Unravelling changes in the productivity regime during the Late Miocene-Early Pliocene Biogenic Bloom: Insights from the western equatorial Pacific (IODP Site U1488)

Abstract

The Late Miocene-Early Pliocene Biogenic Bloom (9.0–3.5 Ma) is a widespread paleoceanographic phenomenon marked by increased marine biological productivity and by high accumulations of biological components documented at multiple open ocean sites in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. We investigate the expression of the Biogenic Bloom at International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Site U1488 in the western equatorial Pacific Ocean. We generated an improved age model based on calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy and a quantitative benthic foraminiferal record across the Late Miocene to the Early Pliocene. Increased carbonate mass accumulation rates suggest the Biogenic Bloom occurs between 8.1 and 4.0 Ma at Site U1488. We described four intervals with paleoenvironmental significance: Interval 1 (8.1–6.2 Ma), Interval 2 (6.2–5.5 Ma), Interval 3 (5.5–4.5 Ma), and Interval 4 (4.5–3.1 Ma), the Biogenic Bloom spans across Interval 1 and 3. Intervals 1, 3, and 4 are marked by high abundance of phytodetritus exploiting taxa, related to phases of El Niño-like conditions. The highest abundance of these species during Interval 1 has been related to a phase of higher seasonality. In contrast, intervals 3 and 4 show reduced seasonality and a steadier input of food to the seafloor, associated with increased dust supply through wind transport and/or increased continental weathering during the Pliocene. Interval 2 stands out as the sole interval encompassing La Niña-like conditions, marked by a shift in the nutrient composition reaching the seafloor, from labile phytodetritus to refractory organic matter, and possibly a decrease in seasonality.