The MagellanPlus workshop “BlackGate” addressed fundamental questions
concerning the dynamic evolution of the Mediterranean–Black Sea (MBS)
gateway and its palaeoenvironmental consequences. This gateway drives the
Miocene–Quaternary circulation patterns in the Black Sea and governs its
present status as the world's largest example of marine anoxia. The exchange
history of the MBS gateway is poorly constrained because continuous
Pliocene–Quaternary deposits are not exposed on land adjacent to the Black
Sea or northern Aegean. Gateway exchange is controlled by climatic
(glacio-eustatic-driven sea-level fluctuations) and tectonic processes in
the catchment as well as tectonic propagation of the North Anatolian Fault
Zone (NAFZ) in the gateway area itself. Changes in connectivity trigger
dramatic palaeoenvironmental and biotic turnovers in both the Black Sea and
Mediterranean domains. Drilling a Messinian to Holocene transect across the
MBS gateway will recover high-amplitude records of continent-scale
hydrological changes during glacial–interglacial cycles and allow us to
reconstruct marine and freshwater fluxes, biological turnover events, deep
biospheric processes, subsurface gradients in primary sedimentary
properties, patterns and processes controlling anoxia, chemical
perturbations and carbon cycling, growth and propagation of the NAFZ, the
timing of land bridges for Africa and/or Asia–Europe mammal migration, and the
presence or absence of water exchange during the Messinian salinity crisis.
During thorough discussions at the workshop, three key sites were selected
for potential drilling using a mission-specific platform (MSP): one on the
Turkish margin of the Black Sea (Arkhangelsky Ridge, 400 m b.s.f., metres below the seafloor), one on the
southern margin of the Sea of Marmara (North İmrali Basin, 750 m b.s.f.), and one
in the Aegean (North Aegean Trough, 650 m b.s.f.). All sites target Quaternary
oxic–anoxic marl–sapropel cycles. Plans include recovery of Pliocene
lacustrine sediments and mixed marine–brackish Miocene sediments from the
Black Sea and the Aegean. MSP drilling is required because the
Marine gateways are lifelines for restricted basins like the Mediterranean and Black seas, as they govern the regional and global expressions of first-order hydrologic, climatic, and environmental change (Thunell et al., 1988). They play a critical role in the exchange of water, heat, salt, and nutrients between oceans and seas; hence, they impact regional and global climate and marine and terrestrial biodiversity (e.g. Flecker et al., 2015). The complex evolution of the Mediterranean gateways over the past 7 Myr caused environmental challenges that severely impacted marine and terrestrial biota in Eurasia. During the Messinian, the Black Sea gateway opened, and the Atlantic gateway progressively closed as the Mediterranean developed into a largely desiccated saline basin and later into a brackish water “lake-sea” (Lago Mare) during the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC; 5.97–5.33 Ma) (Roveri et al., 2014; Andreetto et al., 2021). Two-way exchange with the Black Sea probably persisted (Vasiliev et al., 2013; Grothe et al., 2020), and its brackish water faunas expanded over the entire Mediterranean as far west as the Malaga Basin adjacent to Gibraltar (Guerra-Merchán et al., 2010). The exact hydrologic fluxes remain uncertain because the dimensions of the Black Sea gateway are poorly constrained (Fig. 1).
Late-Miocene palaeogeography of Eurasia showing the context of BlackGate (after Palcu et al., 2021). The inset shows the palaeogeographic configuration during the Last Glacial Maximum.
The global importance of dynamic Mediterranean connectivity changes is
realized by the scientific community, and several projects are currently
directed at a better understanding of the Mediterranean gateway system: the European Training Network (ETN) SALTGIANT initiative, funded by the
European Union (EU), focuses on the formation of thick
evaporite units in the Mediterranean; the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP)–International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP) amphibious IMMAGE (Investigate Miocene Mediterranean–Atlantic Gateway Exchange)
project will be directed at the evolution of the Mediterranean–Atlantic
connection; and the IODP project “DEMISE of a salt giant:
climatic-environmental transitions during the terminal Messinian Salinity
Crisis” aims to unravel halite deformation of the eastern Mediterranean
salt deposits. The missing link for a comprehensive understanding of the
Mediterranean hydrologic and environmental evolution is the poor
comprehension of the hydrological fluxes from the Black Sea domain. For
example, the Mediterranean–Black Sea gateway determines the freshwater flux
for continental Eurasia (from the Alps in Germany to the Himalayas in
western China), which may significantly influence salinity, temperature, and
stratification in the Mediterranean. At the same time, these gaps limit our
understanding of Black Sea evolution and its broader value in studies of
abrupt marine–non-marine transitions and widespread anoxia through history.
The gateway influences circulation patterns in the Black Sea (
The Mediterranean region is one of the most vulnerable and rapidly responding areas to present-day climate change. Future warming will likely enhance its salinity and reduce its deep-water formation, all leading to water column stratification and higher mass mortality in marine fauna (Coma et al., 2009). MBS gateway dynamics impact the Mediterranean circulation system as well (Sperling et al., 2003; Filippidi et al., 2016). Salinity variations of Aegean water, largely regulated by lower-salinity-water inflow from the Black Sea, are known to have displaced Mediterranean bottom waters upwards, creating Mediterranean deep-water ventilation and overturn perturbations (Roether et al., 1996; Incarbona et al., 2016). The onset of modern Mediterranean ventilation most likely occurred in the Quaternary, but the influence of Black Sea ingressions on Mediterranean hydrology is still largely unknown. The late-Miocene Mediterranean is characterized by the cyclic development of organic-rich sapropelic layers that reflect climatic and hydrological changes resulting in water column stratification and episodes of anoxic conditions in the deep basins (Rohling et al., 2015). A stratified Mediterranean water mass is also envisaged during the enigmatic Messinian salinity crisis (MSC) halite and gypsum precipitation when the Mediterranean was transformed into a saline basin (García-Veigas et al., 2018). Deciphering the palaeoenvironmental evolution of the Mediterranean–Aegean gateway basin over the past 10 Myr will be crucial to understanding the critical thresholds of ancient and modern corridors, and thus our ability to make environmental and biotic projections for the ocean in the near future under increasing anthropogenic influence.
The Black Sea is the world's largest modern anoxic basin (Arthur
and Dean, 1998). This condition results from an estuarine-type circulation
driven by riverine inputs and marine Mediterranean inflow through the
Bosphorus Strait. The present-day gateway is marked by bottom inflow of
dense Aegean water below a surface outflow of fresher Black Sea water. The
salty northern Aegean inflow sinks to the deeper parts of the basin and does
not mix with the oxygen-rich upper water column. The result is a strongly
stratified vertical structure in the Black Sea water column, with 90 % of
the deep basin consisting of an anoxic dead zone (Fig. 2;
Eckert et al., 2013). A
Schematic cross section of the water layers in the North Aegean, Sea of Marmara, and Black Sea basins (values after Yakushev et al., 2008; Keskin et al., 2011; Lagaria et al., 2017; and Çağatay et al., 2022). The huge dominant anoxic bottom layer makes the Black Sea the most poisonous sea in the world. Changing the hydrological fluxes may disturb the equilibrium and bring the deadly sulfides towards the surface waters.
Change in climate and associated sea-level variation, in phase with glacial–interglacial cycles, have been suggested as the main drivers of dynamic connectivity, with connections occurring during interglacial sea-level high stands (e.g. Çağatay et al., 2019; Hoyle et al., 2021). The recent sedimentary archives of the Black Sea document its sensitivity to rapid climatic change across a large part of the Eurasian interior (e.g. Fig. 1; Badertscher et al., 2011; Wegwerth et al., 2020). Over the past 7 Myr, however, the Black Sea has experienced a highly dynamic hydrologic history, including episodes during which its catchment tripled in size, incorporating both low-latitude monsoonal systems and high- to mid-latitude glacial cyclicity. The terrestrial signal in sediment cores from this region provides a rare continental record of hemisphere-wide orbital and millennial-scale variability on a scale suitable for robust modelling of the hydrological cycle, a widely acknowledged weakness in general circulation models (GCMs). The long-term records of sea-level change and concomitant consequences for connectivity and coupled biogeochemical processes, like carbon cycling and the development of anoxia, are so far only speculative. In the absence of recent drilling, most of the focus to date is placed on the last glacial–interglacial transition.
In addition, the MBS gateway region is deeply affected by plate tectonic processes of the Africa–Europe collision zone. Subsidence and uplift in the Bosphorus–Marmara–Dardanelles region is strongly driven by North Anatolian Fault activity, a major east–west-running strike-slip fault below the metropolis of Istanbul that shows a record of almost continuous activity throughout the last 7 Myr (Şengör et al., 2005). Tectonically induced palaeoenvironmental changes in the Aegean and Black Sea basins over million-year timescales are not well understood.
The BlackGate workshop was a sequel to the previously funded Magellan
workshop BlackSink (2014), which aimed to identify the most suitable drill
sites in the Black Sea for exploring the temporal relationships of recurring
restriction events, their impact on regional palaeoclimate and
palaeoenvironment, and the complex hydro-interactions with the Mediterranean
Sea and the global ocean over the last 15 Myr. This prior workshop was an
unqualified success, and most attendees (
The BlackGate workshop was hosted by the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre in Frankfurt, Germany, and was co-sponsored by the United States Science Advisory Committee (USSAC) for Scientific Ocean Drilling (five scientists from the USA) and SALTGIANT (four early-stage researchers from the EU). It took place from 21 to 24 September 2021. A total of 30 scientists personally attended the workshop (and 7 participated online) from 12 different countries. The participants also represented multiple disciplines, spanning geology, palaeoclimatology, palaeontology, biogeochemistry, tectonics, and reflection seismology, including 11 early-career scientists. The workshop involved numerous scientists with expertise specifically in Black Sea–Mediterranean geology, tectonics, palaeoclimatology, palaeoenvironments, and fundamental biogeochemical processes in the system linked, for example, to changing redox (anoxia), primary production, and salinity. The workshop followed the standard format of concurrent topical breakout sessions on scientific, technical, and funding themes that subsequently reported back to the main group. Breakouts were designed to include complementary disciplines and broadly mixed expertise, but they were also planned with focused expertise in some cases, particularly to address very specific technical questions.
Riding on the success of the BlackGate workshop, we quickly prepared and
submitted a preliminary proposal for the IODP 1 October 2021 deadline with
the following three themes:
generation of high-resolution integrated records of
continental-scale climate, sea surface temperature, salinity, anoxia, and
thermohaline circulation; impact of Black Sea–Aegean gateway connectivity on
biogeochemical processes and sub-seafloor microbial communities; and reconstruction of the detrital provenance and tectonic history
of the gateway basins and the surrounding mountains.
To achieve these scientific goals, we propose the use of a mission-specific platform (MSP) to drill three
sites: one on the Turkish margin of the Black Sea, one on the southern
margin of the Sea of Marmara, and one in the northern Aegean. All sites
target Quaternary oxic–anoxic marl–sapropel cycles. Pliocene lacustrine
sediments and mixed marine–brackish Miocene sediments will be recovered from
the Black Sea and Aegean (Fig. 1).
The gateway is linked to a wide array of critical observations and remaining questions. For example, a recent re-evaluation of the late-Miocene faunal evolution in the northern Aegean basins exposed new palaeogeographic scenarios strikingly different from conventional views, illustrating the need to improve our understanding of the timing and location of critical gateways (Krijgsman et al., 2020). There are no continuous Miocene–Quaternary successions exposed on land in the northern Aegean and Black Sea region. Previous DSDP holes in the Black Sea (Leg 42B) are all disturbed by core breaks and erosional events, and they also include substantial mass transport complexes (Tari et al., 2015), which have only recently been identified and mapped on industrial seismic data. Consequently, there are currently no Miocene–Quaternary cores available for continuous, high-resolution climate reconstruction before the penultimate glacial (Wegwerth et al., 2014). Therefore, the long-term records of hydrology and sea-level change as well as the concomitant consequences for connectivity and coupled biogeochemical processes, carbon cycling, and the development of anoxia are largely speculative. We currently have very little understanding of the impact of major climate events such as the mid-Pliocene warming and the onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciation, locally or regionally. Thus, we are targeting sites on both sides of the MBS gateway because its unique geographic, hydrographic, oceanographic, and tectonic position makes these cores particularly suited to assessing and even quantifying Eurasian palaeoenvironmental processes.
The objectives of Theme A are as follows:
to understand the role of global climate and gateway morphology on northern
Aegean and Black Sea surface temperature, salinity, anoxia, and thermohaline
circulation; and to quantify the time lag between the arrival of Atlantic waters in the
Aegean, Marmara, and Black seas at the onset of marine connectivity and
evaluate its environmental consequences.
Schematic representation of connectivity scenarios in the BlackGate
region during
Hydrological exchange between water masses is primarily controlled by
salinity and temperature contrasts, but gateway morphology and net
evaporation also play roles. During the Miocene–Quaternary, the MBS region
experienced repeated, rapid basin-wide salinity fluctuations
(e.g.
Wegwerth et al., 2014; Çağatay et al., 2019). These reflect the
interaction of tectonics, climate, and eustasy as well as changing
catchments that at times incorporated both positive and negative water
budgets (Gladstone et al., 2007). The process and extent
to which these interrelated drivers of gateway exchange interacted remains
unquantified. We will explore MBS hydrological interactions by
reconstructing the following (Fig. 3):
hydrological variations (aquatic vs. terrestrial using biomarker-based
compound-specific sea surface temperatures (alkenone-based U continental temperatures (primarily soil-derived branched (br) GDGTs), with
sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and mean annual air temperatures (MAATs) established in parallel to quantify sea–land temperature contrasts during
connectivity changes
(e.g.
Vasiliev et al., 2013, 2019, 2020); vegetation composition (compound-specific anoxia, stratification, and sapropel formation (e.g. isorenieratene;
extended archaeol; archaeol; total organic carbon, TOC; water sources and connectivity proxies ( environmental change within the water column ( continuous geochemical measurements via core-scanning X-ray fluorescence (XRF) for intervals of
interest.
Further, a robust chronology for the MBS system is essential. Although
biostratigraphic correlations over the MBS gateway are hampered by the
endemic character of Black Sea biota, calcareous nannofossil and dinocyst
biostratigraphy coupled with isotope geochemistry can provide ages during
marine incursions (Karatsolis
et al., 2017; Çağatay et al., 2019; Hoyle et al., 2021).
Magnetostratigraphy, radiometric dating, and tephrochronology have all
successfully provided age constraints for parts of these sedimentary
successions (e.g. Van Baak et al., 2015, 2016; Nowaczyk
et al., 2012, 2021; Çağatay et al., 2019; Liu et al., 2020; Wegwerth
et al., 2020). We propose the utilization of all of these methods to construct a robust
chronological framework for the MBS gateway system over the last 7 Myr.
The objectives of Theme B are as follows:
to understand the linkage between the hydrological connection in the MBS
gateway and widespread anoxia, biological turnover, and organic carbon
burial in the gateway region; to interrogate environmental variability in the highly sensitive, restricted
Black Sea on various timescales ranging from years (varves) to
glacial–interglacial (orbital) to millions of years, driven by the interplay
of climate, local and global sea level, nutrient inputs, tectonics, macro-
and micro-ecology, and the regional water balance; and to elucidate the effects of variations in bottom water oxygen, salinity, and
input of organic carbon on microbial communities and biogeochemical
processes in a deep-biosphere environment that is strongly influenced by
organic-rich sedimentation and pronounced upward fluxes of methane. palaeoredox from reactive iron, sulfur, and manganese speciation
(Canfield
et al., 1996; Poulton and Canfield, 2005; Lenstra et al., 2021); other
redox-sensitive trace metals (e.g. molybdenum; Scott and
Lyons, 2012; Matthews et al., 2017; Chiu et al., 2022); sulfur isotope
systematics (Calvert et al.,
1996; Lyons, 1997); carbon / phosphorus ratios ( palaeosalinity from alkenones (Huang et al., 2021),
carbon–sulfur relationships (Lyons and Berner, 1992), and
chloride concentrations (Soulet et al., 2010); productivity from organic C and barium where possible
(Henkel et al., 2012); and the presence of specific phytoplankton/microbial groups, including those
recorded as biomarkers from anoxygenic photosynthetic sulfur oxidizers
(Sinninge Damsté et al., 1993) and evidence of
anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Kuypers et al.,
2003).
The BlackGate drill cores will use state-of-the-art biogeochemical proxies
to provide the first reconstruction of water column salinity, redox
conditions, temperature, nutrient (re)cycling, primary productivity,
(micro)biological communities, and organic matter burial over the entire
Miocene–Quaternary interval. While many of these proxies have been developed
or refined using samples from the present-day Black Sea often with strong
anthropogenic overprints, they have not been applied to the deeper record
because of a lack of suitable core samples. Hence, essential aspects of the
pre-anthropogenic baseline are missing. Key parameters extracted from
sediment records using biogeochemical tools that will complement
palaeoenvironmental data collected in Theme A will include the following (Fig. 4):
Simplified schematic of methane, sulfur, iron, and phosphorus diagenesis in Baltic Sea and Black Sea sediments, illustrating the location of key redox and chemical fronts relevant to post-depositional alteration of both lake and marine sediments (after Dijkstra et al., 2018).
Previous IODP drilling has shown that subsurface seafloor sediments contain a wealth of microorganisms that are metabolically active and drive a range of diagenetic reactions, albeit at low rates (Orcutt et al., 2014). This deep biosphere comprises an important fraction of Earth's total living biomass. We still know relatively little about the metabolism of the microbial groups in the subsurface, including their carbon sources and electron acceptors and donors. These relationships are particularly relevant in gateway regions, where redox, salinity, and other chemical fronts can develop within sediments leading to changes in microbial communities (Marshall et al., 2018), new mineral formation, and diagenetic overprinting of primary depositional signals (Fig. 4; Jørgensen et al., 2001, 2004; Dijkstra et al., 2018). Importantly, although geochemical profiles of solutes and solids can provide key insights into net rates of biogeochemical processes, they do not reveal the specific microbial drivers nor do they reveal cryptic processes in which substrates or products of reactions (e.g. transient intermediates) have short half-lives. For example, methane oxidation in the subsurface may be coupled to reduction of iron oxides, but whether such a reaction truly occurs cannot be proven without insight into the specific microbes involved (Riedinger et al., 2014; Egger et al., 2017).
The Sea of Marmara–Aegean Sea transform system (map after Sakellariou and Tsampouraki-Kraounaki, 2018), where MS denotes the Sea of Marmara. The red arrows and lines indicate branches of the North Anatolian Fault (NAF) system that are observed on bathymetry and are considered active today.
We will study the impacts of abrupt variations in bottom water oxygen, salinity, and organic carbon input on microbial communities and biogeochemical processes/cycles in the deep subsurface. Detailed geochemical analyses of sediments and porewaters (including C, H, and O isotopes) will reveal the positions of active redox fronts, allowing the separation of primary and secondary signals. Microbiological analyses will include cell counts (Jørgensen et al., 2020), metagenomics (Zinke et al., 2017), measurements of enzyme activities (Schmidt et al., 2021), and the use of various single-cell technologies to link function and genetic identity (Coskun et al., 2018). Our ultimate goal is to determine which microbes are active; how they function; and how they drive geochemical processes in the subsurface, including carbon cycling.
The objectives of Theme C are as follows:
to unravel the tectonic history of the MBS gateway in Messinian–Quaternary times; and to determine how growth and propagation of strike-slip faults in the
continental domain affect gateway dynamics and geohazards.
The MBS gateway is located in a tectonically active region that has been dominated by the westward growth and propagation of the NAFZ over the past 5 Myr (Sengör, 1979; Taymaz et al., 1991; Armijo et al., 1999). Gateway basin geometries and inferred kinematics vary laterally and are heavily affected by NAFZ activity (Fig. 5). The basins in the northern Aegean domain have seen a rapid increase in tectonic activity and opening rate since the late Miocene (Brun et al., 2016), generating increased accommodation space in the past 3–5 Myr (Beniest et al., 2016), coeval with the propagation of the NAFZ into the north Aegean domain (Sakellariou and Tsampouraki-Kraounaki, 2018). Various methods have been used to estimate the age of the gateway sediments in the Aegean domain, including onshore basin stratigraphy (Beniest et al., 2016; Karakitsios et al., 2017), interpolating a Messinian age for large unconformities (Rodriguez et al., 2018; Sakellariou et al., 2018), and using seismic stratigraphy from the deep-sea drilling in the South Aegean Sea (Hsü et al., 1978); however, a robust chronological framework is absent for this region. Recovering sediments that accumulated in the gateway basins will reveal unique information about the evolution of the transform fault system, palaeo-earthquakes associated with their growth (Jolivet and Brun, 2010; Royden and Papanikolaou, 2011), and how they propagate through normal continental and thinned continental crust. Large strike-slip faults like the NAFZ pose a serious threat to society because the gateway region and the geography associated with those faults have been the focus of human activity and urban development for millennia. Specifically, two major population centres, Istanbul and Izmir in north-western Turkey, are located on this fault. A thorough understanding of the gateway's dynamic behaviour with potential temporal patterns is essential for the effective mitigation of seismic hazards.
We will use sediment chronology developed for our cores to ground truth the existing but tentative seismic-stratigraphic framework for the Marmara Trough (Sorlien et al., 2012). These surfaces, which are a sequence of low-stand deltas, have been traced throughout the Sea of Marmara basins and linked to glacial–interglacial cycles. IODP drilling through these strata, in both the Aegean and Marmara domains, coupled with extensive seismic data grids, will provide the chronology necessary for interpretation of transform basin subsidence and fault slip analyses. These results, in turn, will constrain the geometry, kinematics, and segmentation of the main fault branch over the long term, providing a much improved understanding of transform faulting and associated basin evolution. Greater knowledge of the geodynamic context of the MBS gateway basins will eventually shed new light on Miocene plate tectonics, controls on local uplift and subsidence, and active large-scale fault displacements that may lead to slope instability and subsequent mass transfer deposits and earthquake activity.
Existing seismic data coverage in the North Aegean Sea
(the background bathymetry map is sourced from Sakellariou and Tsampouraki-Kraounaki, 2019). High-resolution bathymetry in the northern Aegean Sea with seismic data
(Sakellariou et al., 2018). Panel
We have identified three primary and five alternative sites on seismic lines
in the northern Aegean (AEG-01A and AEG-02A), the Sea of Marmara (MAR-01A and MAR-02A), and the Black Sea basin (BSB-01A, BSB-02A, BUL-01A, and BUL-02A). Core recovery must
be sufficient for high-resolution sampling with minimal gaps. Therefore, we
propose the use of an advanced piston corer (APC) to refusal at each site, followed by a rotary core barrel (RCB). Limited core
recovery in the single/double sites will be mitigated by the acquisition of
downhole logs under open-hole conditions (see below). These data will also be
used to generate comprehensive cyclostratigraphic records. More detailed information on the sites used is given in the following:
Aegean – primary site is the North Aegean Trough (AEG-01 with Sea of Marmara – preferred site is the North İmrali (MAR-01; one hole down to 400 m), and the alternative site is the MAR-02, which involves a lateral shift in location that shows smaller
stratigraphic thickness; and Black Sea – preferred site is the Arkhangelsky Ridge (Turkey) (BSB-01A with
Downhole logging measurements will be important as they can be used to fill
gaps in the sedimentary records. Moreover, they offer in situ determinations
of the physical properties. At each site, we plan to acquire through-pipe
gamma ray logs followed by the following logs collected under open-hole
conditions: spectral gamma ray, formation resistivity and magnetic
susceptibility, sonic, borehole fluid temperature and conductivity, caliper
logs, and vertical seismic profiles (VSPs).
AEG-1A is located on a relative plateau in the southern part of the North Aegean Trough (Fig. 6). At the proposed location, the seismic profile shows a continuous, undisturbed section (AEG-01A; Fig. 6c) at a water depth of 1120 m (see Fig. 6b for details). AEG-2A occupies a plateau in the central deep part of the North Aegean Trough, just south of the Sithonia Peninsula. At the proposed location, the seismic character shows parallel, continuous, undisturbed reflectors (AEG-02A; Fig. 6d) at a water depth of 960 m (see Fig. 6b for details).
MAR-01A is located on a flat plateau in the eastern İmrali Basin near the southern margin of the Sea of Marmara. At the proposed location, the seismic character shows parallel, continuous, undisturbed reflectors (MAR-01A; Fig. 7d) at a water depth of 346 m (see Fig. 7b for details). MAR-02A is located in the western part of İmrali Basin. At the proposed location, the seismic character shows parallel, continuous, undisturbed reflectors (MAR-02A; Fig. 7d) at a water depth of 346 m (see Fig. 7b for details).
The sites are located on the south-eastern end of the north-west–south-east-extending Arkhangelsky Ridge at water depths of 375 and 370 m. The proposed drilling/coring site likely received minimum terrigenous input because it is situated on a relatively high plateau. The existing interpretations include the Messinian unconformity and other significant seismic surfaces in deeper parts of the eastern Black Sea basin (BSB-01A/-02A; Fig. 8c). The geometric relationships between the reflectors and the known geological history of the area were considered when selecting horizons at the proposed drill site.
The sites are located on the southernmost part of Bulgarian deep-water slope. A large modern 3D seismic data set is available. Few mass transport complexes (MTCs), perhaps at 305–325 m b.s.f., within the Miocene–Quaternary sequence (Tari et al., 2015, 2016; Tishchenko et al., 2021) are expected. Potential drilling location BUL-01A/-02A (Fig. 8g, h) has been selected because of the relatively undeformed sequence between the seafloor and the Messinian unconformity. There is an unconformity at 446 m b.s.f. (Fig. 8h), which may represent up to 20–30 m of missing section within the Pliocene.
No codes or data sets were used in this article.
Konstantina Agiadi (Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria), Federico Andreetto (Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands), Helge Arz (Marine Geology, Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde, Rostock, Germany), Anouk Beniest (Department of Geosciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands), Diksha Bista (NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, UK), Francesca Bulian (Department of Geology, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain), Geanina Butiseaca (Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt am Main, Germany), Namik Cagatay (EMCOL Research Centre, Department of Geological Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey), Gunay Cifci (Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi, Deniz Bilimleri ve Teknolojisi Enstitüsü, İnciraltı, İzmir, Turkey), Pinar Ertepinar (Department of Geological Engineering, METU Üniversiteler, Çankaya-Ankara, Turkey), Rachel Flecker (BRIDGE, School of Geographical Sciences and Cabot Institute, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK), Luca Gasperini (Institute of Marine Science, National Research Council ISMAR-CNR, Bologna, Italy), Liviu Giosan (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, USA), Christian Gorini (Sorbonne University, ISTEP, Paris, France), Erhan Gülyüz (Department of Neotectonics and Thermochronology, Institute of Rock Structure and Mechanics of the CAS, Prague, Czech Republic), Pierre Henry (Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, IRD, INRAE, Coll France, CEREGE, Aix-en-Provence, France), Thomas Hoyle (CASP, West Building, Cambridge, UK), Yongsong Huang (Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Brown University, Providence, USA), Nuretdin Kaymakci (Department of Geological Engineering, METU Üniversiteler, Çankaya-Ankara, Turkey), Wout Krijgsman (Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands), Sergei Lazarev (Carbonate Sedimentology Lab, Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland), Johanna Lofi (Géosciences Montpellier, CNRS, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France), Lucas Lourens (Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands), Timothy Lyons (Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside, USA), Oleg Mandic (Department of Geology and Paleontology, Natural History Museum Vienna, Vienna, Austria), Cecilia McHugh (Queens College, City University of New York, Flushing, USA), David McInroy (British Geological Survey, Keyworth, UK), Javier Molina-Hernandez (Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK), Jimmy Moneron (Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel), Andreas Mulch (Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt am Main, Germany), Dan Palcu (Instituto Oceanográfico, Universidade do São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil), Fadl Raad (Géosciences Montpellier, CNRS, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France), Dimitris Sakellariou (Institute of Oceanography, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Anavyssos, Greece), Özgür Sipahioglu (Exploration Department, Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortakliǧi (TPAO), Çankaya-Ankara, Turkey), Elisabeth Skampa (Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece), Caroline Slomp (Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands), Gabor Tari (OMV Upstream, Exploration, Vienna, Austria), Maria Triantaphyllou (Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece), Iuliana Vasiliev (Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt am Main, Germany), Antje Wegwerth (Marine Geology, Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde, Rostock, Germany), Frank Wesselingh (Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, the Netherlands), and Anastasia Yanchilina (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, USA).
WK, IV, and AB convened the workshop in Frankfurt. All co-authors contributed to the text and figures that resulted in the submission of a preliminary proposal. DP provided the introductory Figs. 1 and 2. IV, HA, NC, and MT organized Theme A. CPS, TL, and KL wrote Theme B. AB, NC, CM, MT, GC, and PH focused on Theme C. GT, NC, CM, GC, ÖS, and DS provided the seismic lines and location figures. JL wrote the coring strategy. WK, IV, AB, and RF were responsible for revising, editing, and homogenizing the final version of the paper. Participants at the workshop contributed intellectual input.
The contact author has declared that none of the authors has any competing interests.
Publisher's note: Copernicus Publications remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
The authors wish to thank the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre in Frankfurt (in particular Andreas Mulch), Germany, for hosting the event and Iryna Yashchenko and Tjitske Vos for their managerial support and assistance. We are also grateful to Lucas Lourens for continued encouragement and constructive suggestions and to Nadine Hallmann and Gilbert Camoin for essential hands-on support with respect to organizing the workshop. Finally, we acknowledge all participants for their constructive input and enthusiasm. Those interested in participating in future BlackGate activities are invited to contact the authors.
This research has been supported by ECORD/IODP (BlackGate2020 grant); the US Science Advisory Committee (five scientists from the USA); and SALTGIANT (four ESRs from the EU), a European project that has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme, within the framework of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (grant no. 765256). Dan Palcu acknowledges the Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) for financial support (grant no. 2018/20733-6).
This paper was edited by Will Sager and reviewed by Werner Piller and one anonymous referee.