Textural and geochemical characteristics of late Pleistocene to Holocene fine-grained deep-sea sediment cores (GM6 and GM7), recovered from southwestern Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

Abstract Texture, mineralogy, geochemistry, and 14C ages of two deep-sea sediment cores (GM6 and GM7) recovered in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico were investigated to infer their provenance and depositional condition. The sediments are enriched in fine-grained silt and clay and poor in sand content. Mineralogically, the sediments consist of quartz, calcite, smectite, and kaolinite. Based on the 14C data, the age of the GM6 and GM7 sediment cores were calculated as 23,615 cal yrs. BP and 19,007 cal yrs. BP, respectively. The weathering indices such as chemical index of alteration (CIA), chemical index of weathering (CIW), and plagioclase index of alteration (PIA) in GM6 (56–69, 60–74, and 61–73, respectively) and GM7 (54–69, 57–76, and 55–74, respectively) cores revealed a moderate-to-high intensity of weathering. The rare earth element (REE) patterns suggested that the sediments were derived mostly by the weathering of intermediate rocks, exposed along the coastal regions of the Gulf of Mexico. The trace elemental ratios like V/Cr (<2), Ni/Co (<2), and Cu/Zn (<1), authigenic uranium content (<1), and Ce anomaly (Ce/Ce* ≤ 1) suggested that the sediments were deposited under an oxic condition, which was also revealed by the benthic foraminiferal assemblages throughout the GM6 and GM7 sediment cores.

Keywords

• Radiocarbon age
• Manganosite
• Weathering
• Palaeoredox condition
• Provenance
• Holocene