M.Sc. (Zoology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Drivers that influence oceanic productivity are not clearly constrained. However, sea level changes during glacial cycles have been proposed as a potential driver for productivity variations observed over warm and cold climate periods. In order to determine this, additional oceanic paleoproductivity data collection is necessary to estimate the ocean’s feedback in response to a dynamic climate. The eastern equatorial Pacific (EEP) is an ideal site for productivity studies due to its high levels of nutrients and deep upwelling. This research examines the phosphorous and barite geochemisty of four EEP sites while also comparing the sites’ glacial and interglacial productivity variations to the geochemistry and productivity results of an independent central equatorial pacific site. Phosphorus and other elemental data were collected from sites 845, 848, 849, and 853 (ODP Leg 138). Using a Ba/Ti and P/Ti proxy (“excess” proxies), distinct productivity variations during glacial and interglacial periods were observed. While the age model for these sites has been estimated, the observed variations more than likely agree with high productivity during glacial periods and lower productivity during interglacial periods. Central equatorial Pacific cores RR0603-03TC and RR0603-03JC (IODP site survey cruise for Proposal 626) have been used as a reference for geochemical concentration parameters, as well as a comparison tool for productivity variations among the central and eastern sites. The central equatorial geochemistry results provided support for sea level changes driving paleoproductivity variations. The similar variation patterns displayed by the EEP’s geochemical data in this research could provide additional support for this hypothesis.

In the course of a little over a year, from January, 1950, to March, 1951, core samples of bottom sediments were collected at three different stations in the Dundas Marsh, Hamilton, Ontario. A number of the samples were analysed for total carbon content, bitumen, pectins, hemicelluloses, and cellulose and lignin content. This study is part of a larger investigated by the Department of Zoology to ascertain the relationships between the biological productivity in lakes and the rate of mineralization of the organic detritus in lake bottom sediments. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Cette thèse a pour objectifs de documenter les variations spatiotemporelles de la zone de minimum d’oxygène (OMZ) du Pacifique Nord-Est, et d’identifier les mécanismes qui ont causé ces variations. L’étude est fondée sur l’analyse géochimique des composants majeurs, mineurs et traces de sédiments prélevés dans le Pacifique Nord-Est, en combinant des mesures par ICP-MS et scanneur XRF. Ces mesures ont permis de distinguer l’effet de la productivité biologique de celui de la ventilation océanique sur l’oxygénation du sédiment. J’ai pu mettre en évidence le rôle prépondérant de la productivité au niveau de la Basse Californie (23°N), qui varie en phase avec les températures en Atlantique Nord durant les 120.000 dernières années. Par ailleurs, la ventilation océanique a probablement joué un rôle important au niveau du golfe de Papagayo (12°N), par l’advection de masses d’eau provenant des hautes latitudes nord et sud. L’intensité de l’OMZ du Pacifique Nord-Est serait donc influencée par des modifications des circulations océaniques et atmosphériques, liées aux climats des hautes latitudes des deux hémisphères. / This thesis aims at documenting the spatiotemporal variations of the Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ) of the northeastern Pacific, and identifying the mechanisms that caused theses variations. The study is based on the geochemical analyses of major, minor, and trace elements of sediments from the northeastern Pacific, by combining ICP-MS and XRF scans measurements. These measurements allowed distinguishing the effect of biologic productivity and oceanic ventilation on sediment oxygenation. I was able to highlight the predominant impact of the productivity off the Baja California Margin (23°N), which varied in phase with the high northern Atlantic temperature across the past 120,000 years. Moreover, oceanic ventilation did play an important role off the Papagayo Gulf (12°N), because of the advection of water mass coming from the high northern and southern latitudes. OMS intensity in the northeastern Pacific could thus be influenced by changes in the atmospheric and oceanic circulation, in relation to high northern and southern latitudes climates.