Abstract
This work attempts to constrain and discuss the persistence of living planktonic foraminifera Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (Ehrenberg, 1861) in Antarctic sea-ice (overwintering strategy) during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Samples taken from Level 12 (216.5–238 cm-depth) of a gravity sediment core ANTA95-89C (74° 29.100’S – 175° 34.059’ W; 2058 m-depth) have radiocarbon dates of 28.2–17.2 yr BP. During the LGM, the Ross Sea Ice Shelf and associated sea ice extended far seaward of the position of this core. From 15 up to 60–80% of N. pachy derma were found in a three-layer interval referred as Level 12 and associated with up to 10.8–65.7 % of sand to gravel-sized Iceberg Rafted Debris (IBRD). This suggests that foraminifera lived in wide areas of Ice Shelf/sea-ice during the LGM. Results of such palaeoclimate/palaeoenvironmental investigation are integrated into an Astrobiology Roadmap science framework.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
6. References
Anderson, J.B., Kennedy, D.S., Smith, M.J, and Domack, E.W. (1991) Sedimentary fades associated with Antarctica’s floating ice masses, in J.B Anderson and G.M Ashley, (eds.), Glacial Marine Sedimentation’, Paleoclimatic significance, Boulder, Colorado, GSA Special Paper 261.
Berger, W.H. (1970) Planktonic foraminifera: selective dissolution and the lysocline. Mar. Geol. 8, 11–138.
Barbieri, R., D’Onofrio, S., Melis, R., and Westall, F. (1999) r-Selected benthic foraminifera with associated bacterial colonies in Upper Pleistocene sediments of the Ross Sea (Antarctica): implication for calcium carbonate preservation, Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol. 149, 41–57.
Bonaccorsi, R., Brambati, A., Busetti, M., and Fanzutti, G.P. (2000) Relationship Among X-Ray Lithofacies, Magnetic Susceptibility, P-Wave Velocity and Bulk Density in Core ANTA95-89C (Ross Sea, Antarctica): First Results, Terra Antarctica Reports 4, 185–198.
Bonaccorsi, R. (in prep). Evolution of the Ice Sheet-Ice Shelf-Continental Margin System of the Ross Sea Area (Antarctica) from late Quaternary sediment records, Ph.D. thesis, University of Trieste.
Brambati A., Melis R., Quaia T. and Salvi, G. (in press) Late Quaternary climatic changes in the Ross Sea area (Antarctica), in J.A. Gamble, D.N.B. Skinner, S. Henrys and R. Lynch (eds.), Antarctic Earth Sciences at the Close of a Millenium, Royal Society of New Zealand, Bulletin 35
Dieckmann, G.S., Spindler, M., Lange, M.A., Ackley, S.F., and Eicken, H. (1991) Antarctic sea ice: a habitat for the foraminifer Neogloboquadrina pachyderma, J. For. Res. 21(2), 182–189.
Garrison, D.L. (1991) Antarctic sea-ice biota, Am. Zool. 31, 17–33.
Grobe, H., and Makensen A. (1992) Late Quaternary climatic cycles as recorded in sediments from the Antarctic continental margins, Ant. Res. Ser. 56, 349–376.
Irion, R. (2000) The Science of Astrobiology takes shapes, Science 288, 603–605.
Kellogg, T.B., and Kellogg, D.E. (1988) Antarctic cryogenic sediments: Biotic and inorganic facies of ice Shelf and marine-based ice sheet environments, Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol. 67, 51–74.
Lipps, J.H., and Krebbs, W.N. (1974) Planktonic Foraminifera associated with Antarctic sea ice, J. For. Res. 4, 80–85.
Martinson, D.G., Pisias, N.G., Hays, J.D., Imbrie, J., Moore, T.C. jr., and Shackleton, N.J. (1987) Age dating and the orbital theory of the Ice Ages: development of a high-resolution 0 to 300,000-year chronostratigraphy, Quat. Res. 27, 1–29.
Morrison, D., and Schmidt, G.K. (1999) NASA Astrobiology Roadmap, D. Morrison and G.K. Schmidt (eds.), Ames Research Center, Moffet Field, California, 44 pp.
Palmisano, A.C., and Garrison, D.L, (1993) Microorganisms in Antarctic sea ice, in E.I. Friedmann, (ed.), Antarctic Microbiology, Wiley-Liss Inc., N.Y, pp. 167–218.
Rao, C.P. (1996). Modern Carbonates, tropical, temperate, polar. Arts of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, 206 pp.
Quaia, T., and Cespuglio, G. (2000). Stable Isotopes Records from the Western Ross Sea Continental Slope (Antarctica). Considerations on Carbonate Preservation, Terra Antartica Reports 4, 199–210.
Spindler, M., and Dieckmann, G.S. (1986) Distribution and abundance of the planktic foraminifer N. pachyderma in the sea ice of the Weddell Sea (Antarctica), Polar Biology, 5, 185–191.
Spindler, M., Dieckmann, G.S., and Lange, M.A. (1990) Seasonal and geographic variations in sea ice community structure of the Weddell Sea, In K.R. Kerry and G. Hempel (eds.), Antarctic Ecosystem, Ecological Change and Conservation. Spinger-Verlag, Berlin, 130–135.
Taviani, M., Reid, D.E., and Anderson, J.B. (1993) Skeletal and isotopic composition and paleoclimatic significance of late Pleistocene carbonates, Ross Sea, Antarctica, J. Sedim. Petrol. 63, 84–90.
Webb, P.N., and Strong, C.P. (1998) Occurrence, Stratigraphy distribution and Palaeoecology of Quaternary Foraminifera from CRP-1, Terra Antarctica 5(2), 455–472.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this paper
Cite this paper
Bonaccorsi, R., Melis, R. (2001). Persistence of Living Planktonic Foraminifera (Neogloboquadrina pachyderma) in Antarctic Sea-Ice Inferred from a Study of a Sediment Core (Ross Sea Continental Margin). In: Chela-Flores, J., Owen, T., Raulin, F. (eds) First Steps in the Origin of Life in the Universe. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-1017-7_45
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-1017-7_45
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-3883-6
Online ISBN: 978-94-010-1017-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive