Planktonic foraminiferal abundances and stable isotope ratios in middle Miocene sediments of the North Atlantic and the southwestern Pacific

A three-fold expansion of the Antarctic ice sheet at 13.60, 12.82, and 11.60 Ma has been inferred from delta18O maxima analyzed in planktonic and benthic foraminiferal tests, although accompanying changes in sea surface temperature have not been detailed. We present estimated changes in middle Miocene surface-water temperatures based on analysis of delta18O in planktonic foraminifera collected at mid-latitude Deep Sea Drilling Project sites in the North Atlantic and South Pacific oceans. We also identify periods of ice-sheet growth based on comparisons of benthic and planktonic foraminiferal delta18O values. Our results indicate: (1) a distinct cooling of the sea surface from 13.6 to 13.5 Ma immediately following a peak in ice volume at 13.6 Ma, (2) a cooling of the sea surface during a period of increasing ice volume from 13.2 to 13.0 Ma, and (3) a development of the Antarctic ice sheet during a period of cooling of the sea surface centered at 11.6 Ma.

Absolute abundances of benthic foraminifers and stable isotopes from the Alvin dives 3709-3712

The presence of gas hydrates on the Blake Ridge diapir, northeastern Atlantic Ocean, offers an opportunity to study the impact of methane seepage on the ecology and geochemistry of benthic foraminifera in the late Holocene. Three push cores, covering a time span of ~ 1000 yrs, were retrieved from three distinct microhabitats at the top of the diapir at a water depth of ~ 2150 m: (i) sediments away from seepage (control core), (ii) sediments overlain by clusters of methanotrophic and thiotrophic bivalves, and (iii) chemoautotrophic microbial mats. The foraminiferal assemblages at the two seep sites are marked by a reduction in benthic foraminiferal species diversity, coupled with a near-absence of agglutinated species. However, an opportunistic population rise in CH4- or H2S-tolerant calcareous species (e.g., Globocassidulina subglobosa and Cassidulina laevigata) that utilize the abundant trophic resources at the seeps has led to an increase in the overall assemblage density there. The delta18O and delta13C values of three species of benthic foraminifera - Gyroidinoides laevigatus, Globocassidulina subglobosa, and Uvigerina peregrina - and the planktonic species Globorotalia menardii were acquired from all three cores. The benthic species from methane seeps yield delta13C values of 0.1 to - 4.2 (per mil VPDB), that are distinctly more 13C-depleted relative to the delta13C of 0.4 to - 1.0 (per mil VPDB) at the control (off seep) site. The species from a mussel-bed site exhibit more negative delta13C values than those from microbial mats, possibly reflecting different food sources and higher rate of anaerobic oxidation of methane. The positive delta13C values in the paired planktonic species suggest that authigenic carbonate precipitation did not overprint the observed 13C depletions. Hence the probable cause of negative delta13C of benthic foraminifera is primary calcification from Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC) containing mixed carbon fractions from (a) highly 13C-depleted, microbially-oxidized methane and (b) a seawater source.

Biological Atlas of the Arctic Seas 2000: Physical oceanography, hydrochemistry, meteorology, and plankton of the Barents and Kara Seas

Presented are physical and biological data for the region extending from the Barents Sea to the Kara Sea during 158 scientific cruises for the period 1913-1999. Maps with the temporal distribution of physical and biological variables of the Barents and Kara Seas are presented, with proposed quality control criteria for phytoplankton and zooplankton data. Changes in the plankton community structure between the 1930s, 1950s, and 1990s are discussed. Multiple tables of Arctic Seas phytoplankton and zooplankton species are presented, containing ecological and geographic characteristics for each species, and images of live cells for the dominant phytoplankton species.

Planktonic foraminiferal stratigraphy, datum levels and ages of ODP Sites 184-1146 and 184-1148, South China Sea

Over 30 first and last occurrence (FO and LO, respectively) planktonic foraminifer datums were recognized from the Oligocene-Miocene section of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1148. Most datum levels occur in similar order as, and are by correlation as probably synchronous with, their open-ocean records. Several datum levels represent local bioevents resulting from dissolution and Site 1148's unique paleoceanographic setting in the northern South China Sea. An age of 9.5-9.8 Ma is estimated for the local LO of Globoquadrina dehiscens (257 meters composite depth [mcd]), whereas the local LO of Globorotalia fohsi s.l. (301 mcd) is projected to be at ~13.0 Ma and the local FO of Globigerinatella insueta (367 mcd) is projected to be at ~18.0 Ma. The combined planktonic foraminifer and nannofossil results indicate that the Oligocene-Miocene section at Site 1148 is not complete. Unconformities up to 2-3 m.y. in duration, occurring at and before the Oligocene/Miocene boundary (OHS1, OHS2, OHS3, and OHS4 = MHS1), are associated with slump deposits between 457 and 495 mcd that signal tectonic instability during the transition from rifting to spreading in the South China Sea. Shorter unconformities of <0.5 m.y. duration that truncate the Miocene section were more likely to have been caused by sea-bottom erosion as well as dissolution. A total of 12 Miocene unconformities, MHS1 through MHS12, are mainly affected by dissolution and an elevated carbonate compensation depth (CCD) during Miocene third-order glaciations recorded in deep-sea positive oxygen isotope Mi glaciation events. Respectively, they fall at ~457 mcd (MHS1 = Mi-1), 407 mcd (MHS2 = Mi-1a), 385 mcd (MHS3 = Mi-1aa), 366 mcd (MHS4 = Mi-1b), 358 mcd (MHS5 = MLi-1), 333 mcd (MHS6 = Mi-2), 318 mcd (MHS7 = MSi-1), 308 mcd (MHS8 = Mi-3), 295 mcd (MHS9 = Mi-4), 288 mcd (MHS10 = Mi-5), 256 mcd (MHS11 = Mi-6), and 250 mcd (MHS12 = Mi-7). The correlation of these unconformities with Mi events indicates that some related driving mechanisms have been operating, causing deepwater circulation changes concomitantly in world oceans and in the marginal South China Sea.