02EV-P10.

IODP EXPEDITION 347 (BALTIC SEA): A HIGH-RESOLUTION TEST OF THE PYRITE TRACE ELEMENT
SEAWATER
PROXY

Sean C Johnson1, Jorn-Bo Jensen2, Peter J McGoldrick1, Ross R Large1, Sebastien Meffre1, Leonid Danyushevsky1,
Jacqueline A
Halpin1, Taryn Noble1 & IODP Expedition 347 Scientists

CODES, ARC Centre of Excellence in Ore Deposits, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tas 7001, Australia. 2Department
of Marine
1

Geology and Glaciology, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Copenhagen, Denmark

With ever-increasing emphasis placed on environmental change, shelf areas and enclosed basins are the most prone
to the
impacts of climatic variations. Effects such as oxygen depletion, water column stratification and temperature
variations are
focused in these geographical settings, and can be recorded by the behaviour of trace elements in this
changing depositional
environment. The Baltic Sea Basin is in a unique position to have experienced and recorded a
multitude of environmental
changes on a large scale. Over 1.6 km of sediment was drilled and logged as part of the
IODP Expedition 347 (completed in
November 2013), with the Onshore Science Party phase completed in late
February 2014. Presented here is a summary of the
sedimentology and preliminary geochemistry from sites across
the Baltic Sea, one of the world’s largest modern
intercontinental basins. This Mission Specific Platform focussed on
the extreme climatic variations experienced by the Baltic Sea
Basin over the Pleistocene and Holocene, exploring not
only the fluxes between freshwater and marine conditions during the
past glacial periods but also between anoxic,
hypoxic and oxic conditions, driven by salinity and temperature gradients and
periods of increased stratification.

During Expedition 347, a unique and continuous sequence of sediment was recovered which spanned the last glacial
cycles and
into the overlying Holocene freshwater and marine sequences. Several sites (i.e. Little Belt (BSB-3),
Bornholm Basin (BSB-7) and
Landsort Deep (BSB-9)) contain abundant organic-rich muds and record many of the key
transitions in the development of the
Baltic Sea Basin. Each of these shifts can be accompanied by variations in
salinity, oxygen content and, importantly, fluxes in
trace metal. Black mud horizons in these cores are conducive to
the degradation of organic matter and production of pyrite and
Fe-monosulfide precursors. Work by Large et al.
(2014), utilising LA-ICP-MS, has shown that sedimentary pyrite from marine
black shales may have the ability to
record first-order changes in seawater chemistry through geological time, thereby providing
a new potential proxy.

The preliminary data presented here uses the above method to understand trace element content of pyrites
collected from the
Baltic Sea Basin. The unique archive in these cores has allowed for the first high-resolution test of
this seawater proxy and its
ability to capture trends in the context of geologically short timescales. In this project,
the ability of pyrite to record trace
element changes on varying timescales will be tested, with particular reference to
that of the general residence times of
elements in seawater. In addition, our initial interpretations of Baltic Sea Basin
evolution over this time period will be discussed.
The Baltic Sea also provides a new and suitable analogue for
ancient restricted seas. Understanding how redox sensitive metals
behave in such environments has implications for
ore deposit modelling and wider understanding of periods of oxygen
stagnation and depletion in the geological
record.

Reference

Large et al. 2014. Trace element content of sedimentary pyrite as a new proxy for deep-time ocean–atmosphere
evolution.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters 389, 209–220.
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA,
ABSTRACTS NO 110.
ISSN 0729 011 X
Australian Earth Sciences Convention 2014,
Newcastle, NSW
AESC 2014 (22nd Australian
Geological Convention)
Copyright Geological Society of Australia Inc
Copies of this publication may be obtained from the Geological Society
of Australia Inc, Suite 61, 104 Bathurst Street, Sydney NSW 2000
This volume should be cited as:
Geological Society of Australia, 2014 Australian Earth Sciences Convention (AESC),
Sustainable Australia. Abstract No 110 of the 22nd Australian Geological Convention,
Newcastle City Hall and Civic Theatre, Newcastle,
New South Wales. July 7 - 10

Dr Gavin Young with the life-sized model of the giant Devonian lobe-finned fish
Edenopteron built by Baz Waterhouse. Photo: Belinda Pratten, courtesy ANU Media
Office. Hear Dr Gavin Young deliver the Mawson Lecture, Tuesday, 8 July 2014.