Abstract
Aquatic palynomorphs were studied in surface sediments from the Laptev Sea shelf and the adjacent continental slope. The Laptev Sea is characterized by a strong salinity gradient owing to an extreme freshwater influx from the Siberian rivers in summer. The assemblages are composed of various organic-walled microfossils, in particular dinoflagellate cysts, chlorococcalean algae, acritarchs and several groups of zoomorphs. The species composition and the distribution pattern of dinoflagellate cysts and chlorococcalean algae is related to the salinity gradient of the surface water from the coast to the continental slope. A distinct change in the dinoflagellate cyst assemblages occurs across the continental slope corresponding roughly to a salinity interval of 28 to 30. Assemblage I from the shelf is dominated by Brigantedinium spp., Algidasphaeridium? minutum and related morphotypes. Impagidiniuml pallidum, Nematosphaeropsis labyrinthus and Operculodinium centrocarpum characterize assemblage II from the continental slope. The chlorococcalean algae assemblages are composed of Pediastrum spp. and Botryococcus cf. braunii which usually live in freshwater. Therefore, their occurrence in the marine environment reflects the freshwater discharge into the Laptev Sea. The strong gradient in chlorococcalean algae concentrations suggests that the influence of freshwater is confined mainly to the shelf.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Abelmann, A. (1992) Diatom assemblages in Arctic sea ice - indicator for ice drift pathways. Deep-Sea Res., 39 (2), 525–538.
Barss, M.S. and G.L. Williams (1973) Palynology and nannofossil processing techniques. Geol. Surv. Can., paper 73–26, 1–25.
Cremer, H. (1998) Die Diatomeen der Laptevsee (Arktischer Ozean): Taxonomie, biogeographische Verbreitungund ozeanographische Bedeutung. Ber. Polarforsch., 260, 205 pp.
Dale, B. (1976) Cyst formation, sedimentation and preservation: factors affecting dinoflagellate assemblages in recent sediments from Trondheimsfjord, Norway. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol., 22, 39–60.
Dethlef, D., D. Nürnberg, M. Reimnitz, M. Saarso and Y.P. Savchenko (1993) East Siberian Arctic Region Expedition `92: The Laptev Sea - Its significance for Arctic sea-ice formation and transpolar sediment flux. Ber. Polarforsch., 120, 1–44.
De Vernal, A., G. Bilodeau, C. Hillaire-Marcel and N. Kassou (1992) Quantitative assessment of carbonate dissolution in marine sediments from foraminifer linings vs. shell ratios: Davis Strait, northwest North Atlantic. Geology, 20, 527–530.
De Vernal, A., C. Hillaire-Marcel and G. Bilodeau (1996) Reduced meltwater outflow from the Laurentide icemargin during the Younger Dryas. Nature, 381, 774–777.
De Vernal, A., J.-L. Turon and J. Guiot (1994) Dinoflagellate cyst distribution in high-latitude marine environments and quantitative reconstruction of sea-surface salinity, temperature and seasonality. Can. J. Earth Sei., 31, 48–62.
Dmitrenko, I.A., V.I. Karpiy and N.V. Lebedev (1994) The modern Environment of the Laptev Sea: Oceanographic studies. In: Laptev Sea System: Expeditions in 1994, Kassens, H. (ed.), Ber. Polarforsch., 182, 22–33.
Doher, L.I. (1980) Palynomorph preparation procedures currently used in the paleontology and stratigraphy laboratories, U. S. Geological Survey. Geol. Surv. Circ., 830, 29.
Eicken, H., E. Reimnitz, V. Alexandrov, T. Martin, H. Kassens and T. Viehoff (1997) Sea-ice processes in the Laptev Sea and their importance for sediment export. Conti. Shelf Res., 17 (2), 205–233.
Evitt, W.R. (1985) Sporopollenin dinoflagellates cysts: their morphology and interpretation. Am. Assoc. Strat. Palynol., 333 pp.
Fütterer, D.K. (1994) The Expedition ARCTIC `93 Leg ARK-IX/4 of RV “Polarstern” 1993. Ber. Polarforsch., 149, 244 pp.
Gordienko, P.A. and A.F. Laktionov (1969) Circulation and physics of the Arctic Basin water. In: Annals f the international geophysical year, oceanography, Gordon, A.L. and F.W.G. Baker (eds.), Pergamon, New York, 46, 94–112.
Harland, H. (1982) Recent dinoflagellate cyst assemblages from the southern Barents Sea. Palynology, 6, 9–18.
Holmes, M.L. and J.S. Creager (1974) Holocene history of the Laptev Sea continental shelf. In: Marine Geology and Oceanography of the Arctic Sea, Herman, Y. (ed.), Springer, New York, 211–229.
Kassens, H. (1995) Laptev Sea System: Expeditions in 1994. Ber. Polarforsch., 182, 195 pp.
Kassens, H. (1997) Laptev Sea System: Expeditions in 1995. Ber. Polarforsch., 248, 210 pp.
Kassens, H. and V.Y. Karpiy (eds., 1994a) Russian-German Cooperation: The Transdrift I Expedition to the Laptev Sea. Ber. Polarforsch., 151, 168 pp.
Kassens, H. and V.Y. Karpiy (1994b) The Transdrift I Expedition: A multidisciplinary Russian-German approach to study the complex Laptev Sea system. In: Russian-German Cooperation: The Transdrift I Expedition to the Laptev Sea, Kassens, H. and V.Y. Karpiy (eds.), Ber. Polarforsch., 151, 1–8.
Kunz-Pirrung, M. (1998) Rekonstruktion der Oberflächenwassermassen der östlichen Laptevsee im Holozän anhand von aquatischen Palynomorphen. Ber. Polarforsch., 281, 117 pp.
Lentin, J.K. and G.L. Williams (1993) Fossil dinoflagellates: Index to genera and species; 1993 edition. Am. Assoc. Strat. Palynol. Contr. Ser., 28, 1–856.
Matthiessen, J. (1995) Distribution pattern of dinoflagellate cysts and other organic-walled microfossils in recent Norwegian-Greenland Sea sediments. Mar. Micropaleontol., 24, 307–334.
Matthiessen, J. (1996) Dinoflagellate cyst evidence of Holocene environmental conditions off East Greenland. Zbl. Geol. Paläont., part I 1995 (1/2), 271–286.
Matthiessen, J. and W. Brenner (1996) Chlorococcalalgen und Dinoflagellaten-Zysten in rezenten Sedimenten des Greifswalder Bodden. Senckenbergiana Marit., 27 (1/2), 33–48.
Mudie, P.J. (1992) Circum-arctic Quaternary and Neogene marine palynoflora: paleoecology and statistical analysis. In: Neogene and Quaternary dinoflagellate cysts and acritarchs, Head, M.J. and J.H. Wrenn (eds.), Am. Ass. Stratigr. Palynol. Found., 347–390.
Naidina, O.D. and H.A. Bauch (this volume) Distribution on pollen and spores in surface sediments of the Laptev Sea. In: Kassens, H., H.A. Bauch, I. Dmitrenko, H. Eicken, H.-W. Hubberten, M. Melles, J. Thiede and L. Timokhov (eds.) Land-Ocean Systems in the Siberian Arctic: Dynamics and History, Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Parra Barrientos, O.O. (1979) Revision der Gattung Pediastrum Meyen (Chlorophyta). Bibl. Phycol., 48, 186 pp.
Phipps, D. and G. Playford (1984) Laboratory techniques for extraction of palynomorphs from sediment. Pap. Dept. Geol. Uni. Qd., 11 (1), 1–23.
Stockmarr, J. (1971) Tablets with spores used in absolute pollen analysis. Pollen Spores, 13 (4), 616–621.
Treshnikov, A.F. (1985) Atlas of the Arctic. Arctic and Antarctic Institute, Moscow, 204 pp.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1999 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kunz-Pirrung, M. (1999). Distribution of Aquatic Palynomorphs in Surface Sediments from the Laptev Sea, Eastern Arctic Ocean. In: Kassens, H., et al. Land-Ocean Systems in the Siberian Arctic. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-60134-7_43
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-60134-7_43
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-64270-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-60134-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive