TY - JOUR KW - Heinrich events KW - ice-rafting KW - North Atlantic KW - origins KW - Sr and Nd isotopes AU - Hilde Snoeckx AU - Francis Grousset AU - Marie Revel AU - An Boelaert AB - This paper reports the Sr\textendashNd isotopic composition of the carbonate-free sand (63 μm\textendash1 mm) fraction of Heinrich layers 3 and 4 from about 17 cores from the northern Atlantic Ocean (38\textdegreeN to 68\textdegreeN). The results indicate that the transporting icebergs were calved from many ice sheets from around the North Atlantic (at least the Fennoscandian, Icelandic and Laurentide). Our isotopic data show a more distinctly European origin for ice-rafted debris (IRD) deposited during the \textquoteleftatypical Heinrich event H3 than for background IRD. In contrast, Heinrich layer H4, a representative of \textquotelefttypical Heinrich events H1, H2, H4, and H5, presents a clear dominant Laurentide signal. This result confirms that these \textquotelefttypical Heinrich events are associated with a massive discharge of icebergs from the Laurentide ice sheet. However, the theory that the Laurentide ice sheet set the events into motion [Alley, R.B., MacAyeal, D.R., 1993. Ice-rafted debris associated with binge/purge oscillations of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Paleoceanography 9 (4), 503\textendash511] cannot explain the fact that a European signal of an early-H4 sample has been observed prior to the Laurentide signature of a late-H4 sample in the same core, along the European margin. This observation indicates that the European ice sheets may have surged before the North American ones, and suggests that the Laurentide ice sheet was not the sole motor behind the Heinrich events. Moreover, in the Norwegian Sea, IRD has a Scandinavian origin in both H3 and H4. BT - Marine Geology M1 - 1-4 N1 - doi: 10.1016/S0025-3227(98)00168-6 N2 - This paper reports the Sr\textendashNd isotopic composition of the carbonate-free sand (63 μm\textendash1 mm) fraction of Heinrich layers 3 and 4 from about 17 cores from the northern Atlantic Ocean (38\textdegreeN to 68\textdegreeN). The results indicate that the transporting icebergs were calved from many ice sheets from around the North Atlantic (at least the Fennoscandian, Icelandic and Laurentide). Our isotopic data show a more distinctly European origin for ice-rafted debris (IRD) deposited during the \textquoteleftatypical Heinrich event H3 than for background IRD. In contrast, Heinrich layer H4, a representative of \textquotelefttypical Heinrich events H1, H2, H4, and H5, presents a clear dominant Laurentide signal. This result confirms that these \textquotelefttypical Heinrich events are associated with a massive discharge of icebergs from the Laurentide ice sheet. However, the theory that the Laurentide ice sheet set the events into motion [Alley, R.B., MacAyeal, D.R., 1993. Ice-rafted debris associated with binge/purge oscillations of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Paleoceanography 9 (4), 503\textendash511] cannot explain the fact that a European signal of an early-H4 sample has been observed prior to the Laurentide signature of a late-H4 sample in the same core, along the European margin. This observation indicates that the European ice sheets may have surged before the North American ones, and suggests that the Laurentide ice sheet was not the sole motor behind the Heinrich events. Moreover, in the Norwegian Sea, IRD has a Scandinavian origin in both H3 and H4. PY - 1999 SN - 0025-3227 SP - 197 EP - 208 T2 - Marine Geology TI - European contribution of ice-rafted sand to Heinrich layers H3 and H4 UR - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025322798001686 VL - 158 ER -