Hostname: page-component-74656f9884-kv2lp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-06T04:05:22.142Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An updated radiocarbon date list for the upper and middle slope of Santos Basin (Southwest Atlantic)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 April 2026

Leticia Zanin de Oliveira Freitas ,
Renata Hanae Nagai ,
Silvia Helena de Mello e Sousa ,
Paulo Alves de Lima Ferreira  and
Michel Michaelovitch de Mahiques Open the ORCID record for Michel Michaelovitch de Mahiques [Opens in a new window]
Leticia Zanin de Oliveira Freitas
Affiliation:
Oceanographic Institute, University of São Paulo, Brazil
Renata Hanae Nagai
Affiliation:
Oceanographic Institute, University of São Paulo, Brazil
Silvia Helena de Mello e Sousa
Affiliation:
Oceanographic Institute, University of São Paulo, Brazil
Paulo Alves de Lima Ferreira
Affiliation:
Oceanographic Institute, University of São Paulo, Brazil
Michel Michaelovitch de Mahiques*
Affiliation:
Oceanographic Institute, University of São Paulo, Brazil
*
Corresponding author: Michel Michaelovitch de Mahiques; Email: mahiques@usp.br
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The southwestern Atlantic margin plays a crucial role in understanding ocean circulation, with the Brazil Current (BC) driving surface flow and various water masses (TW, SACW, AAIW, UCDW, NADW, LCDW) influencing different depths. The Santos Basin, a marginal basin formed following the breakup of Gondwana, remains understudied with respect to late Quaternary sedimentary processes, and the recent literature offers conflicting interpretations of sediment sources and depositional processes. Additionally, radiocarbon data for this region are scarce, and calibration uncertainties and regional reservoir effects have limited previous studies. This study compiles a comprehensive radiocarbon dataset (264 datings from 70 sediment cores) for the upper to middle slope of the Santos Basin (120–2000 mbsl), combining published and unpublished data (69 new ages). Previously published ages were recalibrated using Marine20 and SHCal20 curves, applying a regional ΔR correction. The dataset, showing minimal age inversions, provides a robust foundation for future research on late Quaternary sedimentary and paleoenvironmental dynamics in the southwestern Atlantic.

Keywords

continental sloperadiocarbon datingSantos BasinSouth Atlantic

Information

Type
Date List
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 68 , Issue 3 , June 2026 , pp. 659 - 664
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of University of Arizona

Introduction

The southwestern Atlantic margin is a key area for understanding global ocean circulation (Figure 1). The superficial circulation is dominated by the Brazil Current (BC), which transports the Tropical Water (TW) at the surface and the South Atlantic Central Water (SACW) at pycnocline levels (da Silveira et al. Reference da Silveira, Bernardo, Lazaneo, Amorim, Borges-Silva, Martins, Santos, Dottori, Belo, Martins, Guerra and Moreira2023). The BC corresponds to the western component of the South Atlantic Subtropical Gyre (SASG) (Marcello et al. Reference Marcello, Wainer and Rodrigues2018). At intermediate levels (600–1800 m water depth), the area is influenced by the Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) and Upper Circumpolar Water (UCPW), while between 1800 and 3000 m it is affected by the flow of the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) and the Lower Circumpolar Water (LCPW) (da Silveira et al. Reference da Silveira, Bernardo, Lazaneo, Amorim, Borges-Silva, Martins, Santos, Dottori, Belo, Martins, Guerra and Moreira2023). Both AAIW and NADW play a crucial role in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), thereby being critical for global heat transport (Liu and Tanhua Reference Liu and Tanhua2021; Xu et al. Reference Xu, Chassignet, Dong and Baringer2022).

Figure 1.

A. Location of the samples and distribution of phosphate along the Atlantic Ocean and their relationship with the main currents flowing into the Santos Basin. B. Temperature-Salinity (T-S) diagram representative of the southwestern Atlantic continental margin. Abbreviations: Brazil Current (BC), Intermediate Western Boundary Current (IWBC), Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC), Tropical Water (TW), South Atlantic Central Water (SACW), Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW), Upper Circumpolar Deep Water (UCPW), and North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). Data source: Schlitzer (Reference Schlitzer2025).

Two graphs depict the distribution of phosphate and temperature-salinity relationships in the Atlantic Ocean.
Figure 1 Long description

Panel A: A heatmap shows the distribution of phosphate along the Atlantic Ocean. The horizontal axis represents latitude from 60 degrees South to 60 degrees North, and the vertical axis represents depth in meters. The color gradient indicates phosphate concentration in micromoles per kilogram, ranging from blue (low) to red (high). Key currents such as the Brazil Current (BC), Intermediate Western Boundary Current (IWBC), and Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) are labeled. Panel B: A scatter plot represents the Temperature-Salinity (T-S) diagram for the southwestern Atlantic continental margin. The horizontal axis shows salinity in practical salinity units (psu), and the vertical axis shows temperature in degrees Celsius. The color gradient indicates depth in meters, ranging from blue (shallow) to red (deep). Key water masses such as Tropical Water (TW), South Atlantic Central Water (SACW), Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW), Upper Circumpolar Deep Water (UCPW), and North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) are labeled.

The Santos Basin is a marginal basin that developed after the breakup of Gondwana (Cobbold and Meisling Reference Cobbold and Meisling2001; Contreras et al. Reference Contreras, Zühlke, Bowman and Bechstädt2010). Geomorphologically, it occupies the arc-shaped sector of the southwestern Atlantic margin, between 23o00’S and 28o00’S (Zembruscki Reference Zembruscki and Chaves1979). Regarding late Quaternary sedimentary processes, there are still conflicting aspects involving sediment sources (de Mahiques et al. Reference de Mahiques, Violante, Franco-Fraguas, Burone, Barbedo Rocha, Ortega, Felicio dos Santos, Mi Kim, Lopes Figueira and Caruso Bícego2021; Razik et al. Reference Razik, Govin, Chiessi and von Dobeneck2015) and the transport of particles towards the deep sea (Figueiredo Jr et al. Reference Figueiredo, Carneiro and Filho2023; Santos Filho et al. Reference Filho, Figueiredo, Carneiro, Dias and Ramalho2022; Schattner et al. Reference Schattner, Lobo, López-Quirós, Passos Nascimento and Mahiques2020, Reference Schattner, Rocha, Ramos, Shtober-Zisu, Lobo and de Mahiques2024).

As a contribution to the discussion of late Quaternary processes, our focus in this work is on radiocarbon data from ca. 120 to 2000 m below sea level (mbsl), corresponding to the upper to middle continental slope. This bathymetrical sector encompasses the main water masses from the southwestern Atlantic margin.

Materials and methods

Existing radiocarbon data in sediment samples from the continental margin of the Santos Basin, here defined as the sector of the southwestern Atlantic margin between latitudes 23o00’S and 29o00’S and 41o00’W and 49o00’W, were compiled. New, unpublished data from samples retrieved between those coordinates were also included. A total of 70 sampling stations were considered, divided into the following sampling devices: box corer (36), multiple corer (4), gravity corer (15), and piston corer (15) (F. This sampling universe encompasses 195 published and 69 new radiocarbon ages.

The pre-treatment of carbonate samples involved washing the material with deionized water to remove organic sediments and debris, followed by crushing and etching with HCl. For organic sediments, the pre-treatment involved crushing, followed by HCl treatment to remove carbonates.

The AMS Lab procedure at Beta Analytic (Miami, USA), where most of the new samples were analyzed, is detailed at https://www.radiocarbon.com/beta-lab.htm (last accessed on 11 December 2025. The AMS measurement is done on graphite produced by hydrogen reduction of the CO2 sample over a cobalt catalyst. The CO2 is obtained by combusting the sample at 800 °C and under a 100% oxygen atmosphere. The AMS result is corrected for total fractionation using machine graphite δ13C. Solid organics are sub-sampled and converted to CO2 with an elemental analyzer (EA). Water and carbonates are acidified in a gas bench to produce CO2. Both the EA and the gas bench are connected directly to an isotope-ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS).

Radiocarbon ages obtained for calcium carbonate samples (i.e., foraminifers, corals, and bivalves) were calibrated using the Calib software, version 8.2 (Stuiver et al. Reference Stuiver, Reimer and Reimer2021), with the Marine20 curve (Heaton et al. Reference Heaton, Köhler, Butzin, Bard, Reimer, Austin, Bronk Ramsey, Grootes, Hughen, Kromer, Reimer, Adkins, Burke, Cook, Olsen and Skinner2020, Reference Heaton, Bard, Bronk Ramsey, Butzin, Hatté, Hughen, Köhler and Reimer2022) and a regional (ΔR) reservoir effect of 28 ± 52 yr (Alves et al. Reference Alves, Macario, Souza, Pimenta, Douka, Oliveira, Chanca and Angulo2015). 67 published and two new organic carbon-based radiocarbon dating samples were calibrated using SHCal20 (Hogg et al. Reference Hogg, Heaton, Hua, Palmer, Turney, Southon, Bayliss, Blackwell, Boswijk, Bronk Ramsey, Pearson, Petchey, Reimer, Reimer and Wacker2020).

Apart of the new radiocarbon ages, presented here for the first time, the following studies were considered for this date list: Mollenhauer et al. (Reference Mollenhauer, McManus, Benthien, Müller and Eglinton2006), Mangini et al. (Reference Mangini, Godoy, Godoy, Kowsmann, Santos, Ruckelshausen, Schroeder-Ritzrau and Wacker2010), de Mahiques et al. (Reference de Mahiques, Sousa, Burone, Nagai, Silveira, Soutelino, Ponsoni and Klein2011), Sortor and Lund (Reference Sortor and Lund2011), Pivel et al. (Reference Pivel, Santarosa, Toledo and Costa2013), Chiessi et al. (Reference Chiessi, Mulitza, Groeneveld, Silva, Campos and Gurgel2014), de Almeida et al. (Reference de Almeida, de Mello, Costa and Toledo2015), Santos et al. (Reference Santos, Lessa, Venancio, Chiessi, Mulitza, Kuhnert, Govin, Machado, Costa, Toledo, Dias and Albuquerque2017), Portilho-Ramos et al. (Reference Portilho-Ramos, Cruz, Barbosa, Rathburn, Mulitza, Venancio, Schwenk, Ruhlemann, Vidal, Chiessi and Silveira2018), Ramos et al. (Reference Ramos, dos Santos, Schattner, Figueira, Bícego, Lobo and de Mahiques2019), Luz et al. (Reference Luz, Santos, Eglinton, Montluçon, Ausin, Haghipour, Sousa, Nagai and Carreira2020), Souza et al. (Reference Souza, Carvalho, Escamilla, Barreto, Freitas, Silva and Baptista Neto2020), Santos et al. (Reference Santos, Kim, Trevizani, Oliveira, Maly, Ramos, Figueira and Mahiques2022), and Alvarenga et al. (Reference Alvarenga, Paladino, Gerotto, DeMenocal, Iwai, Sousa, Figueira, Mahiques and Nagai2022). In some cases, the same radiocarbon data were reported in more than one paper; in these cases, we considered the earliest papers as references.

Results

Figure 2 illustrates the distribution of all samples in the dataset. Geographical coordinates, water depth, laboratory number, type of material, δ13C, and δ18O (when provided in the original papers), as well as conventional and calibrated radiocarbon ages (median and 2σ Interval), are presented in Supplementary Table S1. It is worth noting that several cores did not provide all the information required for a comprehensive database (i.e., δ13C, δ18O, laboratory number, etc.).

Figure 2.

A. Location of the study area in the context of the South American continent. B. Histogram presenting the water depth distribution of the samples considered in this work. Approximate positions of water masses are based on Liu and Tanhua (Reference Liu and Tanhua2021). C–F. Location of the samples per sampling devices used in this work. C. Abbreviations: Tropical Water (TW), South Atlantic Central Water (SACW), Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW), Upper Circumpolar Deep Water (UCDW), and North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW)

Multiple graphs depict the study area and water depth distribution along the Atlantic Ocean.

Considering the cores containing four or more radiocarbon dates and no age inversions, ten (NAP63-1, GL854, 7485, RJ1501, RJ1502, GEOB6201-5, 779, 780, 863, and 875) span the Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS3). Eight cores (KNR-159-5-36GGC, PC-PRIMA, 777, 778, and 861) cover the MIS2 and the last deglacial period, and three cores (GEOB2107-5, 6630, 6613) are limited to the mid- to late Holocene.

The lack of a significant number of age inversions (marked with asterisks in the table) confirms the potential of the dataset in further paleoceanographic and paleoenvironmental studies. Figure 3 presents the location where at least one sample exhibited age inversion. Nevertheless, only two cores presented the majority of samples with age inversions (856 and 7607). The presence of age inversions in the southern part of the area corroborates the occurrence of turbidites in this sector of the SW Brazilian margin (Schattner et al. Reference Schattner, Rocha, Ramos, Shtober-Zisu, Lobo and de Mahiques2024). Core C2 (Mangini et al. Reference Mangini, Godoy, Godoy, Kowsmann, Santos, Ruckelshausen, Schroeder-Ritzrau and Wacker2010) presents age inversions at its base, thus suggesting the occurrence of a gravitational (turbiditic?) flow occurring between 26,500 and 25,600 cal BP.

Figure 3.

Location of the samples in which at least one age inversion was observed. Cores C2, 856, and 7607 exhibit age inversions along the majority of their sedimentary column.

A map showing the location of samples with age inversions along the southwestern Atlantic margin.

Final remarks

This date list complements the Atlantic dataset published by Waelbroeck et al. (Reference Waelbroeck, Lougheed, Vazquez Riveiros, Missiaen, Pedro, Dokken, Hajdas, Wacker, Abbott, Dumoulin, Thil, Eynaud, Rossignol, Fersi, Albuquerque, Arz, Austin, Came, Carlson, Collins, Dennielou, Desprat, Dickson, Elliot, Farmer, Giraudeau, Gottschalk, Henderiks, Hughen, Jung, Knutz, Lebreiro, Lund, Lynch-Stieglitz, Malaize, Marchitto, Martinez-Mendez, Mollenhauer, Naughton, Nave, Nurnberg, Oppo, Peck, Peeters, Penaud, Portilho-Ramos, Repschlager, Roberts, Ruhlemann, Salgueiro, Sanchez Goni, Schonfeld, Scussolini, Skinner, Skonieczny, Thornalley, Toucanne, Rooij, Vidal, Voelker, Wary, Weldeab and Ziegler2019). It reorganizes all of the radiocarbon information presented in several publications from the last ca. 20 years. Several studies lacked complete data, highlighting the need to standardize radiocarbon information across the area.

This date list offers an excellent potential for further studies, especially those focused on the interplay between the late Quaternary dynamics and depositional processes. The data can be used by any researcher working on the southwestern Atlantic margin, constituting a comprehensive source of information.

Supplementary material

To view supplementary material for this article, please visit https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2026.10207

Acknowledgments

Thanks are due to the crew and researchers of the R/V Alpha Crucis for their help in collecting sediment cores during cruises NAP, Talude I, Talude II, Contornitos, Mudbelts II, and SANBIF I. We are thankful to Ms. Aislyn Alvarenga and Julia Sambugaro Ribeiro for separating foraminifera tests. L.Z.O.F. acknowledges the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) for grant no. 2024/18181-6. R.H.N. and M.M. de M. recognize the National Council for Scientific and Technological Research (CNPq) for research grants 307106/2022-5 and 303847/2023-9, respectively. This work was funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), grant no. 2020/14356-5.

Declaration of competing interests

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper.

Ethics statement

The authors confirm that the current work does not involve human subjects, animal experiments, or any data collected from social media platforms.

Credit author statement

L.Z.O.F. was responsible for literature revision, data organization, writing, and revising. R.H.N., S.H.M.S., and P.A.L.F. contributed to the conception, writing, and revision of the manuscript. M.M. de M. was responsible for conceiving the paper, securing project funding, organizing the data, writing, and revising the manuscript.

References

Alvarenga, A, Paladino, ÍM, Gerotto, A, DeMenocal, P, Iwai, FS, Sousa, SHM, Figueira, RCL, Mahiques, MM and Nagai, RH (2022) S/SE Brazilian continental margin sea surface temperature and productivity changes over the last 50 kyr. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 601, 111144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.111144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alves, E, Macario, K, Souza, R, Pimenta, A, Douka, K, Oliveira, F, Chanca, I and Angulo, R (2015) Radiocarbon reservoir corrections on the Brazilian coast from pre-bomb marine shells. Quaternary Geochronology 29, 30–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2015.05.006.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chiessi, CM, Mulitza, S, Groeneveld, J, Silva, JB, Campos, MC and Gurgel, MHC (2014) Variability of the Brazil Current during the late Holocene. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 415, 28–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.12.005.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cobbold, PR and Meisling, KE (2001) Reactivation of an obliquely rifted margin, Campos and Santos basins, southeastern Brazil. AAPG Bulletin 85, 1925–1944. https://doi.org/10.1306/8626d0b3-173b-11d7-8645000102c1865d.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Contreras, J, Zühlke, R, Bowman, S and Bechstädt, T (2010) Seismic stratigraphy and subsidence analysis of the southern Brazilian margin (Campos, Santos and Pelotas basins). Marine and Petroleum Geology 27(9), 1952–1980. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2010.06.007.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
da Silveira, ICA, Bernardo, PS, Lazaneo, CZ, Amorim, JPM, Borges-Silva, M, Martins, RC, Santos, DMC, Dottori, M, Belo, WC, Martins, RP, Guerra, LAA and Moreira, DL (2023) Oceanographic conditions of the continental slope and deep waters in Santos Basin: the SANSED cruise (Winter 2019). Ocean and Coastal Research 71(suppl 3), e23008. https://doi.org/10.1590/2675-2824071.2206icas.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Almeida, FK, de Mello, RM, Costa, KB and Toledo, FAL (2015) The response of deep-water benthic foraminiferal assemblages to changes in paleoproductivity during the Pleistocene (last 769.2 kyr), western South Atlantic Ocean. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 440, 201–212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.09.005.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Mahiques, MM (2025) Radiocarbon dataset for the upper and middle slope of Santos Basin (Southwest Atlantic). https://zenodo.org/records/15864064.Google Scholar
de Mahiques, MM, Sousa, SHM, Burone, L, Nagai, RH, Silveira, ICA, Soutelino, RG, Ponsoni, L and Klein, DA (2011) Radiocarbon geochronology of the sediments of the São Paulo Bight (Southern Brazilian upper margin). An Acad Bras Cienc 83, 817–834. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0001-37652011005000028.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Mahiques, MM, Violante, R, Franco-Fraguas, P, Burone, L, Barbedo Rocha, C, Ortega, L, Felicio dos Santos, R, Mi Kim, BS, Lopes Figueira, RC and Caruso Bícego, M (2021) Control of oceanic circulation on sediment distribution in the southwestern Atlantic margin (23 to 55°S). Ocean Science 17(5), 1213–1229. https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-1213-2021.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Figueiredo, AG Jr, Carneiro, JC and Filho, Santos JRd (2023) Santos Basin continental shelf morphology, sedimentology, and slope sediment distribution. Ocean and Coastal Research 71(suppl 3), e23007. https://doi.org/10.1590/2675-2824071.22064agfj.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heaton, TJ, Bard, E, Bronk Ramsey, C, Butzin, M, Hatté, C, Hughen, KA, Köhler, P and Reimer, PJ (2022) A response to community questions on the Marine20 radiocarbon age calibration curve: Marine reservoir ages and the calibration of 14C samples from the oceans. Radiocarbon 65(1), 247–273. https://doi.org/10.1017/rdc.2022.66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heaton, TJ, Köhler, P, Butzin, M, Bard, E, Reimer, RW, Austin, WEN, Bronk Ramsey, C, Grootes, PM, Hughen, KA, Kromer, B, Reimer, PJ, Adkins, J, Burke, A, Cook, MS, Olsen, J and Skinner, LC (2020) Marine20—the marine radiocarbon age calibration curve (0–55,000 cal BP). Radiocarbon 62(4), 779–820. https://doi.org/10.1017/rdc.2020.68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hogg, AG, Heaton, TJ, Hua, Q, Palmer, JG, Turney, CSM, Southon, J, Bayliss, A, Blackwell, PG, Boswijk, G, Bronk Ramsey, C, Pearson, C, Petchey, F, Reimer, P, Reimer, R and Wacker, L (2020) SHCal20 Southern Hemisphere calibration, 0–55,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 62(4), 759–778. https://doi.org/10.1017/rdc.2020.59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, M and Tanhua, T (2021) Water masses in the Atlantic Ocean: Characteristics and distributions. Ocean Science 17(2), 463–486. https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-463-2021.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luz, LG, Santos, TP, Eglinton, TI, Montluçon, D, Ausin, B, Haghipour, N, Sousa, SM, Nagai, RH and Carreira, RS (2020) Contrasting late-glacial paleoceanographic evolution between the upper and lower continental slope of the western South Atlantic. Climate of the Past 16(4), 1245–1261. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1245-2020.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mangini, A, Godoy, JM, Godoy, ML, Kowsmann, R, Santos, GM, Ruckelshausen, M, Schroeder-Ritzrau, A and Wacker, L (2010) Deep sea corals off Brazil verify a poorly ventilated Southern Pacific Ocean during H2, H1 and the Younger Dryas. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 293(3–4), 269–276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2010.02.041.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marcello, F, Wainer, I and Rodrigues, RR (2018) South Atlantic Subtropical Gyre Late Twentieth Century Changes. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 123(8), 5194–5209. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018jc013815.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mollenhauer, G, McManus, JF, Benthien, A, Müller, PJ and Eglinton, TI (2006) Rapid lateral particle transport in the Argentine Basin: Molecular 14C and 230Thxs evidence. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers 53(7), 1224–1243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2006.05.005.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pivel, MAG, Santarosa, ACA, Toledo, FAL and Costa, KB (2013) The Holocene onset in the southwestern South Atlantic. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 374, 164–172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.01.014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Portilho-Ramos, RC, Cruz, APS, Barbosa, CF, Rathburn, AE, Mulitza, S, Venancio, IM, Schwenk, T, Ruhlemann, C, Vidal, L, Chiessi, CM and Silveira, CS (2018) Methane release from the southern Brazilian margin during the last glacial. Sci Rep 8(1), 5948. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-24420-0.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ramos, RB, dos Santos, RF, Schattner, U, Figueira, RCL, Bícego, MC, Lobo, FJ and de Mahiques, MM (2019) Deep pockmarks as natural sediment traps: A case study from southern Santos Basin (SW Atlantic upper slope). Geo-Marine Letters 40(6), 989–999. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-019-00617-8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Razik, S, Govin, A, Chiessi, CM and von Dobeneck, T (2015) Depositional provinces, dispersal, and origin of terrigenous sediments along the SE South American continental margin. Marine Geology 363, 261–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2015.03.001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Filho, Santos JRd, Figueiredo, AG, Carneiro, JC, Dias, GTdM and Ramalho, AS (2022) Mesophotic bioclastics and bioconstructions at the continental shelf of Santos Basin, Brazil. Sedimentary Geology 442. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2022.106294.Google Scholar
Santos, RFd, Kim, BSM, Trevizani, TH, Oliveira, RUd, Maly, M, Ramos, RB, Figueira, RCL and Mahiques, MMd (2022) Sedimentation in the adjacencies of a southwestern Atlantic giant carbonate ridge. Ocean and Coastal Research 70, e22034. https://doi.org/10.1590/2675-2824070.21109rfds.Google Scholar
Santos, TP, Lessa, DO, Venancio, IM, Chiessi, CM, Mulitza, S, Kuhnert, H, Govin, A, Machado, T, Costa, KB, Toledo, F, Dias, BB and Albuquerque, ALS (2017) Prolonged warming of the Brazil Current precedes deglaciations. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 463, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.01.014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schattner, U, Lobo, FJ, López-Quirós, A, Passos Nascimento, JL and Mahiques, MM (2020) What feeds shelf-edge clinoforms over margins deprived of adjacent land sources? An example from Southeastern Brazil. Basin Research 32(2), 293–301. https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schattner, U, Rocha, CB, Ramos, RB, Shtober-Zisu, N, Lobo, FJ and de Mahiques, MM (2024) Lateral shift from turbidite- to contourite-dominated continental slope, a case study from southeast Brazil slope. Geomorphology 447, 109009. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2023.109009.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schlitzer, R (2025) Ocean Data View. https://odv.awi.de. (accessed 2020 2020).Google Scholar
Sortor, RN and Lund, DC (2011) No evidence for a deglacial intermediate water Δ14C anomaly in the SW Atlantic. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 310(1–2), 65–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2011.07.017.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Souza, TCS, Carvalho, MA, Escamilla, JH, Barreto, CF, Freitas, AdS, Silva, CG and Baptista Neto, JA (2020) Late Pleistocene to holocene palaeoclimates and palaeoenvironments inferred from palynofacies and dinoflagellates cysts in Santos Basin, offshore Brazil. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 538, 109385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M, Reimer, PJ and Reimer, RW (2021) CALIB 8.2 [WWW program]. Last accessed on 10 December 2024. (accessed 11/11 2020).Google Scholar
Waelbroeck, C, Lougheed, BC, Vazquez Riveiros, N, Missiaen, L, Pedro, J, Dokken, T, Hajdas, I, Wacker, L, Abbott, P, Dumoulin, JP, Thil, F, Eynaud, F, Rossignol, L, Fersi, W, Albuquerque, AL, Arz, H, Austin, WEN, Came, R, Carlson, AE, Collins, JA, Dennielou, B, Desprat, S, Dickson, A, Elliot, M, Farmer, C, Giraudeau, J, Gottschalk, J, Henderiks, J, Hughen, K, Jung, S, Knutz, P, Lebreiro, S, Lund, DC, Lynch-Stieglitz, J, Malaize, B, Marchitto, T, Martinez-Mendez, G, Mollenhauer, G, Naughton, F, Nave, S, Nurnberg, D, Oppo, D, Peck, V, Peeters, FJC, Penaud, A, Portilho-Ramos, RDC, Repschlager, J, Roberts, J, Ruhlemann, C, Salgueiro, E, Sanchez Goni, MF, Schonfeld, J, Scussolini, P, Skinner, LC, Skonieczny, C, Thornalley, D, Toucanne, S, Rooij, DV, Vidal, L, Voelker, AHL, Wary, M, Weldeab, S and Ziegler, M (2019) Consistently dated Atlantic sediment cores over the last 40 thousand years. Sci Data 6(1), 165. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-019-0173-8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Xu, X, Chassignet, EP, Dong, S and Baringer, MO (2022) Transport structure of the South Atlantic Ocean derived from a high-resolution numerical model and observations. Frontiers in Marine Science 9, 811398. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.811398.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zembruscki, SG (1979) Geomorfologia da margem continental sul brasileira e das bacias oceânicas adjacentes. In Chaves, HAF (ed), Geomorfologia da Margem Continental Brasileira e Áreas Oceânicas Adjacentes. Rio de Janeiro: Petrobrás 129–177.Google Scholar
Figure 0

Figure 1. Figure 1 long description.A. Location of the samples and distribution of phosphate along the Atlantic Ocean and their relationship with the main currents flowing into the Santos Basin. B. Temperature-Salinity (T-S) diagram representative of the southwestern Atlantic continental margin. Abbreviations: Brazil Current (BC), Intermediate Western Boundary Current (IWBC), Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC), Tropical Water (TW), South Atlantic Central Water (SACW), Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW), Upper Circumpolar Deep Water (UCPW), and North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). Data source: Schlitzer (2025).

Figure 1

Figure 2. A. Location of the study area in the context of the South American continent. B. Histogram presenting the water depth distribution of the samples considered in this work. Approximate positions of water masses are based on Liu and Tanhua (2021). C–F. Location of the samples per sampling devices used in this work. C. Abbreviations: Tropical Water (TW), South Atlantic Central Water (SACW), Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW), Upper Circumpolar Deep Water (UCDW), and North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW)

Figure 2

Figure 3. Location of the samples in which at least one age inversion was observed. Cores C2, 856, and 7607 exhibit age inversions along the majority of their sedimentary column.

Supplementary material: File

Freitas et al. supplementary material

Freitas et al. supplementary material
Download Freitas et al. supplementary material(File)
File 52.7 KB