Upper Cenozoic dinoflagellate cysts from the continental slope and rise off New Jersey

This report contains the occurrence data for dinoflagellate cysts recorded from 163 samples taken from Sites 902 through 906, during Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 150. The dinoflagellate cyst (dinocyst) stratigraphy has been presented in Mountain, Miller, Blum, et al. (1994, doi:10.2973/odp.proc.ir.150.1994), and was based on these data. This report provides the full dinocyst data set supporting the dinocyst stratigraphic interpretations made in Mountain, Miller, Blum, et al. (1994). For Miocene shipboard dinocyst stratigraphy, I delineated 10 informal zones: pre-A, and A through I, in ascending stratigraphic order. These zones are defined in Shipboard Scientific Party (1994a, doi:10.2973/odp.proc.ir.150.103.1994), and are based on my studies of Miocene dinocyst stratigraphy in the Maryland and Virginia coastal plain (de Verteuil and Norris, 1991, 1992; de Verteuil, 1995). This zonation has been slightly revised (de Verteuil and Norris, 1996), and the new formal zone definitions are repeated below. Each new zone has an alpha-numeric abbreviation starting with "DN" (for Dinoflagellate Neogene). The equivalence between the informal zones reported in Mountain, Miller, Blum, et al. (1994), and the new DN zones is illustrated in Figure 1. For clarity, I delineated both zonations in the range charts that accompany this report (Tables 1-6). De Verteuil and Norris (1996a), using these and other data, correlated the DN zonation with the geological time scale of Berggren et al. (1995). Figure 2 summarizes these correlations and can be used to check the chronostratigraphic position of samples in this report, as determined by dinocyst stratigraphy. A thorough discussion of the basis for, and levels of uncertainty associated with, these correlations to the Cenozoic time scale can be found in de Verteuil and Norris (1996a). The Appendix lists all the dinocyst taxa recorded during shipboard analyses of Leg 150 samples. Open nomenclature is used for undescribed taxa. The range charts and Appendix also include reference to several new taxa that de Verteuil and Norris (1996b) described from Miocene coastal plain strata in Maryland and Virginia. Names of these taxa in Tables 1 through 6 and in the Appendix of this report are not intended for effective publication as defined in the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN, Greuter et al., 1994). Therefore, taxonomic nomenclature contained in this report is not to be treated as meeting the conditions of effective and valid publication (ICBN; Article 29).

Dissolved organic carbon measured on water bottle samples at time series station DYFAMED

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) distribution and dynamics are investigated at the DYFAMED site (central Ligurian Sea, NW Mediterranean) in relation to hydrological and biological contexts, using a 4-year time-series dataset (1991-1994). The DYFAMED site is regarded as a one-dimensional station where simple hydrological mechanisms prevail and where the ecosystem is quite well understood. An average vertical profile of DOC concentration ([DOC]) indicates that maximal concentrations and variability are concentrated in the surface layers. For depths >800 m, the annual variations are on average similar to the analytical standard deviation (~2 µM). The "composite" [DOC] distribution (average distribution over a typical year, integrating about 40 monthly profiles) for surface waters (0-200 m) is closely related to hydrological and phytoplanktonic forcings. It exhibits summer DOC accumulation in surface waters, due to spring-summer stratification and successive phytoplanktonic events such as spring and summer blooms, and winter DOC removal to deeper waters, due to intense vertical mixing. The analysis of vertical [DOC] gradient at 100-m depth as a function of the integrated DOC content in the 0-100-m layer makes it possible to objectively distinguish three specific periods: the winter vertical mixing period, the period of stratification and spring phytoplankton bloom, and the period of stratification re-inforcement and summer-fall phytoplankton bloom. We recalculate the vertical DOC fluxes to deep waters using a larger original dataset, after the first direct calculation (Deep-Sea Res. 40 (10) (1993) 1963, 1972) that was reproduced for other oceanic areas. The seasonal variations of the "composite" [DOC] distribution in surface waters are significantly correlated to the apparent oxygen utilization distribution, but the biogeochemical significance of such a correlation is still under examination. The global significance of our local findings is presented and the role of the oceanic DOC in the global carbon cycle is emphasized, especially with respect to several current issues, such as the oceanic "missing sink" and the equivalence between new production and exported production.

Benthic foraminiferal genera in DSDP Hole 95-612

On the basis of lithologic, foraminiferal, seismostratigraphic, and downhole logging characteristics, we identified seven distinctive erosional unconformities at the contacts of the principal depositional sequences at Site 612 on the New Jersey Continental Slope (water depth 1404 m). These unconformities are present at the Campanian/Maestrichtian, lower Eocene/middle Eocene, middle Eocene/upper Eocene, upper Eocene/lower Oligocene, lower Oligocene/upper Miocene, Tortonian/Messinian, and upper Pliocene/upper Pleistocene contacts. The presence of coarse sand or redeposited intraclasts above six of the unconformities suggests downslope transport from the adjacent shelf by means of sediment gravity flows, which contributed in part to the erosion. Changes in the benthic foraminiferal assemblages across all but the Campanian/Maestrichtian contact indicate that significant changes in the seafloor environment, such as temperature and dissolved oxygen content, took place during the hiatuses. Comparison with modern analogous assemblages and application of a paleoslope model where possible, indicate that deposition took place in bathyal depths throughout the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic at Site 612. An analysis of two-dimensional geometry and seismic fades changes of depositional sequences along U.S.G.S. multichannel seismic Line 25 suggests that Site 612 was an outer continental shelf location from the Campanian until the middle Eocene, when the shelf edge retreated 130 km landward, and Site 612 became a continental slope site. Following this, a prograding prism of terrigenous debris moved the shelf edge to near its present position by the end of the Miocene. Each unconformity identified can be traced widely on seismic reflection profiles and most have been identified from wells and outcrops on the coastal plain and other offshore basins of the U.S. Atlantic margin. Furthermore, their stratigraphic positions and equivalence to similar unconformities on the Goban Spur, in West Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and the Western Interior of the U.S. suggest that most contacts are correlative with the global unconformities and sea-level falls of the Vail depositional model.

One size fits all: stability of metabolic scaling under warming and ocean acidification in echinoderms

Responses by marine species to ocean acidification (OA) have recently been shown to be modulated by external factors including temperature, food supply and salinity. However the role of a fundamental biological parameter relevant to all organisms, that of body size, in governing responses to multiple stressors has been almost entirely overlooked. Recent consensus suggests allometric scaling of metabolism with body size differs between species, the commonly cited 'universal' mass scaling exponent (b) of ¾ representing an average of exponents that naturally vary. One model, the Metabolic-Level Boundaries hypothesis, provides a testable prediction: that b will decrease within species under increasing temperature. However, no previous studies have examined how metabolic scaling may be directly affected by OA. We acclimated a wide body-mass range of three common NE Atlantic echinoderms (the sea star Asterias rubens, the brittlestars Ophiothrix fragilis and Amphiura filiformis) to two levels of pCO2 and three temperatures, and metabolic rates were determined using closed-chamber respirometry. The results show that contrary to some models these echinoderm species possess a notable degree of stability in metabolic scaling under different abiotic conditions; the mass scaling exponent (b) varied in value between species, but not within species under different conditions. Additionally, we found no effect of OA on metabolic rates in any species. These data suggest responses to abiotic stressors are not modulated by body size in these species, as reflected in the stability of the metabolic scaling relationship. Such equivalence in response across ontogenetic size ranges has important implications for the stability of ecological food webs.