilonaris Zone to the Upper Miocene Lipmanella redondoensis Zone at Site 1150, and 11 zones from the Pleistocene Stylatractus universus Zone to the Middle Miocene Dendrospyris? sakaii Zone at Site 1151. These zones correlate successfully with the studied sequences of many of deep‐sea cores in the Northwest Pacific Ocean and with some sections of onshore Japan. Of 67 important radiolarian bioevents recognized during the study, 29 Pleistocene to Upper Miocene events were directly tied to the geomagnetic polarity time scale through the well‐defined paleomagnetic polarity records, and 21 Upper Miocene events were calibrated based on the diatom biostratigraphy. Of these events, 24 geographically widespread events were selected to test synchroneity and usefulness as time‐horizons within the mid‐to‐high latitude of the Northwest Pacific, involving eight other offshore and onshore sections. Examination showed that most of the zonal boundary events are synchronous within the considered region, and that many diachronous events, most of which are eliminated from the zonal scheme, are unreliable events linked to rare and sporadic occurrences of the species. Radiolarian biostratigraphy of the studied cores clearly indicates three major hiatuses in the Middle Pleistocene, Late Miocene and late Middle Miocene. The latter two hiatuses can be correlated to two global oceanic hiatuses, NH6 and NH3, respectively.     

Fluvial to bay sequence stratigraphy and seismic facies of the Cretaceous to Paleogene successions in the MITI Sanriku‐oki well and the vicinities,the Sanriku‐oki forearc basin,northeast Japan

This paper describes the significant depositional setting information derived from well and seismic survey data for the Upper Cretaceous to Lower Eocene forearc basin sediments in the central part of the Sanriku‐oki basin, which is regarded as a key area for elucidating the plate tectonic history of the Northeast Japan Arc. According to the results of well facies analysis utilizing cores, well logs and borehole images, the major depositional environments were of braided and meandering fluvial environments with sporadically intercalated marine incursion beds. Seismic facies, reflection terminations and isopach information provide the actual spatial distributions of fluvial channel zones flowing in a north–south trending direction. The transgression and regression cycles indicate that the Upper Cretaceous to Lower Eocene successions can be divided into thirteen depositional sequences (Sequences SrCr‐0 to SrCr‐5, and SrPg‐1 to SrPg‐7). These depositional sequences demonstrate three types of stacking patterns: Types A to C, each of which shows a succession mainly comprising a meandering fluvial system, a braided fluvial system with minor meandering aspects in the upper part, and major marine incursion beds in the middle part, respectively, although all show an overall transgressive to regressive succession. The Type C marine incursion beds characteristically comprise bay center and tidal‐dominated bay margin facies. Basin‐transecting long seismic sections demonstrate a roll up structure on the trench slope break (TSB) side of the basin. These facts suggest that during the Cretaceous to Eocene periods, the studied fluvial‐dominated forearc basin was sheltered by the uplifted TSB. The selective occurrences of the Type C sequences suggest that when a longer‐scale transgression occurred, especially in Santonian and early Campanian periods, a large bay basin was developed, creating accommodation space, which induced the deposition of the Cretaceous Kuji Group along the arc‐side basin margin.     

Calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphic study of forearc basin sediments: Lower to Upper Cretaceous Budden Canyon Formation (Great Valley Group), northern California,USA

The results of a calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphic investigation of the North Fork Cottonwood Creek section of the Budden Canyon Formation (BCF; Hauterivian–Turonian) in northern California are summarized using the Boreal – cosmopolitan Boreal Nannofossil Biostratigraphy (BC) – Upper Cretaceous Nannofossil Biostratigraphy (UC) nannofossil zonal schemes of Bown et al. and Burnett et al. Sixteen intervals, ranging from the BC15 to UC8 zones, were established in the section. Combined biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic studies suggest a Hauterivian to mid‐Turonian age for the studied sequence. The Hauterivian–Barremian, Barremian–Aptian, Aptian–Albian, Albian–Cenomanian, and Cenomanian–Turonian stage boundaries were delineated near the top of the Ogo Member, below the Huling Sandstone Member, within the upper Chickabally Member, in the upper portion of the Bald Hills Member and within the Gas Point Member, respectively. Unconformities probably exist at the base of the Huling Sandstone Member and the upper part of the upper Chickabally Member. The nannofossil assemblage in the North Fork Cottonwood Creek suggests that the study area was under the influence of cold‐water conditions during the Barremian to Lower Aptian interval, shifting to tropical/warm‐water conditions during the Albian to Turonian interval as a result of the mid‐Cretaceous global warming. Although oceanic anoxic events have not yet been reported in the BCF, preliminary total organic carbon, along with nannofossil data, suggest the presence of the global Cenomanian–Turonian boundary oceanic anoxic event 2.     

Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous radiolarian zonation in Japan and in the western Pacific

Abstract A radiolarian zonal scheme for the entire Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous using biostratigraphic data from both Japanese Island sections and the western Pacific seafloor is documented. The zonation is applicable to low and middle paleolatitude portions of the Paleo-Pacific ocean. Radiolarian bio-events such as the evolutionary first appearance biohorizon, first occurrence biohorizon, and last occurrence biohorizon were used to define zones. The 11 zones proposed are, in ascending order, Parahsuum simplum, Trillus elkhornensis, Laxtorum(?) jurassicum, Tricolocapsa plicarum, Tricolocapsa conexa, Stylocapsa(?) spiralis, Hsuum maxwelli, Pseudodictyomitra primitiva, Pseudodictyomitra carpatica, Cecrops sep-temporatus, and Acanthocircus carinatus zones. Preliminary age assignments for these zones are presented.     

Carbon isotope stratigraphy of Torinosu‐type limestone in the western Paleo‐Pacific and its implication to paleoceanography in the Late Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous

Carbon isotope stratigraphy of the Late Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous was revealed from Torinosu‐type limestone, which was deposited in a shallow‐marine setting in the western Paleo‐Pacific, in Japan. Two sections were examined; the Nakanosawa section of the late Kimmeridgian to early Tithonian age (Fukushima Prefecture, Northeast Japan), and the Furuichi section of the late Kimmeridgian to early Berriasian age (Ehime Prefecture, Southwest Japan). The age‐model was established using Sr isotope ratio and fossil occurrence. The limestone samples have a low Mn/Sr ratio (mostly <0.5) and lack a distinct correlation between δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O, indicating a low degree of diagenetic alteration. Our composite δ¹³C profile from the two limestone sections shows three stratigraphic correlation points that can be correlated with the profiles of relevant ages from the Alpine Tethyan region: a large‐amplitude fluctuation (the lower upper Kimmeridgian, ～152 Ma), a positive anomaly (above the Kimmeridgian/Tithonian boundary, ～150 Ma), and a negative anomaly (the upper lower Tithonian, ～148 Ma). In addition, we found that δ¹³C values of the Torinosu‐type limestone are ～1‰ lower than the Tethyan values in the late Kimmeridgian. This inter‐regional difference in δ¹³C values is likely to have resulted from a higher productivity and/or an organic burial in the Tethyan region. The difference gradually reduces and disappears in the late Tithonian, where the Tethyan and our δ¹³C records show similar stable values of 1.5–2.0‰. This isotopic homogenization is probably due to changes in the continental distribution and the global ocean circulation, which propagated the ¹³C‐depleted signature from the larger Paleo‐Pacific to the smaller Tethys Ocean during this time.     

New radiolarian ages from the Troodos ophiolite and their tectonic implications

Abstract Newly obtained radiolarian biostratigraphic age combined with previous isotopic age of the Troodos ophiolite shows that the ophiolite becomes systematically younger from east to west: Turonian, early Campanian, and late Campanian. The youngest late Campanian part of the ophiolite is directly covered by the volcaniclastic sediment derived from an active island arc, whereas the older part is covered by pelagic radiolarite. These facts constitute evidence that the Troodos ophiolite was probably emplaced during the subduction of an active spreading ridge.     

Thermal histories of Cretaceous basins in Korea: Implications for response of the East Asian continental margin to subduction of the Paleo‐Pacific Plate

Thermal histories of Cretaceous sedimentary basins in the Korean peninsula have been assessed to understand the response of the East Asian continental margin to subduction of the Paleo‐Pacific (Izanagi) Plate. The Izanagi Plate subducted obliquely beneath the East Asian continent during the Early Cretaceous and orthogonally in the Late Cretaceous. First, the Jinan Basin, a pull‐apart basin, was studied by illite crystallinity and apatite fission‐track analyses. Analytical results indicate that Jinan Basin sediment was heated to a maximum temperature of approximately 287°C by burial. The sediment experienced two cooling episodes during ca 95–80 Ma and after ca 30 Ma, with a quiescent period between them. A similar cooling pattern is recognized in the Gyeongsang Basin, the largest Cretaceous basin in Korea. The Jinan and Gyeongsang Basins were cooled mainly by exhumation between ca 95 and 80 Ma, but the former was exhumed slightly earlier than the latter by transpressional force due to the subduction direction change of the Izanagi Plate. Comparison of thermal history of Korean Cretaceous basins with those of granitoids in northeastern China and the accretionary complexes in southwestern Japan reveals that the Upper Cretaceous regional exhumation of the East Asian continental margin including the Korean peninsula during ca 95–80 Ma was facilitated by the subduction of the Izanagi–Pacific ridge, which migrated northeastwards with time, resulting in the end of regional exhumation at ca 80 Ma in this region.     

Isolated Archosaur teeth from the green sandstone capping the Coralline Limestone (Bagh Group) of the Narmada valley: Evidence for the presence of pre‐Late to Late Maastrichtian abelisaurids in India

Recent field prospecting in the Cretaceous sequences of the lower Narmada valley has led to the discovery of three isolated archosaur teeth from the upper part of marine Cretaceous rocks of the Bagh Group. The specimens were recovered by surface prospecting from an oyster‐bearing green sandstone bed occurring at the top of the Coralline Limestone (Coniacian) from a site near Phutibawri village, Dhar District, Madhya Pradesh, India. Of the three teeth recovered from this horizon, two are identified with abelisaurid dinosaurs and the third one with an indeterminate crocodile. The abelisaurid teeth conform to the premaxillary and maxillary tooth morphology of Majungasaurus and Indosuchus. Earlier reports of abelisaurid dinosaurs from India are from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Lameta Group of Jabalpur, Pisdura (Central India) and Balasinor (Western India) and Upper Cretaceous (Late Maastrichtian) Kallamedu Formation (South India). As no associated age diagnostic fossils are found, the specimens described here are considered to represent pre‐Late to Late Maastrichtian age based on the known ages of the underlying and overlying formations. The new finds, therefore, document stratigraphically the oldest occurrence of abelisaurid dinosaurs known from the Indian subcontinent.     

浙江温州北部地区白垩系地层划分与对比

本文根据温州北部地区的火山一沉积岩地层的剖面,进行了岩石地层、生物地层、年代地层的综合研究和区域对比,针对以往1：25万、1：20万和1：5万区域地质调查的划分和归属提出了新的看法。浙东南下白垩统火山一沉积岩分为上、下两个岩系,下岩系称磨石山群,上岩系称永康群。研究认为,温州北部地区的火山-沉积岩系主体为下白垩统下岩系的磨石山群,并非均为上岩系的永康群馆头组;在永嘉枫林、澄田一带的火山-沉积岩地层分别属于磨石山群大爽组和茶湾组,而桥下一带的沉积岩地层则属于永康群馆头组。     

Zircon U–Pb ages from tuff beds of the upper Mesozoic Tetori Group in the Shokawa district,Gifu Prefecture,central Japan†

Abstract The upper Mesozoic Tetori Group contains numerous fossils of plants and marine and non‐marine animals. The group has the potential to provide key information to improve our understanding of the Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous biota of East Asia. However, the depositional age of the Tetori Group remains uncertain, and without good age constraints, accurate correlation with other areas is very difficult. As a first step in obtaining reliable ages for the formations within the Tetori Group, we used laser ablation‐inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry to measure the U–Pb ages of zircons collected from tuff beds in the Shokawa district, Takayama City, Gifu Prefecture, central Japan. The youngest reliable U–Pb ages from the tuff beds of the Ushimaru, Mitarai and Okurodani Formations are 130.2 ± 1.7, 129.8 ± 1.0 and 117.5 ± 0.7 Ma, respectively (errors represent 2 SE). These results indicate that the entire Tetori Group in the Shokawa district, which was previously believed to be correlated to the Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous, is in fact correlated to the Lower Cretaceous. The maximum ages of the Ushimaru, Mitarai and Okurodani Formations are late Hauterivian to Barremian, late Hauterivian to Barremian and Barremian to Aptian, respectively.     

Lower crustal melting via magma underplating: Elemental and Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic constraints from late Mesozoic intermediate–felsic volcanic rocks in the northeastern North China Block

Ar–Ar dating, major and trace element analyses, and Sr–Nd–Pb isotope results of two groups of Lower Cretaceous (erupted at 126 and 119 Ma, respectively) intermediate–felsic lava from the northeastern North China Block (NCB) suggest their derivation from melting of mixtures between the heterogeneous lower crust and underplated basalts. Both groups exhibit high‐K calc‐alkaline to shoshonitic affinities, characterized by light rare earth element (LREE) and large ion lithophile element (LILE) enrichment and variable high field strength element (HFSE, e.g. Nb, Ta and Ti) depletion, and moderately radiogenic Sr and unradiogenic Nd and Pb isotopic compositions. Compared with Group 2, Group 1 rocks have relatively higher K₂O and Al₂O₃/(CaO + K₂O + Na₂O) in molar ratio, higher HFSE concentrations and lower Nb/Ta ratios, and higher Sr–Nd–Pb isotope ratios. Group 1 rocks were derived from a mixture of an enriched mantle‐derived magma and a lower crust that has developed radiogenic Sr and unradiogenic Nd and Pb isotopic compositions, whereas the Group 2 magmas were melts of another mixture between the same mantle‐derived component and another type of lower crust having even lower Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopic ratios. Shift in source region from Group 1 to Group 2 coincided with a change in melting conditions: hydrous melting of both the underplated basalt and the lower crust produced the earlier high‐Nb and low‐Nb/Ta melts with little or no residual Ti‐rich phases; while the younger low‐Nb and high‐Nb/Ta magmas were melted under a water‐deficient system, in which Ti‐rich phases were retained in the source. Generation of the two groups of intermediate–felsic volcanic rocks was genetically linked with the contemporaneous magma underplating event as a result of lithospheric thinning in the eastern NCB.     

Detrital zircon geochronology of the Cretaceous Sindong Group,Southeast Korea: Implications for depositional age and Early Cretaceous igneous activity

The Sindong Group forms the lowermost basin‐fill of the Gyeongsang Basin, the largest Cretaceous nonmarine basin located in southeastern Korea, and comprises the Nakdong, Hasandong, and Jinju Formations with decreasing age. The depositional age of the Sindong Group has not yet been determined well and the reported age ranges from the Valanginian to Albian. Detrital zircons from the Sindong Group have been subjected to U–Pb dating using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The Sindong Group contains noticeable amounts of detrital magmatic zircons of Cretaceous age (138–106 Ma), indicative of continuous magmatic activity prior to and during deposition of the Sindong Group. The youngest detrital zircon age of three formations becomes progressively younger stratigraphically: 118 Ma for the Nakdong Formation, 109 Ma for the Hasandong Formation, and 106 Ma for the Jinju Formation. Accordingly, the depositional age of the Sindong Group ranges from the late Aptian to late Albian, which is much younger than previously thought. Lower Cretaceous magmatic activity, which supplied detrital zircons to the Sindong Group, changed its location spatially through time; it occurred in the middle and northern source areas during the early stage, and then switched to the middle to southern source areas during the middle to late stages. This study reports first the Lower Cretaceous magmatic activity from the East Asian continental margin, which results in a narrower magmatic gap (ca 20 m.y.) than previously known.     

Oxfordian magnetostratigraphy of Poland and its correlation to Sub-Mediterranean ammonite zones and marine magnetic anomalies

A nearly continuous magnetostratigraphic polarity pattern was compiled from several ammonite-zoned carbonate successions of southern Poland and from a composite magnetostratigraphy from the Iberian Range of Spain. The array of sections spans the middle two-thirds of the Oxfordian within the Sub-Mediterranean Province (Cordatum through Bifurcatus ammonite zones). The average paleopole calculated from eight of these Polish sections is at 78.5°N, 184.9°E (δp = 2.6°, δm = 3.5°). The Sub-Mediterranean polarity pattern is consistent with an independent polarity pattern derived from the Boreal-realm sections of the British Isles, and improves the inter-correlation between these faunal realms. Cycle stratigraphy published for these ammonite subzones from southern France enabled temporal scaling of the polarity pattern, thereby facilitating correlation to marine magnetic anomalies M28 through M33 as modeled from deep-tow magnetometer surveys in the Western Pacific. The bases of the Middle and Upper Oxfordian substages as defined in the Sub-Mediterranean zonation in Poland correspond approximately to chrons M33 and M29 of that Pacific M-sequence model.     

Vertical concentration profiles of lead in the Central Pacific at 15°N and 20°S

Concentrations of lead were measured in a surface transect and at two vertical profile stations (15°N and 20°S) in the Central Pacific. These measurements complement similar measurements made earlier in the North Pacific at 33°N and in the Northwest Atlantic at 34°N [1,2], as well as recent measurements of eolian lead input fluxes near each of these locations [3]. The new transect of surface water concentrations of lead corroborates previous measurements, which decrease from 13 ng/kg at 30°N to 4 ng/kg at 17°S in the Central Pacific [4]. This transect gradient is shown to overlie a similar geographic gradient of subsurface maximum concentrations of lead in the three Pacific vertical profile stations, decreasing from 14 ng/kg at 33°N to 11 ng/kg at 14°N to 2.5 ng/kg at 20°S. Lead concentrations at each of those locations exhibit maxima at 400 m, decreasing concentrations to 2500 m and approximately concentrations of 0.8–1.1 ng/kg below that depth. The subsurface maximum at the northwest Atlantic profile station (36 ng/kg at 34°N) is also congruent with surface water lead concentrations which decrease from 806 ng/kg to 32 ng/kg in an offshore transect from Rhode Island to 34°N, 66°W [5], and the shape of the Atlantic profile is congruent with those in the Pacific. There is a positive correlation between the magnitudes of eolian lead input fluxes and the magnitudes of the upper water maxima in lead concentration profiles at corresponding locations as follows: South Pacific easterlies 3 ng/cm² yr vs. 2.5 ng/kg; North Pacific easterlies 6 ng/cm² yr vs. 11 ng/kg; North Pacific westerlies 50 ng/cm² yr vs. 14 ng/kg; and North Atlantic westerlies 170 ng/cm² yr vs. 36 ng/kg.This relationship enables one to view the anthropogenic perturbations of the marine lead cycle on a global scale, since the industrial origin of eolian and seawater lead has been established by correlations between geographic patterns of industrial lead emissions to the atmosphere and isotopic ratios of industrial leads [3] and by geographic patterns of Pb/silicate-dust ratios and lead isotopic ratios in ocean surface waters [3–5]. These new data coupled with earlier biogeochemical data indicate that surface water concentrations of lead in the North Pacific and North Atlantic are now conservatively estimated to be 8 to 20-fold greater and those in the South Pacific are 2-fold greater than natural concentrations because of industrial emissions of lead to the atmosphere.     

Radiolarian biostratigraphy in the Southern Bering Sea since Pliocene

Detailed radiolarian biostratigraphy in the Plio-Pleistocene was analyzed by using samples from IODP Site U1340 that was drilled to a core depth of 604 m in the southern Bering Sea. A total of 227 species belonging to 102 genera were identified. Based on the distributions of the radiolarian index species at Site U1340, five radiolarian zones since the Pliocene were established in the southern Bering Sea for the first time, and 25 radiolarian bioevents were recognized. Their ages were estimated on the basis of the age-depth plot that was constructed by the synthetical datum of the effective biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic events. The radiolarian zones at Site U1340 were systematically compared with those in its adjacent regions since the late Early Pliocene, which further improved and interpreted the biostratigraphic datum as well as their correlations in the middle-high latitude of the North Pacific. In addition, the comparative results of radiolarian zones show that Botryostrobus aquilonaris Zone emended in this paper is equivalent to the upper part of the same zone defined by Hays, 1970, and Druppatractus irregularis-Dorydruppa bensoni Zone as well as Spongodiscus sp. Zone, newly proposed in this paper, are well correlated with Cycladophora sakaii Zone and Stylatractus universus Zone in the subarctic North Pacific, respectively.