Abstract
A sediment core, 55 cm long, from station F81 in the Gotland Basin of the Baltic Sea was analysed for diatoms and ebridians. Chrysophyte stomatocysts found in the core were also counted but not identified. The aim was to trace environmental changes, e.g. eutrophication and salinity variations. There is evidence that eutrophication has been increasing in the Baltic Sea in recent decades.
Brackish-marine plankton diatoms dominate the entire core and reflect the local planktonic taxa rather well. The dominant taxon is the polyhalobous Actinocyclus octonarius. The main biostratigraphical change within the core analysed takes place at a depth of about 22 cm, where the abundance of diatoms, and especially of Chaetoceros spp., Thalassiosira hyberborea var. pelagica and T. baltica start to increase. This may reflect eutrophication which can be estimated to have started c. 200 years ago.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alhonen, P., A. Heino & R. Tynni, 1984. Über Vorkommen und Bedeutung von Terpsinoe americana (Bail.) Ralfs in den Ablagerungen des Litorinameeres. Bull. geol. Soc. Finl. 56 (1–2): 117–133.
Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, Helsinki Commission, 1990. Second Periodic Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea, 1984–1988; Background Document. Baltic Sea Environment Proceedings 35 B: 432 pp.
Cleve-Euler, A., 1951. Die Diatomeen von Schweden and Finnland. Kungl. svensk. vetenskapsakad. handl. 4 (2. 1): 163 pp.
Edler, I., G. Hällfors & Å. Niemi, 1984. A preliminary checklist of the phytoplankton of the Baltic Sea. Acta bot. fern. 128: 1–26.
Eggimann, D., F. Manheim & P. Betzer, 1980. Dissolution and analysis of amorfous silica in marine sediments. J. sediment. petrol. 50, 1: 215–225.
Elmgren, R. 1989. Man's impact of the ecosystem of the Baltic Sea: Energy flows today and at the turn century. Ambio 6: 326–332.
Eronen, M., 1976. A radiocarbon-dated Ancylus transgression site in south-eastern Finland. Boreas 5: 65–76.
Flower, R. J., 1993. Diatom preservation: experiments and observations on dissolution and breakage in modern and fossil material. Hydrobiologia 269/270: 473–484.
Grönlund T., 1992. Lists of diatom taxa from stations F81 and SR5 in the Baltic Sea. Rap. P34.4.003 Geologian tutkimuskeskus, Maaperäosasto. 6 pp.
Håkansson, H. & S. Locker, 1981. Stephanodiscus Ehrenberg 1846, a revision of the species described by Ehrenberg. Nova Hedwigia 35: 117–150.
Hällfors, G. & Å. Niemi, 1975. Diatoms in surface sediment from deep basins in the Baltic proper and the Gulf of Finland. Merentutkimuslait. Julk. 240: 71–77.
Hasle, G. R. & C. B. Lange, 1989. Freshwater and brackish water Thalassiosira (Bacillariophyceae): taxa with tangentially undulated valves. Phycologia 28: 120–135.
Hustedt, F., 1930. Die Kieselalgen Deutschlands, Österreichs und der Schweiz. In Dr. L. Rabenhorst's Kryptogamen-Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz, 7 (1), Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft, Leipzig. 920 pp.
Huttunen, M. & A. Niemi, 1986. Sea-ice algae in the Northern Baltic Sea. Mem. Soc. Fauna fern. 62: 58–62.
Lewin, J., 1961. The dissolution of silica from diatom walls. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 21. 3/4: 182–198.
Lipps. J., 1979. Ebridians. In R. W. Fairbridge & D. Jablonski (eds), Encylopedia of earth sciences. 7. Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Stroudsburg: 276.
Meriläinen, J., 1973. The dissolution of diatom frustules and its paleoecological interpretation. Rapport fr»n diatomesymposium i Lund, Maj 1973. University of Lund, Department of Quaternary Geology. Report 3: 91–95.
Miller, U. & J. Risberg, 1990. Environmental changes, mainly eutrophication, as recorded by fossil siliceous micro-algae in two cores from the uppermost sediments of the northwestern Baltic. Nova Hedwigia 100: 237–253.
Mölder, K., 1962. Über die Diatomeenflora des Bottnischen Meerbusens and der Ostsee. Merentutkimuslait. Julk. 203: 58 pp.
Mölder, K. & R. Tynni, 1967. Über Finnlands rezente und subfossile Diatomeen I. Comptes Rendus de la Soc. géol. de Finlande 39: 1991–217.
Mölder, K. & R. Tynni, 1968–1972 Uber Finnlands rezente und subfossile Diatomeen II–VI. Bull. geol. Soc. Finl. 40: 151–170, 41: 235–251, 42: 129–144, 44: 141–159.
Niemi, A., 1971. Late summer phytoplankton of the Kimito archipelago (SW coast of Finland). Merentutkimuslait. Julk. 233: 3–17.
Niemi, Å., 1972. Observations on phytoplankton in eutrophied and non-eutrophied archipelago waters of the southern coast of Finland. Mem. Soc. Fauna Flora fern. 48: 63–74.
Pielou, E. C. 1966. The measurement of diversity in different types of biological collections. J. theor. Biol. 13: 131–144.
Renberg, I., 1981. Improved methods for sampling, photographing and varve-counting of varved lake sediments. Boreas 10: 255–258.
Risberg, J., 1986. Terpsinoe americana (Bailey) Ralfs, a rare species in the Baltic fossil diatom flora. In F. Round (ed.), Proceedings of the 9th International Diatom Symposium 1986. Biopress, Bristol and S. Koeltz, Koenigstein: 207–218.
Risberg, J., 1990. Siliceous microfossil stratigraphy in a superficial sediment core from the north-western part of the Baltic proper. Ambio 3: 167–172.
Rosenberg, R., (ed.) 1984. Eutrophication in marine waters surrounding Sweden, A review. Statens naturvårdsverk, Solna. PM 1808: 140 pp.
Saarnisto, M., 1975. Pehmeiden järvisedimenttien näytteenottoon soveltuva jäädytysmenetelmä. Geologi 27. (3): 37–39.
Salonen, V.-P., T. Gronlund, M. Sturm & I. Vuorinen, 1992 Crust-freeze sampler cores from two Baltic stations. In W. Lemke, D. Lange & R. Endler (eds), Proceedings of the Second Marine Geological Conference — The Baltic held in Rostock from Oktober 21 to October 26, 1991. Meereswiss, Ber. 4: 129–131.
Simonsen, R., 1962. Untersuchungen zur Systematik and Ökologie der Bodendiatomeen der westlichen Ostsee. Int. Revue ges. Hydrobiol. System. Beihefte 1: 144 pp.
Snoeijs, P., 1988. Ecological studies of epilithic algae and fauna in the Baltic hydrolittoral. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty Science 176: 37 pp.
Stockmarr, J., 1971. Tablets with spores used in absolute pollen analysis. Pollen et Spores 13: 615–621.
Stockmarr, J., 1973. Determination of spore concentration with an electronic particle counter. Daum. geol. unders. Årbog 1972: 87–89.
Thulin, B., J. Lepiksaar & L.-K. Konigsson, 1986. Enchelyopus cimbrius — Der erste Fish in einem Bohrkern aus der Ostsee und scin Miljö. Striae 24: 131–135.
Thulin, B., G. Possnert & I. Vuorela, 1992. Stratigraphy and age of two postglacial sediment cores from the Baltic Sea. Geol. fören. Stockholm förhandl. 114: 165–179.
Witkowski, A., 1991. An occurrence of living Terpsinoe americana (Bailey) Ralfs in bottom sediments of the Puck Bay (the Southern Baltic Sea), Poland. Diatom Res. 6: 413–415.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Grönlund, T. Diatoms in surface sediments of the Gotland Basin in the Baltic Sea. Hydrobiologia 269, 235–242 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00028022
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00028022