Time/depth distribution of Uvigerina Peregrina: lower continental slope, mid-Atlantic Bight

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1985 · Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:6863682

Balsam, W L

Uvigerina peregrina is one of the most intensely studied deep-see benthic foraminifera. In the mid-Atlantic Bight modern U. peregrina is found in ore tops from water depths of 700-3000m reaching its acme between 1300 and 1800m. During the glacial maximum (18,000 YBP) this species occupied depths from at least 2800m to 4350m. Beginning 16,000 YBP Uvigerina disappeared from both the shallow and deep parts of its range until the last remnants of this glacial age population disappeared 7600 YBP from a depth of 3600m. In order to examine the relationship between the modern population of Uvigerina peregrina and glacial age forms the authors analyzed three cores taken from depths of 1811m, 2186m, and 2375m. Stratigraphy in these cores is based on correlation of down core changes in weight percent carbonate to oxygen isotope records and radiocarbon dates. All cores go back at least 20,000 years. In the shallowest core Uvigerina is absent except for the last 4000 years. In the two deeper cores Uvigerina is sporadically present during late glacial time, disappears during latest glacial and early Holocene time and reappears 4000 YBP. This data indicates that 1) the modern population of Uvigerina has occupied depths below 1800m only during the last 4000 years and 2) there is no obvious continuity between modern and glacial age populations of this species. Further, this data suggests that water mass properties are a major control on the distribution of Uvigerina.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Texas, Arlington (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6863682
• Report Number(s): CONF-8510489-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States) Journal Volume: 17
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550100 -- Behavioral Biology
58 GEOSCIENCES
580100* -- Geology & Hydrology-- (-1989)
580500 -- Oceanography-- (1980-1989)
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ANIMALS
ATLANTIC OCEAN
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
CONTINENTAL SLOPE
DISTRIBUTION
DRILL CORES
FORAMINIFERA
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGY
GLACIERS
INVERTEBRATES
MICROORGANISMS
POPULATION DENSITY
POPULATION DYNAMICS
PROTOZOA
SARCODINA
SEAS
SEDIMENTS
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
STRATIGRAPHY
SURFACE WATERS