Cyclostratigraphic investigations on high-resolution XRF data from ODP Site 662/663 in the Eastern Equatorial Atlantic covering the complete Mid-Pleistocene Transition

We present a new high-resolution XRF dataset offshore Africa in the equatorial Atlantic to investigate elemental ratios reflecting e.g. terrigenous input and/or bioproductivity. The data will be analyzed cyclostratigraphically using spectral analysis, evolutionary approaches and correlation techniques. Special focus is placed on the Mid-Pleistocene transition (MPT) and the Mid-Brunhes Transition, two periods which are characterized by changes in the amplitude and frequency of glacial-interglacial variability.

Another focus of the cyclostratigraphic analyses is the sub-Milankovitch frequency domain. Half-precession (HP) signals (~9,000 - 12,000 years) are still poorly understood, despite their occurence in several African terrestrial records. One main goal is to characterize the evolution of the HP signal during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT) unitl present at sites 662 and 663. Since precession is modulated by eccentricity, a similar relationship can be assumed for HP and eccentricity. The newly spliced dataset and its submillennial resolution will provide a clearer insight into the presence, amplitude and role of HP during the Pleistocene.