Locality
65°55´ east longitude, 24°50´ north latitiude [ map ]
Name
Makran, Arabian Sea, Pakistan, Asien
Historical relevance of location
Annually laminated sediment layers from Year Zero AD (= the year of the birth of Jesus Christ). Due to the seasonally changing monsoonal climate (summer and winter monsoon), mm-thick laminated sediments are being deposited at the upper continental slope off Pakistan: a couplet of one about 0.5 mm thick, dark-colored summer lamina (rich in organic matter) and a light-colored winter lamina (rich in land-derived mud). Since in a water depth between 200 and 1000m almost no dissolved oxygen is available in the bottom waters (\"oxygen minimum zone), we observe almost no benthic life and no burrowing at the sea floor. There is also no erosion, which could eliminate layers from the \"climate record\". Since each couplet of a winter plus one summer lamina represents one year, these annual laminae or \"varves\" can be counted under a microscope. By this procedure one reaches by counting the Year 1993 before our core was taken (in 1993AD) the year Zero, the year when Jesus Christ was born.
Classification of the earth
Structure
|
laminated marine sediment
|
Colour
|
olive-grey/light-grey
|
Age
|
year zero AD (birth of Christ)
|
Donor
Dr. Ulrich von Rad,
Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources,
Hannover,
Germany