A Revised Mid-Pliocene Composite Section for ODP Site 846

Abstract

Abstract. The composite section from ODP Site 846 has provided key data sets for Pliocene stable isotope and paleoclimatic time series. We document here errors in primary data sets for stable isotopes and alkenone-derived sea surface temperature estimates (SST) in the late Pliocene interval containing the M2 glaciation (ca. 3.250–3.3 Ma) by tying high resolution core measurements to a continuous downhole conductivity log. In addition, we provide new stable isotopic and alkenone measurements that correlate well to the revised splices of color reflectance and gamma ray attenuation porosity evaluator data. A new composite splice is proposed, along with composite isotope and alkenone time series that should be integrated into revised Pliocene paleoclimatic stacks.