Glacial-interglacial Variations of Molybdenum Isotopes in the Peruvian Oxygen Minimum Zone

Abstract:

Mo isotopes have been widely used as a tool to constrain redox-conditions during major global events such as the oxygenation of the oceans in the Precambrian and Cretaceous Ocean Anoxic Events. In addition, Mo isotopes have considerable, yet underexplored potential to quantitatively track local redox-variation at high resolution on shorter timescales.

Here we present data from piston core M77/2-024-5 that was retrieved in the Peruvian oxygen minimum zone in the context of Collaborative Research Centre (SFB) 754 of the Deutsche Forschungs Gemeinschaft (DFG). The age model for this core is well constrained and the core covers the last 140 ka with a hiatus between 20 and 50 ky _BP. The oxygen minimum zone along the Peru continental margin is thought to have been better ventilated and therefore less pronounced during glacial periods compared to interglacials. Concentrations of redox-sensitive trace elements show high-amplitude changes and indicate periods of strongly sulphidic conditions with high Mo fixation rate and oxygenated periods with limited Mo fixation (Scholz et al 2014).

Mo isotopes do not show straightforward correlations with elemental redox tracers and are only weakly correlated with Mo/U and total organic carbon (TOC). However, Mo isotopes become significantly heavier around the last glacial maximum (Δ⁹⁸Mo of 0.4 permil). The observed signatures indicate that the Mo isotope composition is dominated by changes in the operating Mo delivery mechanism, i.e. particulate transport versus molecular diffusion. Our results suggest that Mo isotopes can track local redox variation therefore adding to our understanding of this complex indicator for marine environmental change.

Scholz et al., (2014), Nature Geosciences, Vol. 7, Pages 433-437