BERYLLIUM 10, THORIUM 230, AND PROTOACTINIUM 231 IN GALAPAGOS MICROPLATE SEDIMENTS - IMPLICATIONS OF HYDROTHERMAL ACTIVITY AND PALEOPRODUCTIVITY CHANGES DURING THE LAST 100,000 YEARS

Biogenic particle fluxes from highly productive surface waters, boundary scavenging, and hydrothermal activity are the main factors influencing the deposition of radionuclides in the area of the Galapagos microplate, eastern Equatorial Pacific. In order to evaluate the importance of these three processes throughout the last 100 kyr, concentrations of the radionuclides Be-10, Th-230, and Pa-231, and of Mn and Fe were measured at high resolution in sediment samples from two gravity cores KLH 068 and KLH 093. High biological productivity in the surface waters overlying the investigated area has led to Be-10 and Pa-231 fluxes exceeding production during at least the last 30 kyr and probably the last 100 kyr. However, during periods of high productivity at the upwelling centers off Peru and extension of the equatorial high-productivity zone, a relative loss of Be-10 and Pa-231 may have occurred in these sediment cores because of boundary scavenging. The effects of hydrothermal activity were investigated by comparing the Th-230ex concentrations to the Mn/Fe ratios and by comparing the fluxes of Th-230 and Be-10 which exceed production. The results suggest an enhanced hydrothermal influence during isotope stages 4 and 5 and to a lesser extent during isotope stage 1 in core KLH 093. During isotope stages 2 and 3, the hydrothermal supply of Mn was deposited elsewhere, probably because of changes in current regime or deepwater oxygenation. A strong increase of the Mn/Fe ratio at the beginning of climatic stage 1 which is not accompanied by an increase of the Th-230ex concentration is interpreted to be an effect of Mn remobilization and reprecipitation in the sediment.