Sedimentation rates in the Makarov Basin, central Arctic Ocean: A paleomagnetic and rock magnetic approach

Three long sediment cores from the Makarov Basin have been subjected to det ailed paleomagnetic and rock magnetic analyses. Investigated sediments are dominated by normal polarity including short reversal excursions, indicatin g that most of the sediments are of Brunhes age. In general, the recovered sediments show only low to moderate variability in concentration and grain size of the remanence-carrying minerals. Estimations of relative paleointen sity variations yielded a well-documented succession of pronounced lows and highs that could be correlated to published reference curves. However, tog ether with five accelerator mass spectrometry C-14 ages and an incomplete B e-10 record, still two different interpretations of the paleomagnetic data are possible, with long-term sedimentation rates of either 1.3 or 4 cm kyr( -1) However, both models implicate highly variable sedimentation rates of u p to 10 cm kyr(-1), and abrupt changes in rock magnetic parameters might ev en indicate several hiatuses.