Modern Benthic Foraminifer Distribution in the Amerasian Basin, Arctic Ocean
نویسندگان
چکیده
A total of 38 box cores were collected from the Amerasian Basin, Arctic Ocean during the U.S. Geological Survey 1992 (PI92-AR) and 1993 (PI93-AR) Arctic Cruises aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Icebreaker Polar Star. In addition, the cruises collected geophysical data, piston cores and hydrographic data to address the geologic and oceanographic history of the western Arctic Ocean. This paper reports the results of the quantitative analyses of benthic foraminifer distribution data of the total (live + dead) assemblages derived from 22 box core-top samples. The results show that a distinct depth distribution of three dominant benthic foraminifer assemblages, the Textularia spp. Spiroplectammina biformis, Cassidulina teretis and Oridorsalis tener Eponides tumidulus Biofacies are strongly controlled by the dominant water masses within the Canada Basin: the Arctic Surface Water, Arctic Intermediate Water and Canada Basin Deep Water. The faunal distributions and their oceanographic associations in the Canada Basin are consistent with observations of benthic foraminifer distributions from other regions within the Arctic Ocean.
منابع مشابه
On the dynamics of Atlantic Water circulation in the Arctic Ocean
[1] We use a subset of models from the coordinated experiment of the Arctic Ocean Model Intercomparison Project (AOMIP) to analyze differences in intensity and sense of rotation of Atlantic Water circulation. We focus on the interpretation of the potential vorticity (PV) balance. Results differ drastically for the Eurasian and the Amerasian Basins of the Arctic Ocean. We find indications that i...
متن کاملContrasting glacial/interglacial regimes in the western Arctic Ocean as exempli¢ed by a sedimentary record from the Mendeleev Ridge
Distinct cyclicity in lithology and microfaunal distribution in sediment cores from the Mendeleev Ridge in the western Arctic Ocean (water depths ca. 1.5 km) reflects contrasting glacial/interglacial sedimentary patterns. We conclude that during major glaciations extremely thick pack ice or ice shelves covered the western Arctic Ocean and its circulation was restricted in comparison with interg...
متن کاملThe Distribution of Antarctic Marine Benthic Communities
The Polar Frontal Zone, although predominantly a surface feature, forms a natural northernmost boundary for defining the Southern Ocean, and relatively few benthic organisms have distributions which cross this boundary. Many Antarctic benthic plants and animals have circumpolar distributions but some broad geographical subdivisions may be made. Detailed studies of community distribution are few...
متن کاملA model study of the first ventilated regime of the Arctic Ocean during the early Miocene
The tectonic opening of Fram Strait during the Neogene was a significant geological event that transferred the Arctic Ocean from a poorly ventilated enclosed basin, with weak exchange with the North Atlantic, to a fully ventilated ‘‘ocean stage’’. Previous tectonic and physical oceanographic analyses suggest that the early Miocene Fram Strait was likely several times narrower and less than half...
متن کاملStable isotopes in benthic foraminiferal calcite from a river-influenced Arctic marine environment, Kara and Pechora Seas
[1] Oxygen and carbon stable-isotope compositions of modern benthic foraminifera in the Kara and Pechora estuarine regions of the Arctic continental shelf were compared with water dO, dCDIC, temperature, and salinity. The foraminiferal dO distribution is mostly similar to that of equilibrium calcite, primarily controlled by mixing of runoff and seawater in near-estuarine areas (depth < 15–20 m)...
متن کامل