Abstract
Planktonic foraminifera collected from the entire 200 m water column in the western Weddell Sea using vertically-towed nets consisted largely ofNeogloboquadrina pachyderma (s) andGlobigerina quinqueloba. Peak abundance of planktonic foraminifera occurred in low-nutrient waters adjacent to the sea ice margin. Nearly all specimens ofN. pachyderma (s) in the > 250 μm size class possessed a kummerform final chamber, but less than 20% added gametogenic calcite to the exterior of their shells. The frequent occurrence of δ18O values ofN. pachyderma (s) lighter than the δ18O in equilibrium with ambient surface waters presumably indicates that significant growth occurred either out of isotopic equilibrium or in water beneath the ice shelf containing18O-depleted snow melt. We suggest herein that the variation between δ18O and δ18O is most likely due to secretion of shell carbonate in water influenced by snow melt or glacier melt.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ackley, S.F. and Sullivan, C.W., 1994, Physical controls on the development and characteristics of Antarctic sea ice biological communities—a review and synthesis. Deep-Sea Research, 41, 1583–1604.
Anderson, J.B., 1975, Factors controlling CaCO3 dissolution in the Weddell Sea from foraminiferal distribution patterns. Marine Geology, 19, 315–322.
Carmack, E., 1977, Water characteristics of the Southern Ocean south of the Polar Front. In: Angel, M. (ed.), A Voyage of Discovery. Pergamon Press, New York, p. 15–41.
Carstens, J. and Wefer, G., 1992, Recent distribution of planktonic foraminifera in the Nansen Basin, Arctic Ocean. Deep-Sea Research, 39, S507-S524.
Charles, C.D. and Fairbanks, R.G., 1990, Glaical to interglacial changes in the isotopic gradients of Southern Ocean surface water. In: Bleil, U. and Thiede, J. (eds.), Geological History of the Polar Oceans: Arctic versus Antarctic. Kluwer, Dordrecht, p. 519–538.
Dieckmann, G.S., Spindler, M., Lange, M.A., Ackley, S.F. and Eicken, H., 1991, Antarctic sea ice: a habitat for the foraminiferNeogloboquadrina pachyderma. Journal of Foraminiferal Research, 21, 182–189.
Dieckmann, G.S., Rohardt, G., Hellmer, H. and Kipfstuhl, J., 1986, Occurrence of ice platelets at 250 m depth near the Filchner Ice Shelf and its significance for sea ice biology, Deep-Sea Research, 33, 141–148.
Donner, B. and Wefer, G., 1994, Flux and stable isotope composition ofNeogloboquadrina pachyderma and other planktonic foraminifers in the southern ocean (Atlantic sector). Deep-Sea Research, 41, 1733–1743.
Eptein, S. and Mayeda, T., 1953, Variation of18O content of waters from natural sources. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 4, 213–224.
Fahrbach, E., Peterson, R.G., Rohardt, G., Schlosser, P. and Bayer, R., 1994, Suppression of bottom water formation in the southeastern Weddell Sea. Deep-Sea Research, 41, 389–411.
Garrison, D.L. and Buck, K.R., 1985, Sea-ice algal communities in the Weddell Sea: species composition in ice and planktonic assemblages. In: Gray, J.S. and Christensen, M.E. (eds.), Marine Biology of Polar Regions and Stress on Marine Organisms. John Wiley and Sons, New York, p. 103–121.
Garrison, D.L., Ackley, S.F. and Buck, K.R., 1983, A physical mechanism for establishing algal populations in frazil ice. Nature, 306, 363–365.
Garrison, D.L., Sullivan, C.W. and Ackley, S.F., 1986, Sea ice microbial communities in Antarctica. Bioscience, 36, 243–250.
Gloerson, P., Campbell, W.F., Cavalieri, D., Comiso, J.C., Parkinson, C.L. and Zwally, H.J., 1992, Arctic and Antarctic Sea Ice, 1978–1987: Satellite Passive-Microwave Observations and Analysis. NASA SP-511, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, D.C., 290 p.
Honjo, S., 1990, Particle fluxes and modern sedimentation in the polar oceans. In: Smith, W.O. (ed.), Polar Oceanography, Part B: Chemistry, Biology, and Geology. Academic Press, London, p. 687–739.
Hut, G. 1987, Consultant’s group meeting on stable isotope reference samples for geochemical and hydrological investigations. Report to the Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 42 p.
Johannessen, T., Jansen, E., Flatoy, A. and Ravelo, A.C., 1994, The relationship between surface water masses, oceanographic fronts and paleoclimatic proxies in surface sediments of the Greenland, Iceland, Norwegian seas. In: Zahn, R., Pedersen, T.F., Kamins, M.A. and Labeyrie, L. (eds.), Carbon Cycling in the Glacial Ocean: Constraints on the Ocean’s Role in Global Change. NATO ASI Series, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, p. 61–95.
Kang, S.H., Lee, S., Lee, M.Y. and Chung, K.H., 1995, Phaeocyctis-dominated Antarctic phytoplankton assemblage at the marginal sea-ice zone of the northwestern Weddell Sea, January, 1994. In: Studies on Natural Environment and Conservation of Antartica. Report BSPN 00258-8227, Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute, Ansan, p. 435–499.
Keigwin, L.D. and Boyle, E.A., 1989, Late Quaternary paleochemistry of high-latitude surface waters. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 73, 85–106.
Kennett, J.P., 1976, Phenotypic variation in some Recent and late Cenozoic planktonic foraminifera. In: Hedley, R.H. and Adams, C.G. (eds.), Foraminifera. Academic Press, London, p. 111–170.
Kennett, J.P. and Srinivasan, M.S., 1983, Neogene Planktonic Foraminifera. Hutchinson Ross, 265 p.
KORDI (Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute), 1995, Studies on Natural Environment and Conservation of Antarctica. Report BSPN 00258-882-7, Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute, Ansan, 846 p.
Kroopnick, P., 1980, The distribution of13C in the Atlantic Ocean. Earth and Planetary Science Letter, 49, 469–484.
Lee, W., Choe, S.M., Kim, D.Y., Kim, S. and Kim, W.R., 1995, Distribution and abundance of zooplankton in Bransfield Strait and adjacent waters during austral summer 1993–1994. In: Studies on Natural Environment and Conservation of Antarctica. Report BSPN 00258-882-7, Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute, Ansan, p. 501–592.
Lehman, M. and Siegenthaler, U., 1991, Equilibrium oxygen-and hydrogen-isotope fractionation between ice and water. Journal of Glaciology, 37, 23–26.
Lipps, J.H. and Krebs, W.N., 1974, Planktonic foraminifera associated with Antarctic sea ice. Journal of Foraminiferal Research, 4, 80–85.
Merguro, H., Ito, K. and Fukushima, H., 1966, Diatoms and the ecological conditions of their growth in sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. Science, 152, 1089–1090.
Mortlock, R.A., Charles, C.D., Froelich, P.N., Zibello, M.A., Saltzman, B., Hays, J.D. and Burckle, L.H., 1991, Evidence for lower productivity in the Antarctic Ocean during the last glaciation. Nature, 351, 220–223.
Nelson, D.M. and Smith, W.O., 1986, Phytoplankton bloom dynamics of the western Ross Sea ice-edge. II. Mesoscale cycling of nitrogen and silicon. Deep-Sea Research, 33, 1389–1412.
Nelson, D.M., Smith, W.O., Muench, R.D., Gordon, L.I., Sullivan, C.W. and Husby, D.M., 1989, Particulate matter and nutrient distributions in the ice-edge zone of the Weddell Sea: Relationship to hydrography during late summer. Deep-Sea Research, 36, 191–209.
O’Neil, J.R., Clayton, R.N. and Mayeda, T.K., 1969, Oxygen isotope fractionation in divalent metal carbonates. Journal of Chemical Physics, 51, 5547–5558.
Ortiz, J.D., Mix, A.C. and Collier, R.W., 1995, Environmental control of living symbiotic and asymbiotic foraminifera of the California Current. Paleoceanography, 10, 987–1009.
Parker, F.L., 1963, Planktonic foraminiferal species in Pacific sediments. Micropaleontology, 8, 219–254.
Rozanski, K., Araguas-Araguas, L. and Gonfaiantini, R., 1993, Isotopic patterns in modern global precipitation. In: Swart, P. K., Lohmann, K.C., McKenzie, J. and Savin, S. (eds.), Climate Change in Continental Isotopic Records. American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C., p. 1–36.
Sautter-Reynolds, L.R. and Thunell, R.C., 1991, Seasonal variability in the δ18O and δ13O of planktonic foraminifera from an upwelling environment: sediment trap results from the San Pedro Basin, Southern California Bight. Paleoceanography, 6, 307–334.
Schlosser, P., Bayer, R., Foldvik, A., Gammelsroed, T., Rohardt, G. and Muennich, K.O., 1990, δ18O and helium as tracers of ice shelf water and water/ice interaction in the Weddell Sea. Journal of Geophysical Research, 95, 3253–3264.
Shackleton, N.J., 1974, Attainment of isotopic equilibrium between ocean water and the benthonic foraminifera genusUvigerina: isotopic changes in the ocean during the last glacial. Colloques Internationaux du C.N.R.S., 219, 203–209.
Smith, S.L., Smith, W.O., Codispotti, A. and Wilson, D.L., 1985, Biological observations in the marginal ice zone of the East Greenland Sea. Journal of Marine Research, 43, 693–717.
Smith, W.O. and Garrison, D.L., 1990, Marine ecosystem research at the Weddell Sea ice edge: the AMERIEZ program. Oceanography, 7, 22–29.
Smith, W.O. and Nelson, D.M., 1986, The importance of iceedge phytoplankton productivity in the Southern Ocean. Bioscience, 36, 251–257.
Spindler, M. and Dieckmann, G.S., 1986, Distribution and abundance of the planktic foraminiferNeogloboquadrina pachyderma in sea ice of the Weddell Sea (Antartica). Polar Biology, 5, 185–191.
Sullivan, C.W. and Palmisano, A.C., 1981, Sea-ice microbial communities in McMurdo Sound. United States Antarctic Journal, 16, 126–127.
Wefer, G. 1989, Particle flux in the Ocean: effects of episodic production. In: Berger, W.H., Smetacek, V.S. and Wefer, G. (eds.), Productivity of the Ocean: Present and Past. John Wiley and Sons, New York, p. 139–153.
Wefer, G., Fischer, G., Fuetterer, D. and Gersonde, R., 1988, Seasonal particle flux in the Bransfield Strait, Antarctica. Deep-Sea Research, 35, 891–898.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Norris, R.D., Kim, D.Y., Park, BK. et al. Stable isotope and ecological habitat of planktonic foraminifera adjacent to the ice edge in the western Weddell Sea. Geosci J 2, 88–98 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02910487
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02910487