Grain size evidence for variations in delivery of terrigenous sediments to a Middle Pleistocene interrupted sapropel from ODP Site 969, Mediterranean Ridge

Grain size distributions of the <63-μm terrigenous fraction of closely spaced sediment samples were measured across an interrupted sapropel sequence at ODP Site 969 on the Mediterranean Ridge to explore possible climate-related changes in delivery of wind-borne particles. Size distribution patterns are generally typical of hemipelagic sediment with a subordinate amount of eolian material. However, the eolian fraction increases in the sapropel layers, which contrasts with findings from elsewhere in the Mediterranean but is consistent with other work at this location.