INTRODUCTIONSite 965 is located south of Cyprus on the fault-controlled upper slope of the Eratosthenes Seamount (Emeis, Robertson, Richter, et al., 1996). During drilling of Hole 965A, carbonate samples from different time intervals were recovered. In the present study, one early Pliocene and ten Miocene carbonate samples were analyzed for their mineralogy, major elements (Ca, Mg), trace elements (Sr, Mn, Fe, P 2 O 5 , TiO 2 ), and stable isotopes ( 13 C, 18 O, 34 S). It is the purpose of this study to present initial results on the geochemical composition of these carbonates as a base for a future detailed investigation to estimate the paleoenvironment from the carbonate geochemistry.
ANALYTICAL METHODSThe carbonates were analyzed onboard ship by standard atomic absorption (AAS) methods following acid-digestion in hot 6 N HCl for their Ca, Mg, Sr, Mn, and Fe concentrations (accuracy better than ±5%), and on land by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy (Philips PW 2400 X-ray spectrometer) for Ca, Mg, Sr, TiO 2 , and P 2 O 5 . Results for SiO 2 and Al 2 O 3 were below the detection limit of XRF.The mineralogical phase composition was analyzed by Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (Mattson 3000 type FTIR spectrometer; KBr pellet technique) at the Laboratory for Raw and Residual Mineral Materials, Heiligenstadt and by X-ray powder diffraction (Philips XRD-goniometer and Ni-filtered CuKα-radiation) at the Senckenberg Institute, Wilhelmshaven. Mg contents of selected magnesian calcites and calcian dolomites were estimated from variation in the wave numbers of the internal modes of the carbonate ion group with composition in the binary system CaCO 3 -MgCO 3 (Böttcher and Gehlken, 1995;Böttcher et al., 1997). The relative amounts of calcite and dolomite were estimated from variation in the heights of the d(104) peaks in the X-ray patterns (Tennant and Berger, 1957). Degree of order in the dolomite lattice was estimated from the ratio of the peaks near 2Θ ≈ 35.3° and 37.3° (Füchtbauer and Goldschmidt, 1955).Stable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios of the calcite and dolomite fractions were measured on CO 2 liberated from the carbonates by the reaction with anhydrous phosphoric acid using the sealed vessel method (Böttcher, 1996). The procedure to separate CO 2 from the calcite and dolomite fraction is based on the different reaction rates of calcite and dolomite with phosphoric acid (Walters et al., 1972;Al-Aasm et al., 1990). The bulk samples were reacted for about 60 min at 23°C and the evolved CO 2 was assumed to be mainly derived from calcite. After the isotope measurement, the gas was pumped away on a vacuum line and the residual solid, which was assumed to be mainly dolomite, was allowed to react with phosphoric acid at 50°C for about 14 h. The assumption of the separation of calcite from dolomite was confirmed by comparing the CO 2 mass spectrometric inlet signals (mass 44) of the samples with those of known amounts of synthetic calcite. Measurements of isotope ratios were carried out on a Finnigan MAT 251...