Neogene Himalayan weathering history and river87Sr86Sr: impact on the marine Sr record

Clastic sediments in the Bengal Fan contain a Neogene history of erosion and weathering of the Himalaya. We present data on clay mineralogy, major element, stable and radiogenic isotope abundances from Lower Miocene-Pleistocene sediments from ODP Leg 116. Nd and Sr isotope data show that the Himalayan provenance for the eroded material has varied little since > 17 Ma. However, from 7 to 1 Ma smectite replaces illite as the dominant clay, while sediment accumulation decreased, implying an interval of high chemical weathering intensity but lower physical erosion rates in the Ganges-Brahmaputra (GB) basin. O and H isotopes in clays are correlated with mineralogy and chemistry, and indicate that weathering took place in the paleo-Gangetic flood plain. The87Sr86Sr ratios of pedogenic clays (vermiculite, smectite) record the isotopic composition of Sr in the weathering environment, and can be used as a proxy for87Sr86Sr in the paleo-GB basin. The Sr data from pedogenic clays shows that river87Sr86Sr values were near 0.72 prior to 7 Ma, rose rapidly to ≥ 0.74 in the Pliocene, and returned to ≤ 0.72 in the middle Pleistocene. These are the first direct constraints available on the temporal variability of87Sr86Sr in a major river system. The high87Sr86Sr values resulted from intensified chemical weathering of radiogenic silicates and a shift in the carbonate-silicate weathering ratio. Modeling of the seawater Sr isotopic budget shows that the high river87Sr86Sr values require a ca. 50% decrease in the Sr flux from the GB system in the Pliocene. The relationship between weathering intensity,87Sr86Sr and Sr flux is similar to that observed in modern rivers, and implies that fluxes of other elements such as Ca, Na and Si were also reduced. Increased weathering intensity but reduced Sr flux appears to require a late Miocene-Pliocene decrease in Himalayan erosion rates, followed by a return to physically dominated and rapid erosion in the Pleistocene. In contrast to the view that increasing seawater87Sr86Sr results from increased erosion, Mio-Pliocene to mid-Pleistocene changes in the seawater Sr budget were the result of reduced erosion rates and Sr fluxes from the Himalaya.