Evolution of deep-ocean circulation during the opening of the Atlantic Ocean in the latest Cretaceous and Paleocene

到目前为止，人们对白垩纪末期至古新世(75-55 Ma)的海洋环流模式知之甚少，相对于大西洋的开放，可能的深水形成地点也存在争议。该项目旨在调查北大西洋和南大西洋各个次海盆的中水和深水的形成和交换条件。计划对北大西洋和南大西洋不同次盆地和不同水深的一系列DSDP和ODP点的沉积物覆盖物进行ND同位素分析。这使得能够通过识别不同的中间水团和深水团的潜在来源区域并检测大洋子盆地之间已建立的深水连接的时间间隔来识别不同的中水团和深水团。对新的和现有数据进行可靠的地层学整合，将为下列问题提供答案：1)大西洋深海的各个分盆地何时完全融入全球温盐环流；2)如何形成深海火山高原屏障；3)加勒比海作为大西洋与太平洋之间深水交换的赤道门户的作用如何。

The mode of ocean circulation during latest Cretaceous to Paleocene times (75-55 Ma) is poorly understood to date and possible sites of deep-water formation relative to the opening of the Atlantic Ocean are controversially debated. This project aims at the investigation of the conditions of intermediate- and deep-water formation and exchange in the individual sub-basins of the North and South Atlantic Ocean. It is planned to perform Nd-isotope analyses of sediment coatings from a series of DSDP- and ODP-Sites in different sub-basins and different water depths in the Northand South Atlantic Ocean. This allows to identify different intermediate and deep-water masses by recognition of their potential source region and the detection of time intervals of established deepwater connections between the oceanic sub-basins. The stratigraphic reliable integration of newand available data will provide answers to the following questions: 1) when became the individual sub-basins of the deep Atlantic Ocean fully integrated into the global thermohaline circulation, 2) in which way formed sub-oceanic volcanic plateaus barriers for deep waters, and 3) how involved was the Caribbean Sea as equatorial gateway for deep-water exchange between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans.