Late Cenozoic carbonate accumulation and the history of the carbonate compensation depth in the western equatorial Indian Ocean

Sediments were recovered from a closely spaced depth transect (1541-4428 m) of five sites (Sites 707 through 711) from on and around the Mascarene Plateau that record the last 50 my of pelagic deposition. More than 2200 measurements of carbonate content are combined here with bio- and magnetostratigraphy to produce the first detailed compilation of bulk, carbonate, and noncarbonate mass accumulation rates (MARs) from the Indian Ocean. These results allow us to recognize three major depositional intervals, each characterized by a distinct depth-dependent pattern of carbonate accumulation: 1) the Paleogene; 2) the early and middle Miocene; and 3) the late Miocene to Holocene. The fundamentally different character of the carbonate system during each of these intervals must represent a regional response to the complex evolution of late Cenozoic oceans and climate. -from Authors