1,1,2,4,5,6,9,- 1Geology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
- 2Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Columbia , USA
- 3Ocean Sciences Department, UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, USA
- 4Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
- 5Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania, Australia
- 6Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Rome, Italy
- 7Department of Engineering and Geology, University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti-Pescara, Italy
- 8Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, California, USA
- 9Geo-Ocean Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, Brest, France
- 10International Ocean Discovery Program, Texas A&M University, Texas, USA
- *A full list of authors appears at the end of the abstract
IODP Expeditions 395 and 395C drilled six sites on and adjacent to three major sediment drift bodies—the Gardar, Bjørn, and Erik Drifts—in the North Atlantic Ocean along an east–west transect at ~60°N, south of Iceland (Parnell-Turner et al., 2025). The development of high-resolution age models is essential for robust palaeoenvironmental reconstructions from these sedimentary archives. This study reports progress in constructing astronomically-tuned Pleistocene age models for sedimentary sequences recovered during IODP Expedition 395 east of the Reykjanes Ridge.
As an initial step, magnetic susceptibility records from the newly drilled sites were compared with reference records from ODP Leg 162, with particular emphasis on sites within the Bjørn (ODP Site 984) and Gardar (ODP Site 983) Drifts. Individual glacial–interglacial cycles were identified and correlated across sites, providing a stratigraphic framework for age-model development.
Pleistocene sedimentation rates derived from the new age models for the Bjørn and Gardar Drift records reveal distinct spatial patterns. ODP Site 984 and IODP Site U1554, both located on the Bjørn Drift, exhibit remarkably similar sedimentation rates. In contrast, ODP Site 983 and IODP Site U1564 on the Gardar Drift show substantial divergence. This difference may suggest more spatially homogeneous sedimentation on the Bjørn Drift and greater regional variability on the Gardar Drift, potentially reflecting contrasting ocean current dynamics.
Despite these differences, both drift systems exhibit common large-scale features, including a pronounced decrease in sedimentation rates between ~850-900 ka. Such shared signals possibly reflect basin-wide oceanographic or climatic processes and provide insight into large-scale changes in sediment transport and circulation across the North Atlantic.
Parnell-Turner, R.E., Briais, A., LeVay, L.J., and the Expedition 395 Scientists, 2025. Reykjanes Mantle Convection and Climate. Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program, 395: College Station, TX (International Ocean Discovery Program). https://doi.org/10.14379/iodp.proc.395.2025
List: https://publications.iodp.org/proceedings/395/395title.html
How to cite: Weisser, O., Sinnesael, M., Hemming, S., Jasper, C., Karatsolis, B. T., Hochmuth, K., Di Chiara, A., Satolli, S., Parnell‑Turner, R., Briais, A., and LeVay, L. and the Expedition 395 Scientists: Astronomical Tuning of Pleistocene Sediments from North Atlantic Drift Deposits recovered by IODP Expedition 395, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-13112, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-13112, 2026.
