Database of the GLAMAP project

A uniform chronology for foraminifera-based sea surface temperature records has been established in more than 120 sediment cores obtained from the equatorial and eastern Atlantic up to the Arctic Ocean. The chronostratigraphy of the last 30,000 years is mainly based on published d18O records and 14C ages from accelerator mass spectrometry, converted into calendar-year ages. The high-precision age control provides the database necessary for the uniform reconstruction of the climate interval of the Last Glacial Maximum within the GLAMAP-2000 project.

Fragmentation and dissolution of benthic foraminifera in Kiel Bight, Baltic Sea, Germany

Early diagenetic ultrastructural alterations of benthic foraminifers of the genera Elphidium and Ophthalmina from the shallow water sediments of the Kiel Bight were investigated by scanning electron microscopy. Pure solution patterns were deduced from supplementary experiments.//Several carbonate destroying processes can be specified by ultrastructural patterns of the shell surfaces. Based on these patterns three zones are established, each showing different mechanisms of shell fragmentation: 1) zone of abrasion, 2) zone of disintegration, 3) zone of corrosion. This zonation depends on the water depth and is caused primarily by water agitation and by under saturation of the bottom water with respect to carbonate.