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doi:10.2204/iodp.proc.339.201.2016

Introduction

Sedimentary inorganic CaCO₃ and total organic carbon (TOC) content in ocean sediments are qualitative indicators of past changes in marine production, which in turn is linked to the global carbon cycle. When coupled with isotopic data and other independent productivity proxies, they provide important information for understanding how marine ecosystems responded to past climate variability (Sarmiento and Gruber, 2006).

The Iberian margin is a coastal upwelling region where productivity increases in response to coastal upwelling generated by wind intensity and direction, and although upwelling centers are mainly coastal, upwelled water spreads offshore through filaments that can extend as far as 200 km offshore depending on the intensity of the northerly winds (Fiúza, 1983; Relvas et al., 2009). Sites U1385 and U1391 are located in the area influenced by the Cape Sines and Cape St. Vicente filaments (Sousa and Bricaud, 1992). The study of productivity proxies in these sedimentary sequences will provide information on past productivity and upwelling intensity. This report provides data on sedimentary CaCO₃ and TOC measured at Sites U1385 (75–100 meters composite depth [mcd]) and U1391 (160–220 mcd).

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