Authigenic neodymium isotope and radiocarbon data from the Blake Bahama Outer Ridge (KNR140 JPC12 and ODP Sites 1059-1062)

To better constrain the controls of water mass provenance and non-conservative effects on the archived Nd isotope signal, we present a new depth transect of Nd isotope reconstructions from the Blake Bahama Outer Ridge along the North American continental margin covering the past 30 ka.

We investigated five sediment cores that lie directly within the main flow path of the Deep Western Boundary Current, a major advection route of North Atlantic Deep Water. We found offsets between core tops and seawater Nd isotopic compositions that are observed elsewhere in the Northwest Atlantic. A possible explanation for this is the earlier suggested redistribution of sediment by nepheloid layers at intermediate as well as abyssal depths, transporting material downslope and along the continental margin.