annual biogenic particle fluxes to the interior of the north atlantic ocean studied at 34 n 21 w and 48 n 21 w abstract in order to clarify the annual quality quantity and export processes of biogenic particles from the euphotic zone to the deep ocean interior an array of automated time series sediment traps were deployed for 1 year from 4 april 1989 to 17 april 1990 at 34 n 21 w and 48 n 21 w as part of the joint global ocean flux program jgofs north atlantic bloom experiment nabe three sediment traps with 13 time series sediment collectors were placed at both stations approximately 1 and 2 km below the surface and 0 7 km above the bottom they collected settling particles during 26 14 day intervals for 376 days with an 20 day hiatus in september october 1989 for changeover of the trap moorings the collection periods of the six traps were synchronized forming a spatio temporal matrix of 156 samples the annual mass flux at about 2 km deep during this experiment was 22 and 27 g m 2 y 1 at the 34 and 48 n stations consisting of biogenic particles with traceable quantities of lithogenic particle flux the spring particle bloom characterized by the sedimentation of particles relatively enriched by norg began in january at the 34 n station and in march at the 48 n station the bloom continued for 4 5 and 3 months and provided 62 and 50 of the annual biogenic particle mass flux at 2 km at the 34 and 48 n stations the surface bloom penetrated to the ocean interior within a few weeks with apparently accelerated settling speed at deeper layers the order of susceptibility of biogenic elements to mineralization while settling in the 0 7 1 km a b water column was from least to most resistant p norg corg si and ca the c n p ratio at 0 7 km a b was 154 18 1 at the 34 n station and 148 18 1 at the 48 n station

stable isotope fractionation in benthic foraminifera from the peruvian continental margin abstract stable isotope ratios of the carbonate tests of benthic foraminifera are now widely used to reconstruct past changes in ocean circulation and chemistry such studies depend on the accuracy with which changing environmental conditions are recorded and preserved in the tests of foraminifera found in deep sea deposits assessment of this aspect of the method is best accomplished through rigorous study of modern core tops collected from a wide range of depths and bottom water temperatures stable isotope analyses of eighteen taxa of benthic foraminifera from surface sediments of the peru continental margin indicate that most foraminifera are slightly depleted in 18o relative to the benthic foram uvigerina peregrina for at least five taxa we observed subparallel 18 o temperature relationships with slopes nearly equal to that predicted by shackleton 1974 for uvigerina for seven taxa isotopic analysis of six size fractions in the range 210 590 mm reveals that with the exception of u peregrina variation between different size classes for each species is small for 18 o and for 13 c a slight inverse correlation between foraminiferal 18o and 13c content implies a complex interplay of biological and environmental factors which control isotopic composition

rapid growth of deep sea benthic foraminifera although benthic foraminifera are important components of the marine benthos and are widely used in paleoceanography for reconstructing deep and bottom water conditions relatively little is known about their growth rates in the deep sea here we present data for two species buliminella tenuata and nonionella stella from a coastal upwelling region that show abundance changes reflecting rapid growth of these taxa over a three month interval rapid growth indicates that the chemical composition of the calcareous foraminiferal test which is used extensively in paleoceanography may reflect environmental conditions over a relatively short interval i e months this observation suggests that it will be possible to reconstruct seasonal environmental conditions in certain areas of the oceans such as coastal upwelling regions

calcitic foraminiferal data confirmed by cadmium in aragonitic hoeglundina application to the last glacial maximum in the northern indian ocean a core top study of cadmium uptake into the shells of the aragonitic benthic foraminifera hoeglundina elegans demonstrates that the hoeglundina cd ca partition coefficient is close to 1 0 throughout the ocean cd uptake by hoeglundina is far less depth dependent than that of calcitic benthic foraminifera furthermore manganese carbonate does not precipitate on these aragonitic shells allowing for the recovery of cd estimates in some samples where calcitic species are spoiled by contaminating overgrowths because cd incorporation into hoeglundina shows little depth dependence a comparison of calcitic and hoeglundina cd data can be used to verify the assumption that the depth dependence observed for calcitic benthic foraminifera is time invariant this comparison has been undertaken in downcore and last glacial maximum lgm samples from the northern indian ocean aragonitic and calcitic foraminiferal estimates for cd in the lgm ocean are in excellent agreement this result indicates upper ocean estimates of lgm cd are reliable despite a factor of two variation in cd uptake by calcitic species over this depth range cd and 13c data indicate that the uppermost waters of the lgm arabian sea were strongly nutrient depleted relative to today but that the deepest waters of the northern bay of bengal had nutrient concentrations at least as high as or higher than modern levels a strong vertical gradient of increasing nutrients with increasing depth existed in both basins during the lgm a west to east gradient of increasing nutrient concentrations also is evident at all depths in the bay of bengal there is evidence for an enhanced gradient of nutrients increasing from south to north the lgm deep arabian sea and intermediate depth bay of bengal were nutrient depleted compared to the modern ocean however cd and 13c data indicate that nutrient depletion in the northern indian ocean did not exceed that of the deep eastern tropical pacific except during the latest part of oxygen isotope stage 2 and according to cd data only the early stages of deglaciation during oxygen isotope stage 3 and early stage 2 cd in the northern indian ocean and cd in the eastern tropical pacific were indistinguishable although both regions have lower cd at these times compared to the holocene

depth profiles of δ13c in bottom water and core top c wuellerstorfi on the ontong java plateau and emperor seamounts we have measured the carbon isotopic composition of dissolved inorganic carbon in bottom waters of the ontong java plateau western equatorial pacific and on the northern emperor seamounts northwest pacific each of these locations is several hundred miles from the nearest geochemical ocean sections study geosecs stations and the observed 13c values at each site differ substantially from regionally averaged geosecs 13c profiles we discuss the possible causes of these differences including horizontal variability near bottom effects and problems with the pacific geosecs 13c data we also measured the isotopic composition c and o of core top c wuellerstorfi from a depth transect of cores at each location the 18o data are used to verify that our samples are holocene comparison of foraminiferal and bottom water 13c values shows that this species faithfully records bottom water 13c at both sites and demonstrates that there is no depth related artifact in the dissolved inorganic carbon c wuellerstorfi 13c relationship at these sites

seasonal phytodetritus deposition and responses of bathyal benthic foraminiferal populations in sagami bay japan preliminary results from project sagami 1996 1999 the seasonal carbon cycle was studied in the bathyal environment of sagami bay japan to determine whether benthic pelagic coupling takes place in this eutrophic marginal oceanic setting both japanese sea color observation satellite adeos photography and sediment trap moorings have been used since 1996 for monitoring sea surface primary production video records at a real time deep sea floor observatory off hatsushima island in sagami bay were also used to monitor the deposition of phytodetritus on the sea floor at this location a spring bloom starts in mid february and ends in mid april about 2 weeks after the start of the spring bloom phytodetrital material is deposited on the sea floor video records clearly show that phytodetritus deposition has taken place in the spring of every year since 1994 even though the exact timing is different from year to year the population size of benthic foraminifera is highly correlated to this phytodetritus deposition the phytodetritus triggers rapid opportunistic reproduction of the shallow infaunal taxa bolivina pacifica stainforthia apertura and textularia kattegatensis shallow infaunal species mainly occur in the phytodetrital layer or just below this layer during the spring this indicates that such opportunistic species are key indicators of phytodetrital deposition the deep infaunal taxa globobulimina affinis and chilostomella ovoidea show less pronounced seasonal fluctuations in population size but nevertheless exhibit some response to phytodetrital deposition thus the seasonal flux of organic matter is the most important determinant of population size microhabitats and reproduction of benthic foraminifera in sagami bay

deepwater source variations during the last climatic cycle and their impact on the global deepwater circulation the degree of similarity of the 13c records of the planktonic foraminiferal species n pachyderma and of the benthic foraminiferal genus cibicides in the high latitude basins of the world ocean is used as an indicator of the presence of deepwater sources during the last climatic cycle whereas continuous formation of deep water is recognized in the southern ocean the norwegian sea stopped acting as a sink for surface water during isotope stage 4 and the remainder of the last glaciation however deep water formed in the north atlantic south of the norwegian sea during the last climatic cycle as early as isotope substage 5d and this area was also the only active northern source during stages 4 2 a detailed reconstruction of the geographic distribution of 13c in benthic foraminifera in the atlantic ocean during the last glacial maximum shows that the most important deepwater mass originated from the southern ocean whereas the glacial north atlantic deep water cannot be traced south of 40 n at shallower depth an oxygenated 13c rich intermediate water mass extended from 45 n to 15 s in the pacific ocean a ventilation higher than the modern one was also found in open ocean in the depth range 700 2600 m and is best explained by stronger formation of intermediate water in high northern latitudes

living stained benthic foraminifera within surficial sediments of the skagerrak abstract an analysis of living stained benthic foraminifera within four box cores raised from water depths of 74 to 621 m in the skagerrak shows that faunal patterns at different water depths are strikingly different within this relatively shallow organicrich marginal sea environment although some genera show vertical stratification within the sediments a number of taxa are found over wide intervals or have different patterns between cores the vertical distributional data are compared with deep sea data from the eastern margin of north america benthic foraminifera from a deep core at 530 m in the skagerrak have similar faunal patterns within the surficial sediments as found in the deep sea but shallow cores at 74 and 212 m have more complex patterns this difference between shallow and deep cores within the skagerrak and the north atlantic is attributed to higher biological activity in the shallow environments which creates a greater amount of heterogeneity within the shallow water sediments than is found in deeper environments the faunal data suggest that the use of benthic foraminifera for paleoenvironmental reconstructions in shallow organicrich regions will be complicated in future studies the ecology of individual species is difficult to assess because of the complex faunal patterns observed within the surficial sediments geochemical studies for estimating bottom water oxygen or organic carbon flux will also be difficult since these studies assume that taxa occupy particular microhabitats within the surficial sediments

the influence of microhabitats on the carbon isotopic composition of deep sea benthic foraminifera we report 13c and 18o values for rose bengal stained benthic foraminifera from a set of box cores from continental margin environments in the atlantic and pacific oceans these isotopic results are compared with foraminiferal distribution data and pore water 13c profiles to evaluate the importance of environmental microhabitat effects on the carbon isotopic composition of benthic foraminifera the 13c values of infaunal taxa are consistently lower than those of epifaunal taxa suggesting that microhabitat effects on test composition do exist the 13c differences between foraminiferal carbonate and bottom water dissolved inorganic carbon are not correlated with the 18o differences between benthic foraminifera tests and equilibrium calcite but they do correlate with variations in the chemistry of sediment pore waters however interspecific 18o differences as well as 13c differences between species with similar vertical distributions in the sediments indicate that taxon specific vital effects also influence test composition

13c record of benthic foraminifera in the last interglacial ocean implications for the carbon cycle and the global deep water circulation the 13c 12c ratios of upper holocene benthic foraminiferal tests genera cibicides and uvigerina of deep sea cores from the various world ocean basins have been compared with those of the modern total carbon dioxide tco2 measured during the geosecs program the 13c difference between benthic foraminifera and tco2 is 0 07 0 04 for cibicides and 0 83 0 07 for uvigerina at the 95 confidence level 13c analyses of the benthic foraminifera that lived during the last interglaciation isotopic substage 5e about 120 000 yr ago show that the bulk of the tco2 in the world ocean had a 13c value 0 15 0 12 lower than the modern one at the 95 confidence level reflecting a depletion compared to the present value of the global organic carbon reservoir regional differences in 13c between the various oceanic basins are explained by a pattern of deep water circulation different from the modern one the antarctic bottom water production was higher than today during the last interglaciation but the eastward transport in the circumpolar deep water was lower

global variations of surface ocean productivity in low and mid latitudes influence on co2 reservoirs of the deep ocean and atmosphere during the last 21 000 years based on detailed reconstructions of global distribution patterns both paleoproductivity and the benthic 13c record of co2 which is dissolved in the deep ocean strongly differed between the last glacial maximum and the holocene with the onset of termination i about 15 000 years ago the new export production of low and mid latitude upwelling cells started to decline by more than 2 4 gt carbon year this reduction is regarded as a main factor leading to both the simultaneous rise in atmospheric co2 as recorded in ice cores and with a slight delay of more than 1000 years to a large scale gradual co2 depletion of the deep ocean by about 650 gt c this estimate is based on an average increase in benthic 13c by 0 4 0 5 the decrease in new production also matches a clear 13c depletion of organic matter possibly recording an end of extreme nutrient utilization in upwelling cells as shown by sarnthein et al 1987 the productivity reversal appears to be triggered by a rapid reduction in the strength of meridional trades which in turn was linked via a shrinking extent of sea ice to a massive increase in high latitude insolation i e to orbital forcing as primary cause

early jurassic pliensbachian brachiopod biogeography in the western tethys the euro boreal and mediterranean faunal provinces revised abstract the pliensbachian brachiopod biogeography of the western tethyan region and the euro boreal vs mediterranean faunal provinciality is evaluated the data base was developed from improved and mostly revised taxonomical data of 25 pliensbachian brachiopod localities selected from europe and north africa the revised list and presence absence data of 405 pliensbachian brachiopod species formed the taxonomic units of the numerical analysis based on similarity coefficients cluster analysis hca carried out from the jaccard and raup crick coefficient data showed clear dichotomy between the euro boreal and mediterranean brachiopod biochores principal coordinates pco technique and non metric multi dimensional scaling nmds complemented with the minimal spanning trees resulted in similar grouping of the pliensbachian brachiopod faunas in de trended correspondence analysis dca besides the clearly separated euro boreal and intra mediterranean units the peri mediterranean assemblage formed a discrete scatter between the two major biochores the three algerian faunas ouar trar ksou appear in a somewhat marginal position within the euro boreal province the above pliensbachian brachiopod biochores reveal very high degree of endemicity probably related to the limited dispersal potential of brachiopods from the complete data set distinctive euro boreal and mediterranean species ten from both provinces were selected ribbed spiriferinid morphotypes are frequent among the distinctive euro boreal species whereas besides smooth spiriferinids some rhynchonellid and terebratulid morphotypes with expanded anterior margins are common among the distinctive mediterranean species in the early jurassic tethyan palaeogeography the marked dichotomy between the euro boreal and mediterranean provinces is interpreted in terms of deep sea oceanic barriers which isolated the intra tethyan microcontinent from the european and african shelf regions geographical position and local environmental factors caused the differentiation of the peri mediterranean subprovince along the north western margin of the microcontinent this palaeobiogeographical unit formed an interface between the intra mediterranean and the euro boreal biochores

temporal variability in living deep sea benthic foraminifera a review the deep ocean environment is disturbed by various processes many of which involve episodic inputs of organic matter some inputs e g phytodetritus at mid high latitudes in the north atlantic and northeast pacific are seasonally pulsed others e g falls of whale carcasses are irregular and unpredictable but together they evoke a variety of responses from the benthic biota in the case of deep sea foraminifera only those responses arising from seasonal food pulses have been fairly well documented the population dynamics of deep sea benthic foraminifera total live populations and individual species appear to be controlled largely by two inversely related parameters the flux of organic matter to the seafloor and concentrations of oxygen in the sediment porewater organic matter food inputs are most intense along bathyal continental margins and their oxidation often leads to the depletion of oxygen in surface sediments under these conditions foraminiferal faunas are dominated by low oxygen tolerant infaunal species the abundance of which fluctuate in response to seasonally varying amounts of food and oxygen at some sites e g sagami bay off japan species migrate up and down in the sediments tracking critical oxygen concentrations where oxygen concentrations are consistently low less than about 0 5 ml l 1 as in parts of the california borderland foraminifera may undergo population increases solely in response to food pulses in the abyssal north atlantic and in some continental margin areas of this ocean organic matter inputs are weaker and do not lead to oxygen depletion within surface sediments these systems are food limited and seasonal population fluctuations reflect the availability of food phytodetritus rather than oxygen here the species which respond to phytodetritus are mainly epifaunal or shallow infaunal opportunists which represent a small proportion of highly diverse communities 2 or 3 out of 120 species per core of 25 5 cm2 surface area seasonal phytodetrital pulses to the deep seafloor and hence foraminiferal population dynamics are not entirely predictable being dependent on climatic and upper ocean processes they vary in intensity from year to year and occasionally e g at the porcupine abyssal plain pap in 1997 fail to materialise foraminiferal responses to irregular non seasonal organic matter inputs are poorly known however there is some evidence that whale falls turbidite deposits hydrothermal vents and seeps are exploited by species typical of organically enriched low oxygen environments rather than by a specialised fauna fossil foraminiferal assemblages from bathyal and abyssal environments may provide evidence for an increase or decrease in the seasonality of surface production as well as for longer term changes in palaeoproductivity however the accurate interpretation of this record depends on filling the many gaps which remain in our understanding of relations between benthic foraminiferal ecology and seasonal phenomena in the deep ocean

carbon and oxygen isotopic disequilibria of recent deep sea benthic foraminifera abstract the carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions of 149 samples of benthic foraminifera from deep sea core tops indicate that none of the nine species studied secrete calcium carbonate in isotopic equilibrium with ambient bottom water uvigerina pyrgo murrhina and oridorsalis tener are the closest to 18o equilibrium with average deviations about 0 4 while planulina wuellerstorfi and p murrhina are the closest to 13c equilibrium with average deviations about 1 p wuellerstorfi shows the most systematic relationship between 13c and bottom water apparent oxygen utilization the intraspecific variabilities in 18o and 13c suggest that estimates of bottom water paleotemperatures can be made to a precision of 0 7 c while estimates of past apparent oxygen utilization aou can be made to 35 mol kg based on intraspecific comparisons of the recent samples with fossils no temporal changes in the degree of either 18o or 13c disequilibrium have been detected for planulina wuellerstorfi uvigerina oridorsalis tener and globocassidulina subglobosa

geochronology and geochemistry of zircon from the northern western gneiss region insights into the caledonian tectonic history of western norway abstract the western gneiss region wgr of norway is divided by the more trondelag shear zone mtsz into a southern region that contains domains of caledonian ultrahigh pressure uhp metamorphic rocks 2 5 gpa and a northern area of similar caledonian aged rocks that record a maximum pressure reported thus far of 1 5 gpa although both regions contain similar lithologies primarily migmatitic quartzofeldspathic gneiss containing mafic lenses and structural relationship of basement rocks to infolded nappes this difference in maximum pressure implies a difference in tectonic history continental subduction south of the shear zone none to the north and raises questions about the role of the mtsz in the metamorphic history including exhumation of the wgr previous geochronology results indicated a difference in timing of peak metamorphism older in north younger in south in order to better understand the tectonic history of the northern wgr and the mtsz and in particular the late to post caledonian tectonic history u pb zircon geochronology and trace element abundances were obtained using the split stream laser ablation icpms technique from metabasaltic lenses and migmatitic quartzofeldspathic host rocks from the structurally lowest exposed region of the northern wgr roan peninsula basement as well as leucosomes from an intercalated portion of the seve nappe complex and a pegmatite in the mtsz zircon from roan gneiss and metabasite yield metamorphic ages of ca 410 406 ma and zircon from a variety of migmatite samples foliation parallel leucosome to dikes indicate melt crystallization at ca 410 to 405 ma the seve nappe leucosomes yield only early caledonian dates that cluster at ca 437 ma and ca 465 ma suggesting that the allochthons in this region did not experience or record the same scandian tectonic history as the basement rocks zircon from a weakly deformed pegmatite dike within the mtsz crystallized at ca 404 ma indicating that this shear zone was active during the end stages of high grade metamorphism in both the southern and northern wgr domains results of this study show that the northern and southern wgr experienced a coeval scandian metamorphic magmatic and deformation history despite a possible difference in maximum p t conditions

isotope paleontology growth and composition of extant calcareous species abstract isotope paleontology uses the isotopic composition of fossil remains of organisms to make inferences about the physical surroundings of growth of the organisms especially temperature and to obtain clues about life history and modes of growth in calcareous fossils oxygen isotopes are mainly used in the former and carbon isotopes in the latter however since physical surroundings and organism response are intimately associated both types of information are contained in each of the isotopic signals to explore the potential of isotope paleontology and to provide a basis for reconstruction a broad range of extant organisms has been studied taking the pioneering work of epstein and associates as a starting point results are summarized for a representative sampling of these studies with emphasis on work at the laboratories of the authors from the mid seventies to the present the organisms considered are nannoplankton benthic algae planktonic and benthic deep sea foraminifera larger foraminifera sponges corals bryozoans polychaetes arthropods bivalves gastropods cephalopods and vertebrates fish otoliths the survey broadly suggests that regarding oxygen isotopes materials tend to be precipitated close to equilibrium with the surrounding seawater as postulated by urey and that for carbon isotopes disequilibrium is the rule life spans growth rates differential seasonal growth and age of reproductive activity can be extracted under favorable circumstances from individual shells and skeletal parts in detail the interpretation of isotope records of individual shells is quite complicated and simple models will fail to give satisfactory results in many or most cases

stable isotope composition of late cretaceous benthic foraminifera from the southern south atlantic biological and environmental effects abstract the stable carbon and oxygen isotope composition of different benthic foraminiferal species of the latest campanian and earliest maastrichtian from ocean drilling project hole 690c weddell sea southern south atlantic 1800 m paleowater depth have been investigated the total range of measured isotope values of all samples exceeds 4 for 13c and 1 1 for 18o carbon isotope values of proposed deep infaunal species are generally similar or only slightly lower when compared to proposed epifaunal to shallow infaunal species interspecific differences vary between samples probably reflecting temporal changes in organic carbon fluxes to the sea floor constantly lower 13c values for pullenia marssoni and pullenia reussi suggest the deepest habitat for these species the strong depletion of 13c values by up to 3 within lenticulinids may be attributed to a deep infaunal microhabitat strong vital effects or different feeding strategy when compared to other species or modern lenticulinids the mean 18o values reveal a strong separation of epifaunal to shallow infaunal and deep infaunal species epifaunal to shallow infaunal species are characterized by low 18o values deep infaunal species by higher values this result possibly reflects lower metabolic rates and longer life cycles of deep infaunal species or the operating of a pore water co32 effect on the benthic foraminiferal stable isotopes pyramidina szajnochae shows an enrichment of oxygen isotopes with test size comprising a total of 0 6 between 250 and 1250 m shell size although 13c lacks a corresponding trend these data likely represent the presence of changes in metabolic rates during ontogenesis these results demonstrate the general applicability of multi species stable isotope measurements of pristine cretaceous benthic foraminifera to reconstruct past microhabitats and to evaluate biological and environmental effects on the stable isotope composition

ontogenetic effects on stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in tests of live rose bengal stained benthic foraminifera from the pakistan continental margin abstract we determined the stable oxygen and carbon isotopic composition of live rose bengal stained tests belonging to different size classes of two benthic foraminiferal species from the pakistan continental margin samples were taken at two sites with water depths of about 135 and 275 m corresponding to the upper boundary and upper part of the core region of the oxygen minimum zone omz for uvigerina ex gr uvigerina semiornata and bolivina aff bolivina dilatata 13c and 18o values increased significantly with increasing test size in the case of uvigerina ex gr u semiornata 13c increased linearly by about 0 105 for each 100 m increment in test size whereas 18o increased by 0 02 to 0 06 per 100 m increment for bolivina aff b dilatata the relationship between test size and stable isotopic composition is better described by logarithmic equations a strong positive linear correlation is observed between 18o and 13c values of both taxa with a constant ratio of 18o and 13c values close to 2 1 this suggests that the strong ontogenetic effect is mainly caused by kinetic isotope fractionation during co2 uptake our data underline the necessity to base longer 18o and 13c isotope records derived from benthic foraminifera on size windows of 100 m or less this is already common practice in down core isotopic studies of planktonic foraminifera

carbon and oxygen isotope geochemistry of live stained benthic foraminifera from the aleutian margin and the southern australian margin article comparisons of ambient bottom water geochemistry and stable isotopic values of the tests of living stained calcareous benthic foraminifera from the north pacific on the aleutian margin water depth 1988 m and murray canyons group in the southern indian ocean australian margin water depths 2476 m and 1634 m provide modern environmental analogs to calibrate paleoenvironmental assessments consistent with the hypothesis that microhabitat preferences influence foraminiferal isotopic values benthic foraminifera from both margins were depleted in 13 c with respect to bottom water dissolved inorganic carbon dic the carbon isotope values of deep infaunal foraminifera chilostomella oolina globobulimina pacifica showed greater differences from estimates of those of dic than shallow benthic foraminifera bulimina mexicana bolivinita quadrilatera pullenia bulloides this study provides new isotopic and ecological information for b quadrilatera the mean 13 c value defined as foraminiferal 13 c values minus estimated ambient 13 c values from the aleutian margin is 0 97 higher for g pacifica than the mean from the murray canyon this difference may result either from genetic or biological differences between the populations or from differences in environmental isotopic influences such as pore water differences that were not accounted for in the equilibrium calculations these analyses provide calibration information for the evaluation of bottom water conditions and circulation patterns of ancient oceans based on fossil foraminiferal geochemistry

changes in the distribution of δ13c of deep water σco2 between the last glaciation and the holocene carbon isotopic measurements on the benthic foraminiferal genus cibicidoides document that mean deep ocean 13c values were 0 46 lower during the last glacial maximum than during the late holocene the geographic distribution of 13c was altered by changes in the production rate of nutrient depleted deep water in the north atlantic during the late holocene north atlantic deep water with high 13c values and low nutrient values can be found throughout the atlantic ocean and its effects can be traced into the southern ocean where it mixes with recirculated pacific deep water during the glaciation decreased production of north atlantic deep water allowed southern ocean deep water to penetrate farther into the north atlantic and across low latitude fracture zones into the eastern atlantic mean southern ocean 13c values during the glaciation are lower than both north atlantic and pacific 13c values suggesting that production of nutrient depleted water occurred in both oceans during the glaciation enriched 13c values in shallow cores within the atlantic ocean indicate the existence of a nutrient depleted water mass above 2000 m in this ocean

seasonal changes in bathyal foraminiferal populations in response to the flux of organic matter sagami bay japan benthic foraminiferal populations through 1991 94 were investigated by taking cores and in situ observations from the submersible shinkai 2000 in sagami bay japan 1450 m water depth at this location a strong spring bloom causes seasonal deposition of phytodetrital material to the sea floor the population size of benthic foraminifera is mainly controlled by this seasonal flux of organic matter which triggers rapid opportunistic reproduction of the shallow infaunal taxa bolivia pacifica and textularia kattegatensis we propose that these species have a one year life cycle the deep infaunal taxa globobulimina affinis and chilostomella ovoidea show less pronounced seasonal fluctuations in population size and seem to have a life cycle longer than two years the foraminifera migrate vertically through the sediment down to the maximum depth to which the sediment is oxygenated the seasonal flux of organic matter thus is the most important determinant of population size microhabitats and reproduction in sagami bay such foraminifera are extremely relevant in the functioning of the global carbon cycle especially at the interface of the hydrosphere and lithosphere

core top evaluation of benthic foraminiferal isotopic ratios for paleo oceanographic interpretations abstract the benthic foraminifera cibicides wuellerstrofi oridforsalis tener and pyrgo rotalaria from twelve core tops in the norwegian greenland sea and c wuellerstorfi o tener and o umbonatus from four core tops on the rio grande rise were analysed for oxygen and carbon isotopes the norwegian greenland sea data yield statistically discrete means for both 18o and 13c for each species the interregional comparison of our data to published data from the east pacific rise shows that c wuellerstorfi 18o and 13c variations reflect oceanographic differences between sites whereas the data on oridorsalis and pyrgo do not we conclude that c wuellerstorfi is a reliable sensor of bottom water conditions whereas other taxa are of unproven utility supportive biological studies and the lack of positive covariance of 18o to 13c among deep sea benthic taxa lead us to reject models calling for incorporation of metabolic co2 to explain the isotopic variation among deep sea benthic foraminifera we propose a within sediment microhabitat hypothesis to explain the 13c variations among taxa

a time series study of the carbon isotopic composition of deep sea benthic foraminifera 1 variation of the 13c of living rose bengal stained deep sea benthic foraminifera is documented from two deep water sites 2430 and 3010 m from a northwest atlantic ocean study area 275 km south of nantucket island the carbon isotopic data of hoeglundina elegans and uvigerina peregrina from five sets of multicorer and soutar box core samples taken over a 10 month interval march may july and october 1996 and january 1997 are compared with an 11 5 month time series of organic carbon flux to assess the effect of organic carbon flux on the carbon isotopic composition of dominant taxa carbon isotopic data of hoeglundina elegans at 3010 m show 0 3 lower mean values following an organic carbon flux maximum resulting from a spring phytoplankton bloom this 13c change following the spring bloom is suggested to be due to the presence of a phytodetritus layer on the seafloor and the subsequent depletion of 13c in the pore waters within the phytodetritus and overlying the sediment surface carbon isotopic data of h elegans from the 2430 m site show an opposite pattern to that found at 3010 m with a 13c enrichment following the spring bloom this different pattern may be due to spatial variation in phytodetritus deposition and resuspension or to a limited number of specimens recovered from the march 1996 cruise the 13c of uvigerina peregrina at 2430 m shows variation over the 10 month interval but an analysis of variance shows that the variability is more consistent with core and subcore variability than with seasonal changes the isotopic analyses are grouped into 100 m size classes on the basis of length measurements of individual specimens to evaluate 13c ontogenetic changes of each species the data show no consistent patterns between size classes in the 13c of either h elegans or u peregrina these results suggest that variation in organic carbon flux does not preferentially affect particular size classes nor do 13c ontogenetic changes exist within the 250 to 750 m size range for these species at this locality on the basis of the lack of ontogenetic changes a range of sizes of specimens from a sample can be used to reconstruct 13c in paleoceanographic studies the prediction standard deviation which is composed of cruise core subcore and residual replicate variability provides an estimate of the magnitude of variability in fossil 13c data it is 0 27 for h elegans at 3010 m and 0 4 for u peregrina at the 2430 m site since these standard deviations are based on living specimens they should be regarded as minimum estimates of variability for fossil data based on single specimen analyses most paleoceanographic reconstructions are based on the analysis of multiple specimens and as a result the standard error would be expected to be reduced for any particular sample the reduced standard error resulting from the analysis of multiple specimens would result in the seasonal and spatial variability observed in this study having little impact on carbon isotopic records

the δ13c in benthic foraminiferal tests of fontbotia wuellerstorfi schwager relative to the δ13c of dissolved inorganic carbon in southern ocean deep water implications for glacial ocean circulation models on a transect between 20 and 70 s in the eastern atlantic ocean and weddell sea water samples from 19 hydrographic stations and bottom water from 55 surface sediment samples taken with a multiple corer were investigated for the stable carbon isotopic composition of the total dissolved inorganic carbon 13c co2 these measurements were compared to 13c values determined on live specimens of the benthic foraminifer fontbotia wuellerstorfi and closely related genera from the same stations in addition at 16 stations the stable carbon isotope composition of sedimentary organic carbon was measured general deepwater and bottom water mass circulation patterns as inferred from the 13c co2 are in close agreement with those known from other nonconservative tracers very low 13c values of upper circumpolar deep water 0 3 pee dee belemnite pdb in the polar front region and the eastern limb of the weddell gyre coincide with nutrient maxima however a significant decoupling of the dissolved phosphate signal from the 13c co2 signal is indicated in the abyssal weddell sea we attribute this to temperature dependent fractionation processes during gas exchange of surface waters with the atmosphere at sites of bottom water formation multiple corer water from the sediment water interface is slightly 13c depleted relative to deepwater and bottom water 13 co2 the surface sediment organic carbon 13c is 3 to 4 lower south of the polar front than north of it and the 13corg in freshly accumulated phytodetritus is 3 to 4 lower than surface sediment organic carbon 13c comparison of live f wuellerstorfi 13c and related genera with bottom water 13c co2 exhibits at most stations between the subtropical front 41 s and the southern boundary of the antarctic circumpolar current 55 s a significant lowering of foraminiferal 13c values compilation of a mean last glacial interglacial 13c amplitude 13c from six published southern ocean cores results in a shift of 0 99 0 13 pdb this shift is greater than that in all other regions however all of these cores are from positions close to recent oceanic fronts thus for these peripheral areas of the southern ocean we suggest about half of the glacial interglacial shift can be explained by varying frontal zone positions and widths accompanied by a change in mode and height of export production