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After the deluge: Mediterranean stagnation and sapropel formation

Nature volume 295, pages 105–110 (1982)Cite this article

Abstract

In an East Mediterranean marine core, the upper sapropel begins soon after the start of a global event—a very heavy precipitation which occurred in the equatorial latitudes during the late Glacial–early Holocene. This heavy precipitation in Africa, channelled by the Nile River across 35° of latitude, produced a low-salinity surface layer in the East Mediterranean. In this confined basin, with high bottom salinity, the steep salinity gradient stratified the water column. The stagnant bottom waters triggered the sapropel formation. Cretaceous sapropels in the tropical oceans may result from the same chain of events in warm, humid climates, with contrasting wet-and-dry seasonal rhythm.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Palynologie, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 61 rue de Buffon, 75005, Paris, France

    Martine Rossignol-Strick

  2. Département de Géologie Dynamique, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 4 place Jussieu, 75005, Paris, France

    Wladimir Nesteroff, Philippe Olive & Colette Vergnaud-Grazzini

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  4. Colette Vergnaud-Grazzini
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Rossignol-Strick, M., Nesteroff, W., Olive, P. et al. After the deluge: Mediterranean stagnation and sapropel formation. Nature 295, 105–110 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/295105a0

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