Stable isotope record and distribution of foraminifera in sediment core GeoB3004-1

Fluctuations in the abundance of selected foraminiferal indicator species and diversity allowed the reconstruction of changes in deepwater oxygenation and monsoon-driven organic matter fluxes in the deep western Arabian Sea during the last 190 kyr. Times of maximum surface production coincide with periods of intensified SW monsoon as shown by the abundance of Globigerina bulloides and enhanced carbonate corrosion. Benthic ecosystem variability in the deep Arabian Sea is not exclusively driven by variations in monsoonal upwelling and related organic matter supply to the seafloor but also by changes in deepwater ventilation. Deepening of the base of the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) below 1800 m water depth is strongly coherent on the precessional band but lags proxies of SW monsoon strength by 4 to 6 kyr. The "out-of-phase" relationship between OMZ deepening and maximum SW monsoon strength is explained by temporal changes in the advection of oxygen-rich deepwater masses of North Atlantic and Antarctic origin. This process affected the remineralization and burial efficiency of organic matter in the deep Arabian Sea, resulting in the observed phase lag between maximum monsoon strength and organic carbon preservation.

Stable isotope ratios of foraminifera from the continental shelf off Troms, Northern Norway

A stable oxygen and carbon isotope stratigraphy is established for a Late Weichselian/Holocene glaciomarine/marine seguence in Andfjorden and Malangsdjupet on the continental shelf off Troms, Northern Norway. The stratigraphy demonstrates that the global signals, Termination I B and possibly also I A (upper parts), are present and radiocarbon date to 10.3-9.7 kyr B.P. and >14-13.5 kyr B.P., respectively. A temperature increase of 5°-6°C and possibly a small salinity increase occurred during Term. I. A near-glacial environment between 13 and 14 kyr B.P. was characterized by poorly ventilated bottom waters followed by a meltwater pulse at circa 13 kyr B.P. During the beginning intrusion of Atlantic Water between 13 and 10 kyr B.P., the bottom water was characterized by somewhat fluctuating temperatures and salinities. Temperatures close to those of the present were established around 9.7 kyr B.P. and seem to have been rather stable since.

Pliocene foraminifera and SST changes in ODP Site 184-1125

Planktonic foraminiferal census counts were converted to sea surface temperature (SST) estimates using the modern analogue technique (MAT) for the middle-late Pliocene (4.0-2.37 Ma) in ODP Site 1125, north side of Chatham Rise, SW Pacific Ocean. MAT SST(warm) records range between 8°C and 20.5°C, and MAT SST(cold) records parallel that pattern but with a temperature range of 5-15°C. The modern position of Site 1125 is just north of the Subtropical Front and has an annual temperature range of ~14-18°C. Pliocene warmest temperatures are 1-2° warmer than modern summers, whereas cold season SST records are up to 6-10°C cooler than modern winters. Overall average temperatures at the site are 2-3°C cooler than modern temperatures during a time of sustained global warmth. Three major cold excursions centred on 3.35, 3.0, and 2.8 Ma showed warm season temperatures over 5°C colder than the last glacial maximum, experiencing temperatures typical of modern subantarctic waters. Two minor cold excursions at 2.7 Ma and 2.4 Ma experienced temperatures cooler than modern winters but not as cold as last glacial conditions. Cold season SSTs show a shift to warmer climate upward through the study interval, whereas warm season estimates remain essentially unchanged. We interpret the strong regional cooling of subtropical Southwest Pacific water through the middle-late Pliocene as having been caused by increased upwelling. It is also possible that the subtropical frontal zone moved north over the site in the Pliocene, however, this is considered the least likely interpretation. Our record of cool conditions in the Southwest Pacific corroborate evidence of cooler than modern conditions in other regions of the western Pacific through the mid-Pliocene despite overall global warming.

Nd isotopes of ODP Sites 146-893 and 167-1017 samples

Changes in the source of intermediate waters to the southern California margin may have caused variations in seafloor oxygen levels on stadial-interstadial time scales. We test this hypothesis using the Nd isotopic composition of benthic foraminifera and fossil fish debris from ODP Sites 893 and 1017 to track the composition of intermediate waters across interstadials 8-14 (~37-52 ka) during Marine Isotope Stage 3. The epsilon-Nd values of waters bathing the seafloor at Site 893 were typically ~-9 and those bathing Site 1017 were ~-7, both of which are significantly less radiogenic than waters that had originated in either the North Pacific or Southern Ocean (by the time such waters reached the southern California margin). Detrital silicate epsilon-Nd values of nearly -12 suggest that this offset toward lower epsilon-Nd values was likely caused by boundary scavenging that partially overprinted the water mass composition with local/regional fluvial Nd inputs. In spite of the evidence for boundary scavenging, the lack of systematic seawater Nd isotope changes on a stadial-interstadial basis suggests that the provenance of the intermediate waters did not change, and that the waters were derived from the Southern Ocean. Instead, changes in local/regional sea surface productivity may have caused the recorded changes in seafloor oxygenation.

Neogene benthic foraminifera in the Southwest Pacific

Early Miocene to Quaternary benthic foraminifers have been quantitatively studied (>63 ?m size fraction) in a southwest Pacific traverse of DSDP sites at depths from about 1300 to 3200 m down the Lord Howe Rise (Site 590,1299 m; Site 591, 2131 m; Site 206, 3196 m). Benthic foraminiferal species smaller than 150 µm are by far dominant in the samples, averaging from 78 to 89% of the total benthic foraminiferal assemblages in the three sites examined. Although about 150 benthic foraminiferal species or taxonomic groups have been identified, only a few species dominate the assemblages. These dominant species include Epistominella exigua, E. rotunda, and Globocassidulina subglobosa, which prevail in the three sites, and Oridorsalis umbonatus, E. umbonifera, and Cassidulina carinata, which occur usually in frequencies of between 10 and 30%. Faunal changes in Neogene benthic foraminiferal assemblages are not similar in each of the three sites, but faunal successions are most similar between the two shallowest sites. The deepest site differs in composition and distribution of dominant species. There are three intervals during which the most important changes occur in benthic foraminiferal assemblages: the early middle Miocene (14 Ma; the Orbulina suturalis Zone and the Globorotalia fohsi s.l. Zone); the late Miocene (6 Ma; the Globigerina nepenthes Zone) and near the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary at about 2 Ma. A Q-mode factor analysis of the faunal data has assisted in recognizing assemblage changes during the Neogene at each of the sites. Early Miocene assemblages were dominated by Globocassidulina subglobosa at Site 590 (1299 m), by G. subglobosa and Oridorsalis umbonatus at Site 591 (2131 m), and by G. subglobosa, E. exigua, and Bolivina pusilla at Site 206 (3196 m). In the early middle Miocene at Sites 590 and 591, a marked increase occurred in the frequencies of E. exigua. Epistominella exigua reached maximum abundance in the early Miocene in the deeper Site 206, and in the middle and early late Miocene in the shallower Sites 590 and 591. In the late Miocene, a spike occurred in the frequencies of E. umbonifera in Site 206, whereas the dominant species changed from E. exigua to E. rotunda at Site 590. Latest Miocene to late Pliocene assemblages were dominated by E. rotunda at Site 590, by E. exigua at Site 591, and by G. subglobosa-E. exigua (early Pliocene) and E. rotunda-E. exigua (late Pliocene) at Site 206. At the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary, E. exigua temporarily diminished in importance at Sites 591 and 206. Quaternary assemblages were dominated by E. rotunda and Cassidulina carinata at Site 590, by E. rotunda at Site 591, and by E. exigua at Site 206. These major faunal changes are all associated with known major paleoceanographic events-the middle Miocene development of the Antarctic ice sheet; the latest Miocene global cooling and increased polar glaciation; and the onset of quasiperiodic glaciation of the Northern Hemisphere. These major paleoceanographic events undoubtedly had a profound effect on the intermediate and deep water mass structure of the Tasman Sea as recorded by changes in benthic foraminiferal assemblages.

Stable carbon and oxygen isotopes of foraminifera fand carbon content of ODP Leg 107 holes

High-resolution bio- and chemostratigraphy of an earliest Pliocene section from ODP Site 652 indicates that postflood paleoceanographic conditions in the Tyrrhenian Sea can be sub-divided into two discrete intervals. The first is manifested by an acme of Sphaeroidinellopsis spp., increasing carbonate contents, and a progressive decrease upsection in both the d13C and dl8O values of the planktonic foraminifera. The lower part of the acme interval contains unusual surface-to-bottom water isotope gradients suggesting a stratification of two water masses. Normal gradients in the upper part of the acme interval suggest a well-mixed water body. Between the end of the acme interval and the MP11/MP12 boundary, denoted by the first occurrence (F.O.) of Globorotalia margaritae, a migrational first appearance, there was a catastrophic collapse of the gradient marking an onset of the second post-flood interval. The disintegration of habitable conditions is suggested by a sharp decrease in carbonate content and the disappearance of the benthonic assemblage, which is subsequently replaced predominantly by Uvigerinapygmea, indicative of cold, low-oxygenated bottom waters. The introduction of benthonic species denoting well-oxygenated bottom conditions occurs within the lower MP12 zone. Superimposed on these overall trends are shorter term, warm-cold cycles, which are interpreted as orbitally induced, climatic fluctuations. Correlative studies of the less complete earliest Pliocene sections from ODP Holes 653B and 654A confirm these interpretations. A scenario derived from an integration of all the stratigraphic data indicates that normal paleoceanographic conditions were operating in the Tyrrhenian Sea only approximately 250,000 yr after the cessation of Messinian evaporative conditions at the Miocene/Pliocene boundary. The post-flood interval is marked by an initial period of gradual infilling, the Sphaeroidinellopsis spp. acme interval, followed by a disintegration of oceanographic conditions and a second recovery period. A sudden influx of cold, deep Atlantic waters into the Tyrrhenian Sea, resulting from a major tectonic break in the Gibraltar sill, may have caused this catastrophic reversal in the orderly recovery of normal paleoceanographic conditions in the post-flood period.

Oxygen and carbon isotopes of planktic foraminifera and ageprofile datum description at DSDP Hole 69-504

A detailed oxygen isotope record (resolution: about 2500 years) has been obtained for the Pleistocene sediments at Hole 504. Preliminary measurements made deeper in the section suggest that at least the upper Pliocene section is also amenable to detailed stable isotope work. The record for the middle Pleistocene resembles that obtained previously from piston cores in the western equatorial Pacific, although the superior resolution of this high-accumulation-rate site reveals a greater amplitude of isotope variation than previously observed. The record for the lower Pleistocene reveals variation that is both greater in amplitude and higher in frequency than apparent from previously analyzed piston cores. The site provides the best material recovered to date for the study of the evolution of climatic variability during the past few million years.

Isotopic composition and Strontium/Calcium ratios of foraminifera of ODP Holes 113-689B and 113-690C

Oxygen and carbon isotopic ratios were measured from Maestrichtian benthic and planktonic foraminifer species and bulk carbonate samples from ODP Sites 689 and 690, drilled on the Maud Rise during Leg 113. Careful scanning electron microscope observations reveal that test calcite in some intervals was diagenetically altered, although Sr/Ca and isotopic ratios of these tests do not appear to have been modified significantly. Foraminifer d18O values at both sites document a cooling trend during early Maestrichtian time, a rapid drop in water temperatures at the time of the first appearance of Abathomphalus mayaroensis in the high southern latitude regions (about 69.9 Ma), and lower water temperatures during late Maestrichtian time. d13C values record a depletion in 13C in the latest early Maestrichtian time beginning at about 72.2 Ma, just prior to the sharp late Maestrichtian increase in d18O values. These trends are similar to those previously reported for well-preserved benthic foraminifer species from Seymour Island, in the Antarctic Peninsula. Paleotemperature estimates are also comparable to those at Seymour Island and suggest temperate climatic conditions in Antarctica and that bottom waters in the southern South Atlantic region were of Antarctic origin. Benthic and planktonic foraminifer 613C values fluctuate sympathetically and are higher in upper Maestrichtian sediments than in the lower Maestrichtian sequence.

Stable oxygen and carbon isotope ratios of foraminifera and test results after different sample cleaning procedures from ODP Leg 207 sediments

We report oxygen and carbon stable isotope analyses of foraminifers, primarily planktonic, sampled at low resolution in the Cretaceous and Paleogene sections from Sites 1257, 1258, and 1260. Data from two samples from Site 1259 are also reported. The very low resolution of the data only allows us to detect climate-driven isotopic events on the timescale of more than 500 k.y. A several million-year-long interval of overall increase in planktonic 18O is seen in the Cenomanian at Site 1260. Before and after this interval, foraminifers from Cenomanian and Turonian black shales have d18O values in the range -4.2 per mil to -5.0 per mil, suggestive of upper ocean temperatures higher than modern tropical values. The d18O values of upper ocean dwelling Paleogene planktonics exhibit a long-term increase from the early Eocene to the middle Eocene. During shipboard and postcruise processing, it proved difficult to extract well-preserved foraminifer tests from black shales by conventional techniques. Here, we report results of a test of procedures for cleaning foraminifers in Cretaceous organic-rich mudstone sediments using various combinations of soaking in bleach, Calgon/hydrogen peroxide, or Cascade, accompanied by drying, repeat soaking, or sonication. A procedure that used 100% bleach, no detergent, and no sonication yielded the largest number of clean, whole individual foraminifers with the shortest preparation time. We found no significant difference in d18O or d13C values among sets of multiple samples of the planktonic foraminifer Whiteinella baltica extracted following each cleaning procedure.

Quaternary radiolarians and plamktonic foraminifera from the mouth of the Gulf of California

I recovered well-preserved radiolarian assemblages from the Quaternary sediments drilled at all four sites at the mouth of the Gulf of California during Leg 65. The sites, with positions and water depths averaged for all hole locations per site, are Site 482 - 22°47.4'N, 107°59.6'W; water depth, 3022 meters. Site 483 - 22°53.0'N, 108°44.8' W; water depth, 3070 meters. Site 484 - 23°11.2'N, 108°23.6'W; water depth, 2887 meters. Site 485 - 22°44.9'N, 107°54.2'W; water depth, 2981 meters. The nearly 200 taxa I identified are listed alphabetically in the systematic reference list. The only reliable radiolarian biostratigraphic datum determined for the Quaternary sedimentary section is the highest occurrence of Axoprunum angelinum (Hays) at Sites 483, 484, and 485.

Benthic foraminifera stratigraphy of sediments from ODP Leg 199 sites

Benthic foraminifers from Ocean Drilling Program Leg 199 Holes 1215A, 1220B, and 1221C were examined across the Paleocene/Eocene boundary. Assemblages were studied in 240 samples. The benthic foraminiferal extinction event that correlates with the Paleocene/Eocene epoch boundary was recognized at these sites. Benthic assemblages before the event are characterized by high diversity, but those after the event are low in diversity. An assemblage of agglutinated foraminifers without carbonate cement was recognized at Sites 1220 and 1221. These assemblages were typically found after the event. The discovery of such agglutinated assemblages has never been reported before at this boundary.

Planktic foraminiferal sieve size specific d13C and d18O values and maximum test diameter from ODP sites 171-1051 and 120-748

Many genera of modern planktic foraminifera are adapted to nutrient-poor (oligotrophic) surface waters by hosting photosynthetic symbionts, but it is unknown how they will respond to future changes in ocean temperature and acidity. Here we show that ca. 40 Ma, some fossil photosymbiont-bearing planktic foraminifera were temporarily 'bleached' of their symbionts coincident with transient global warming during the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO). At Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Sites 748 and 1051 (Southern Ocean and mid-latitude North Atlantic, respectively), the typically positive relationship between the size of photosymbiont-bearing planktic foraminifer tests and their carbon isotope ratios (d13C) was temporarily reduced for ~100 k.y. during the peak of the MECO. At the same time, the typically photosymbiont-bearing planktic foraminifera Acarinina suffered transient reductions in test size and relative abundance, indicating ecological stress. The coincidence of minimum d18O values and reduction in test size-d13C gradients suggests a link between increased sea-surface temperatures and bleaching during the MECO, although changes in pH and nutrient availability may also have played a role. Our findings show that host-photosymbiont interactions are not constant through geological time, with implications for both the evolution of trophic strategies in marine plankton and the reliability of geochemical proxy records generated from symbiont-bearing planktic foraminifera.