Pliocene calcium carbonate sedimentation patterns of the Ontong Java Plateau: ODP Sites 804 and 806

Two deep-sea cores from the northeastern slope of the Ontong Java Plateau, Ocean Drilling Program Site 806 (2520 mbsl) and Site 804 (3861 mbsl), has been studied with the purpose of investigating Pliocene (Site 806, 2.4–3.8 Ma; Site 804, 1.8–4.4 Ma) sub- and supralysoclinal changes in calcium carbonate accumulation, based on CaCO₃, coarse-fraction and faunal data. At the shallower site, Site 806, there is a slight decrease in carbonate content and a distinct long-term trend in decreasing accumulation rate throughout the studied interval. Small-scale changes in density, hence accumulation rate, are related to grain-size changes due to winnowing at this site, but the overall pattern of decreasing carbonate accumulation seems to be the result of both winnowing and a decrease in productivity. The deeper site, Site 804, exhibits a general increase in carbonate content after about 3.15 Ma as well as a long-term increase in mass accumulation rate throughout the Pliocene interval studied. Detailed comparison of the records of density and carbonate content emphasizes the strong relationship between carbonate content and accumulation rate at this site. The observed pattern of decreasing accumulation rate at shallow depth parallel to enhanced preservation at greater depths may be explained by a decrease in the production of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). A reduction of the volume of NADW pumped into the Pacific would reduce the supply of nutrients and deep-water CO₂. This could account for both the decrease in accumulation rate at the shallower site, due to decreased productivity, and the enhanced preservation at the deeper site, due to a decrease in the corrosiveness of deep waters.