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Abstract: To improve our understanding of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene carbonate system of the western Arabian Sea a high-resolution sedimentary record off Somalia has been analysed. The 15.26-m-long piston core 905 comprises a complete record of the last 90,000 years. We have measured concentrations of carbonate minerals, i.e., aragonite, calcite, Mg-calcite, and element ratios (Sr/Ca) together with pteropod counts and an estimation of the preservation state of pteropod shells to trace temporal changes in carbonate production and preservation. The Sr/Ca ratio shows strong similarities to the aragonite percentage and the δ18O record of the planktic foraminifer Neogloboquadrina dutertrei. High Sr/Ca ratios together with fragments of corals found in the coarse fraction indicate that most of the aragonite is of shallow water origin (high-Sr aragonite) and pteropods contribute much less than expected. High resuspensional input of shallow-marine aragonite occurs during sea-level highstands (interglacials) and low input during lowstands (glacials). The Mg-calcite concentration record resembles the whole pteropod abundance and pteropod shell preservation records confirming the use of Mg-calcite in combination with pteropod preservation proxies to reconstruct past fluctuations in carbonate dissolution. Preservation of aragonite and Mg-calcite increases during stadials, H-equivalents, YD and late Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3. During late MIS 5/early MIS 4 and in the Late Holocene absence of few pteropods as well as low Mg-calcite weight percentages point to strong dissolution of aragonite and Mg-calcite. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In order to better understand Late Quaternary pelagic aragonite preservation in the western Arabian Sea we have investigated a high-resolution sediment core 905 off Somalia. Pteropod preservation is enhanced in times of reduced monsoon-driven productivity, indicated by low amounts of Corg and low barium to aluminium (Ba/Al) ratios. All periods corresponding to Heinrich events in the North Atlantic are represented by maxima in shell preservation of the common pteropod Limacina inflata (LDX values<2, except for H5-equivalent with a poorer shell preservation, LDX>2.66). Good shell preservation is also found during stadials at 52.1–53.2, 36, 33.2, and 31.9 ka. Relative abundance of pteropods and their fragments in the coarse fraction reaches maxima during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5.2, during time-equivalents of Heinrich events 4–6 and in stadials at ∼53, ∼42.5, and 41.4 ka. On longer time scales, the pteropod abundance corresponds to the ‘Indo-Pacific carbonate preservation type’ with poor preservation during interglacials and better preservation during glacials. Late MIS 5 to early MIS 4 sections (84.1–64.8 ka) and the Late Holocene interval (6.5–0 ka) of core 905 contain only traces of pteropods. The early Holocene (9.2–6.5 ka) part is characterized by low pteropod amounts. Between 64.8 and 43.4 ka strong fluctuations occur and an intermediate average relative pteropod abundance is revealed. Between 43.4 and 9.2 ka the highest amounts in relative pteropod abundance in core 905 are observed. Besides the regional monsoonal influence on deepwater chemistry, changes in deepwater circulation occurring on glacial/interglacial and stadial/interstadial time scales might have affected pteropod preservation. However, it remains elusive whether 1) deep water formation in the Arabian Sea, 2) inflow of Glacial North Atlantic Intermediate Water or 3) change in water mass properties of the Circumpolar Deep Water (which is the water mass currently bathing this site) contributed to the observed pteropod preservation pattern. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]