Journal
JOURNAL OF MARINE SYSTEMS
Volume 37, Issue 1-3, Pages 213-227Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/S0924-7963(02)00203-8
Keywords
micropalaeontology; faunal analysis; planktic foraminifers; lysocline; oceanic fronts; paleoceanography; North Atlantic; Azores
Ask authors/readers for more resources
South of the Azores Islands, the population dynamics and sedimentation of planktic foraminifers are significantly influenced by the hydrography of the Azores Front Current System (AFCS). Planktic foraminifers collected from the water column during seasonal cruises across the Azores Front, record the temporal and spatial scale of hydrographic and faunal dynamics within this area. Surface sediment analysis reveals the presence of a large number of pteropod shells indicating preservation of aragonite and, therefore, little alteration of the calcitic foraminiferal tests. Consequently, most of the seasonal and spatial variability of the Azores Front is expected to be recorded by the planktic foraminiferal assemblages present within the surface sediment. In particular, Globorotalia scitula, a subsurface-dwelling species, decreases significantly in abundance to the south of the Azores Front, and shows fine-scale changes at the glacial/interglacial time scale. Enhanced faunal proportions of G. scitula in a sediment core that is located to the south of the modem Azores Current indicate a southward shift of the Azores Front Current System during the glacials and the presence of a transitional water mass at the Azores region. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available