Abstract
Oceanic islands in the paths of currents induce the development of wakes and stationary eddies. The situation to the lee of Tobago, western tropical Atlantic Ocean, is further complicated by the occurrence of the seasonally variable, hypopycnal Orinoco plume. Here we investigate the impact of the combined plume, wake and eddy on bathyal benthic foraminifera to the NW of Tobago. Three surface sediment samples were recovered from around each of five well-sites to the NW of Tobago, three of the sites (Warap-A, Cassra-A and Cassra-CC) being at upper bathyal depths and two (Bene-1, Sancoche-1) at middle bathyal depths. Warap-A, Cassra-A, Cassra-CC and Bene-1 form a transect along the northern side of the leeward wake, while the other two sites are in the vicinity of the stationary eddy. The samples obtained around Sancoche-1 were taken north of the wake. These were supplemented by samples from four 80-cm piston cores from upper bathyal and outer neritic depths sampled at ~ 10 cm intervals. Benthic foraminifera reveal different biofacies at upper (Warap-A, Cassra-A, Cassra-CC) and middle (Bene-1, Sancoche-1) bathyal depths. The upper bathyal biofacies is dominated by Cassidulina curvata and the middle bathyal biofacies contains abundant Uvigerina hispidocostata, both of which are indicative of a high nutrient flux. The presence of Martinottiella communis and M. pallida at Warap-A indicate that pore waters are low in dissolved oxygen in the immediate lee of the island. Percentages of the fauna as serial tests indicated decreasing current velocities with increasing depth, as confirmed by the high abundance of Cibicides ex gr. aknerianus in the shallowest water core. Upper bathyal bottom-current strength was at its lowest in the immediate lee of the island. Species indicative of a perennial nutrient flux were more abundant to the NW, where the interaction of the plume and eddy appears to concentrate nutrients. The short cores, each from a different biofacies, indicate that these environmental conditions have been in place for at least the later Holocene. The most northerly, upper bathyal core presented a stable community structure with low assemblage turnover, while two cores taken farther south (upper bathyal and outer neritic) had an expansive structure with high assemblage turnover. These data raise the possibility of using benthic foraminifera to track the positions of the plume, core and eddy throughout the later Neogene.
Kurzfassung
Ozeanische Inseln im Pfad großer Meeresströmungen erzeugen Wirbelzonen und stationäre Eddies. Im Lee der Insel Tobago im westlichen tropischen Atlantik wird die Situation zusätzlich durch das saisonale Auftreten des hypopyknischen Orinoco-Ausstroms erschwert. In dieser Studie untersuchen wir, welchen Einfluss eine Kombination von Flusswassereintrag, Wirbelzone und Eddies auf bathyale Benthosforaminiferen im Nordwesten von Tobago hat. Dazu wurden je drei Oberflächensedimentproben in der Umgebung von fünf Bohrungen im Nordwesten Tobagos genommen, wobei drei Bohrlokationen (Warap-A, Cassra-A und Cassra-CC) im oberen Bathyal und zwei (Bene-1, Sancoche -1) in mittleren Bathyal liegen. Warap-A, Cassra-A, Cassra-CC und Bene-1 bilden einen Transekt entlang der Nordseite der Leeschleppe, während die anderen beiden Lokationen in der Nähe des stationären Eddies liegen. Die Oberflächenproben, die um die Bohrung Sancoche-1 herum genommen wurden, liegen nördlich der Wirbelzone. Dieser Probensatz wurde mit vier 80 cm langen Kolbenkernen aus dem oberen Bathyal und äußerem Schelf ergänzt, die in 10 cm Intervallen beprobt wurden. Die benthischen Foraminiferen zeigen eine unterschiedliche Biofazies in geringeren (Warap-A, Cassra-A, Cassra-CC) und mittleren (Bene-1, Sancoche-1) Wassertiefen. Die obere bathyalen Biofazies wird von Cassidulina curvata dominiert, in der mittleren bathyalen Biofazies ist Uvigerina hispidocostata häufig, die beide auf einen hohen Nahrungseintrag hindeuten. Das Vorkommen der endobenthischen Arten Martinottiella communis und M. pallida in der Umgebung von Warap-A deuten darauf hin, dass das oberflächennahe Porenwasser im Lee und nahe der Insel wenig gelösten Sauerstoff enthält. Die prozentualen Anteile von Arten mit seriellen Gehäusen zeigen abnehmende Strömungsgeschwindigkeiten mit zunehmender Tiefe an, worauf die große Häufigkeit von Cibicdes ex gr. aknerianus im flachsten Kern ebenfalls hinweist. Die Intensität der Bodenströmung im oberen Bathyal war im unmittelbaren Lee der Insel am niedrigsten. Arten, die auf einen ganzjährigen Nahrungseintrag hinweisen, waren im NW der Insel häufiger, wo die Wechselwirkung von Orinocoeinfluss und Eddy-Aktivität Nährstoffe anzureichern scheint. Die kurzen Kerne, die jeweils aus verschiedenen Biofaziesbereichen stammen, weisen darauf hin, dass diese Umweltbedingungen zumindest über das spätere Holozän hinweg Bestand hatten. Der nördlichste Kern aus dem oberen Bathyal zeigt eine stabile Foraminiferengemeinschaft mit geringen Änderungen in ihrer Zusammensetzung über die Zeit, während die beiden weiter südlich gelegenen Kerne aus dem oberen Bathyal und vom äußeren Schelf einen Trend zu größerer Diversifizierung mit großen Veränderungen in der Artenzusammensetzung aufwiesen. Diese Ergebnisse eröffnen die Möglichkeit, die Position des stationären Eddies bei Tobago und die Lage des Orinocoausstroms mit benthischen Foraminiferen als Paläoindikatoren über das gesamte späte Neogen hinweg zu verfolgen.
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Acknowledgements
Thanks are due to Coastal Dynamics Limited of Trinidad and Tobago for the box-corer samples and the screen grab of the leeward eddy off Tobago, and to Centrica PLC for access to the cores. BW gratefully acknowledges financial assistance from the Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs, and from the University of the West Indies’ Campus Research and Publication Fund. Very helpful reviews were provided by Anthony King, an anonymous reviewer and Associate Editor Peter Frenzel, comments from all of whom improved this paper greatly. Joachim Schönfeld kindly translated the abstract into German.
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Wilson, B., Hayek, LA.C. & Ramdin, K.A. An eddy, a wake and a plume: controls on bathyal foraminifera around Tobago, western tropical Atlantic Ocean. PalZ 92, 561–575 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-018-0402-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-018-0402-z