A ~400 ka supra-Milankovitch cycle in the Na, Mg, Pb, Ni, and Co records of a ferromanganese crust from the Vityaz fracture zone, central Indian ridge

Abstract. A ~400 ka (kilo years) supra-Milankovitch cycle, recorded in the sodium, magnesium, lead, nickel and cobalt contents of a 32 mm thick ferromanganese crust from Vityaz fracture zone, central Indian ridge is reported here. To arrive at the geological ages, we used both ²³⁰Th_execcs and Co-chronometric datings. The correlation coefficient between the ²³⁰Th_execcs based dates and Co-chronometric dates for the top 0–8 mm is very high (r=0.9734, at 99.9% significance). The cobalt chronometric age for the bottom most oxide layer of this crust is computed as 3.5 Ma. Red-fit and multi-taper spectral analyses of time series data revealed the existence of the significant ~400 ka cycle, representing the changes in the hydrogeochemical conditions in the ocean due to the Earth's orbital eccentricity related summer insolation at the equator. This is the first report of such cycle from a hydrogenous ferromanganese crust from equatorial Indian ocean.