Grain-size distributions, End-member modelling and Th-fluxes of South Atlantic surface sediments

We present the characteristics of the lithogenic components of seafloor surface sediments covering the entire South Atlantic Ocean (from the equator to Antarctica). These samples were collected by multiple seagoing expeditions between 1988 and 2005. By using end-member modelling on the multi-modal grain-size distributions, we decomposed the lithogenic fraction into a fine- and coarse-grained dust component, current-sorted sediments and IRD. By multiplying these specific components with 230Th-normalized lithogenic fluxes, we obtained specific fluxes for these four fractions. This allows us to study dust deposition over the remote open ocean more specifically.