Planktonic foraminifera in the Arctic: potentials and issues regarding modern and quaternary populations

Calcareous microfossils are widely used by paleoceanographers to investigate past sea-surface hydrology. Among these microfossils, planktonic foraminifera are probably the most extensively used tool (e.g. [1] for a review), as they are easy to extract from the sediment and can also be used for coupl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IOP conference series. Earth and environmental science 2011-01, Vol.14 (1), p.012005-12
Main Author: Eynaud, Frédérique
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Construction
Foraminifera
Fossils
Hydrology
Ice cover
Marine
Microorganisms
Nutrient content
Polar environments
Populations
Quaternary
Sea ice
Sediments
Surface water
Water depth
Water masses
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Summary:Calcareous microfossils are widely used by paleoceanographers to investigate past sea-surface hydrology. Among these microfossils, planktonic foraminifera are probably the most extensively used tool (e.g. [1] for a review), as they are easy to extract from the sediment and can also be used for coupled geochemical (e.g; delta super(18)O, delta super(13)C, Mg/Ca) and paleo-ecological investigations. Planktonic foraminifera are marine protists, which build a calcareous shell made of several chambers which reflect in their chemistry the properties of the ambient water-masses. Planktonic foraminifera are known to thrive in various habitats, distributed not only along a latitudinal gradient, but also along different water-depth intervals within surface waters (0-1000 m). Regarding their biogeographical distribution, planktonic foraminifera assemblages therefore mirror different water-masses properties, such as temperature, salinity and nutrient content of the surface water in which they live. The investigation of the specific composition of a fossil assemblage (relative abundances) is therefore a way to empirically obtain (paleo)information on past variations of sea-surface hydrological parameters. This paper focuses on the planktonic foraminifera record from the Arctic domain. This polar region records peculiar sea-surface conditions, with the influence of nearly perennial sea-ice cover development. This has strong impact on living foraminifera populations and on the preservation of their shells in the underlying sediments.
ISSN:1755-1315
1755-1307
1755-1315
DOI:10.1088/1755-1315/14/1/012005