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The significance of extant coccolithophores as indicators of ocean water masses, surface water temperature, and palaeoproductivity: a review

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Abstract

Coccolithophores are one of the main groups of marine phytoplankton playing key roles in the marine eco-system as primary producers and in marine biogeochemistry. These organisms have gained considerable attention as they play a unique role in the global carbon cycle because of their combined effects on both the organic carbon and the carbonate pump. In addition to steady advances in research on coccoliths as biogeochemical agents and palaeontological proxies were obtained knowledge of the biology of these organisms has progressed considerably in recent years. It is now clear that holococcolithophores are not autonomous but stages in the life cycle of heterococcolithophores. A general introduction to the taxonomy and biology of extant coccolithophores is followed by a brief overview of the environmental parameters affecting these phytoplanktonic organisms and their biogeography. Another chapter summarizes the investigations on coccolithophores in the Arabian Sea which were conducted during the past years to produce a synthesis of the production of living coccolithophores in the photic zone, their transformation to settling assemblages, their accumulation on the seafloor, and their final burial in the Sediments. In the following, applications of coccolithophores to palaeoenvironmental analyses are provided as case studies. In particular, the usage of both ecologically restricted species, such asFlorisphaera profunda, for palaeoproductivity studies and of a new coccolithophore-based palaeother-mometry for surface-water reconstructions are presented. In addition, haptophyte-specific biomarkers (long-chain alkenones) are reviewed and their applicability for palaeoceanographical reconstructions is demonstrated.

Kurzfassung

Coccolithophoriden, einzelliges marines Phytoplankton, stellen eine der Hauptprimärproduzenten in den Ozeanen dar. Diesen Algen (Haptophyta) kommt als Karbonatproduzenten und photoautotrophe Organismen eine bedeutende Rolle im Kohlenstoffkreislauf zu, den sie sowohl über die Karbonat- als auch über die biologische Pumpe beeinflussen. Trotz der intensiven Fortschritte in der Bearbeitung als Träger biogeochemischer Informationen und ihrer steigenden Bedeutung als Paläoumweltindikatoren ist der Kenntnisstand über die Biologie von Coccolithophoriden erst in jüngster Zeit wesentlich erweitert worden. Es hat sich gezeigt, dass Holococcolithophoriden keine autonomen Organismen, sondern Phasen im Lebenszyklus von Heterococcolithophoriden sind. Nach einer Einführung in die Taxonomie und Biologie von Coccolithophoriden werden die Umweltparameter, die diese Phytoplank-tongruppe beeinflussen, vorgestellt und ihr Vorkommen sowohl geographisch als auch ökologisch beschrieben. Das folgende Kapitel stellt beispielhaft die Bildung des geologischen Signals von Coccolithophoriden dar. Hierzu wurden Planktongemeinschaften aus dem Oberflächenwasser mit Sinkgemeinschaften aus Partikelfallen sowie den unterla-gemden Oberflächensedimentgemeinschaften verglichen und bewertet. In den folgenden Fallstudien wird auf die Bedeutung von Coccolithophoriden als Paläoumweltindikatoren eingegangen. Insbesondere werden die Anwendung einzelner, ökologisch relevanter Arten, wie die in der tieferen photischen Zone lebendeFlorisphaera profunda, für Paläoproduktivitätsrekonstruktionen sowie eine neue, auf Coccolithophoridenarten basierende Rekonstruktion von Oberflächenwassertemperaturen dargestellt. In vielen paläozeanographischen Arbeiten werden Haptophyten-spezifische Biomarker (langkettige Alkenone) intensiv für Temperaturrekonstruktionen genutzt. Im Vergleich zu anderen planktischen Karbonatproduzenten zeigt sich, dass Coccolithophoriden heute und im Pleistozän einen wesentlichen Anteil am Eintrag von (anorganischen) Kohlenstoff in das geologische Archiv ausmachen.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. FB Geowissenschaften, Univ. Bremen, Postfach 330440, D-28334, Bremen

    Karl-Heinz Baumann & Babette Böckel

  2. Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, Postfach 510153, D-30631, Hannover

    Harald Andruleit

  3. Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Am Handelshafen 12, D-27570, Bremerhaven

    Markus Geisen

  4. Institute for Geosciences, Univ. Kiel, Olshausenstr. 40, D-24118, Kiel

    Hanno Kinkel

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  1. Karl-Heinz Baumann
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  5. Hanno Kinkel
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Baumann, KH., Andruleit, H., Böckel, B. et al. The significance of extant coccolithophores as indicators of ocean water masses, surface water temperature, and palaeoproductivity: a review. Paläontol Z 79, 93–112 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03021756

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