Organic carbon, calcium carbonate contents, mass accumulation rate, burial efficiency, and paleoproductivity record from a sediment core SK-313 GC01 southeastern Arabian Sea

Variations in the paleoproductivity during the last 14.4 kyr have been studied using organic carbon (OC), calcium carbonate (CaCO3) contents and their mass accumulation rate and burial efficiency, in a 14C-dated sediment core (SK 313 GC-01; 4.82-m) from the southeastern Arabian Sea. The core was sub-sampled at 1-cm intervals for the top 1 m and 2-cm intervals for the rest of the core. All subsamples were oven-dried at 40°C and finely powdered in an agate mortar with a pestle. CaCO3 content was determined by Ethylene Diamine Tetra-Acetic acid (EDTA) titration using Patton & Reader as an indicator (Shapiro and Brannock, 1962, doi:10.3133/b1144A). The OC content was determined by chromic acid digestion and subsequent titration with ferrous ammonium sulfate as described in Gaudette et al. (1974, doi:10.1306/74D729D7-2B21-11D7-8648000102C1865D). We note that paleoproductivity was the highest during the Bølling–Allerød warm event; a step-wise decreased productivity during the Younger Dryas cold period, the lowest productivity during the early Holocene, and increased and stabilized productivity during the mid-late Holocene interval.