Expedition 339: Mediterranean Outflow

November 2011 – January 2012

Expedition 339 was primarily paleoceanographic in nature, focusing mainly on the investigation of  Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) through the Strait of Gibraltar (Gibraltar Gateway) and its influence on North Atlantic Ocean circulation and climate. This expedition offered a rare opportunity to understand the global link between paleoceanographic, climatic, and sea level changes from Messinian to recent time and to address the effects of tectonic activity on evolution of the gateway and margin sedimentation.

During Expedition 339, the scientific vessel JOIDES Resolution drilled and cored into the sea bed at seven sites. One of the sites was positioned at the Shackleton site on the Portuguese margin to produce a marine reference section of Pleistocene millennial-scale climate variability and changes in surface and deepwater circulation. The six other sites were specifically located in the Gulf of Cadiz in order to study the contourite depositional system (CDS) generated by MOW influence and its evolution and environmental implications. This CDS has developed at very high rates of sediment accumulation over the past 5 m.y., providing an expanded sedimentary record that permits detailed examination of paleocirculation patterns linked to past environmental change. Of the seven sites drilled, five sites were logged.

Logging staff scientists

• Trevor Williams and Johanna Lofi
• IODP Expedition 339

Publications

• Hernández-Molina, F. J., Stow, D. A. V., Alvarez-Zarikian, C. A., Acton, G., Bahr, A., Balestra, B., Ducassou, E., Flood, R., Flores, J. A., Furota, S., Grunert, P., Hodell, D., Jimenez-Espejo, F., Kyoung Kim, J., Krissek, L., Kuroda, J., Li, B., Llave, E.,  Lofi, J., Lourens, L., Miller, M., Nanayama, F., Nishida, N., Richter, C., Roque, C., Pereira, H., Sanchez Goñi, M. F., Sierro, F. J., Deo Singh, A., Sloss, C., Takashimizu, Y., Tzanova, A., Voelker, A., Williams. T., and Xuan, C. 2014. Onset of Mediterranean outflow into the North Atlantic. Science. 1244-1250. DOI: 10.1125/science.1251306
• Bahr A., Jiménez-Espejo F., Kolasinac N., Grunert P., Röhl U., Escutia C., Stow D., Hernández-Molina F.J., Hodell D., Alvarez-Zarikian C.A. and Expedition 339 Scientists. 2014 Deciphering bottom current strength and paleoclimate signals from contourite deposits in the Gulf of Cádiz during the last 140 kyr: an inorganic geochemical approach. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. doi: 10.1002/2014GC005356
• Dorador, J., Rodríguez-Tovar, F.J. and IODP Expedition 339 Scientists, 2014. Quantitative estimation of bioturbation based on digital image analysis. Marine Geology, 349, 55-60.
• Dorador J, Rodríguez-Tovar FJ, Hernández-Molina FJ, Stow DAV, Alvarez-Zariken C. and IODP Expedition 339 Scientists. 2014 Digital image treatment applied to ichnological analysis of marine core sediments. Facies, doi: 10.1007/s10347-013-0383-z
• Flecker, R., Krijgsman, W., Capella, W., de Castro Martíns, C., Dmitrieva, E., Mayser, J.P., Marzocchi, A., Lofi, J., et al. 2015. Evolution of the Late Miocene Mediterranean–Atlantic gateways and their impact on regional and global environmental change. Earth-Science Reviews, 150, 365-392, doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2015.08.007.
• Ducassou, E., Fournier, L., Sierro, F., Zarikian, C.A., Lofi, J., Flores, J. & Roque, C. 2015. Origin of the large Pliocene and Pleistocene debris flows on the Algarve margin. Marine Geology, doi: 10.1016/j.margeo.2015.08.018
• Hernández-Molina, F., Sierro, F., Llave, E., Roque, C., Stow, D., Williams, T., Lofi, J., Van der Schee, M., Arnáiz, A. & Ledesma, S. 2015. Evolution of the gulf of Cadiz margin and southwest Portugal contourite depositional system: Tectonic, sedimentary and paleoceanographic implications from IODP expedition 339. Marine Geology.
• Hernández-Molina, F., Sierro, F., Llave, E., Roque, C., Stow, D., Williams, T., Lofi, J., et al. 2015. Evolution of the gulf of Cadiz margin and southwest Portugal contourite depositional system: Tectonic, sedimentary and paleoceanographic implications from IODP expedition 339. Marine Geology, 377, 7-39, doi: 10.1016/j.margeo.2015.09.013
• Lofi, J., Voelker, A.H.L., Ducassou, E., et al. 2016. Quaternary chronostratigraphic framework and sedimentary processes for the Gulf of Cadiz and Portuguese Contourite Depositional Systems derived from Natural Gamma Ray records. Marine Geology, 377, 40-57, doi: 10.1016/j.margeo.2015.12.005.
• Hodell, D., Lourens, L., and the Shackelton Site Project Members (Lofi, J). 2015. A reference time scale for Site U1385 (Shackleton Site) on the SW Iberian Margin. Global and Planetary Change, 133, 49-64, doi: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2015.07.002.