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Detailed reconstruction of Indian summer monsoons is necessary to better understand the late Quaternary climate history of the Bay of Bengal and Indian peninsula. We established a chronostratigraphy for a sediment core from Hole 19B in the western Bay of Bengal, extending to approximately 80 kyr BP and examined major and trace element compositions and clay mineral components of the sediments. Higher δ18O values, lower TiO2 contents, and weaker weathering in the sediment source area during marine isotope stages (MIS) 2 and 4 compared to MIS 1, 3, and 5 are explained by increased Indian summer monsoonal precipitation and river discharge around the western Bay of Bengal. Clay mineral and chemical components indicate a felsic sediment source, suggesting the Precambrian gneissic complex of the eastern Indian peninsula as the dominant sediment source at this site since 80 kyr. Trace element ratios (Cr/Th, Th/Sc, Th/Co, La/Cr, and Eu/Eu*) indicate increased sediment contributions from mafic rocks during MIS 2 and 4. We interpret these results as reflecting the changing influences of the eastern and western branches of the Indian summer monsoon and a greater decrease in rainfall in the eastern and northeastern parts of the Indian peninsula than in the western part during MIS 2 and 4. Key Points: The sedimentation rate was estimated for a sediment core from Hole 19B in the western Bay of Bengal, extending to approximately 80 kyr BPIndian monsoonal fluctuations on glacial‐interglacial time scale implied from chemical and mineral propertiesTrace element ratios reflect changing in influences of the eastern and western branches of the Indian summer monsoon [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep biosphere research has become one of the major scientific focuses in ocean drilling science. Increased scientific attention to microbiological research of the subseafloor environment raises the complications and concerns related to adherence to the Nagoya Protocol of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The Nagoya Protocol's implementation has prompted new legislation that could change international collaborative research on the geomicrobiology of the subseafloor. In this paper, we summarize the central points of the Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit-sharing (ABS) and discuss their relationship to ocean drilling research. In addition, we addressed the challenges faced by ocean drilling in complying with this international convention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We attempted to reconstruct the mid-depth circulation of the northwest Pacific before and during the Younger Dryas cooling episode, which is attributed to the collapse of global thermohaline circulation. Although this cooling event might have enhanced intermediate water formation in the North Pacific, as occurred under glacial conditions, previous evidence for this is weak. Rapidly accumulated sediment recovered off the northern coast of Japan was used for reconstructing the paleoventilation of mid-depth water in the northwest Pacific. Foraminiferal 14C ages suggest that ventilation was sluggish during the early deglaciation and increased at the onset of the Younger Dryas event, when its strength was similar to that at present. However, the latter can be explained only by a source of ventilated waters other than the high-latitude North Atlantic. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]