Mid Pleistocene foraminiferal mass extinction coupled with phytoplankton evolution.
Mid Pleistocene foraminiferal mass extinction coupled with phytoplankton evolution.
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DOI：
10.1038/ncomms11970
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发表时间：
2016-06-17
影响因子：
16.6
通讯作者：
Elderfield H
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kender S;McClymont EL;Elmore AC;Emanuele D;Leng MJ;Elderfield H
了解气候和生物进化之间的相互作用对于解读生命的敏感性至关重要。在中更新世期间，深海发生了一次神秘的大规模灭绝，失去了超过100种（20%）的海底钙质有孔虫。底栖有孔虫是一个进化上保守的类群，通常占深海底真核生物生物量的50%以上。在这里，我们测试灭绝的假设（温度，腐蚀性和生产力）在塔斯曼海，使用地球化学和微体古生物学，并找到证据，从几个全球分布的网站，灭绝是由浮游植物食物来源的变化。颗石藻的进化可能增强了初级生产力的季节性“开花”性质，并从根本上将其转移到一个更年内可变的状态在100.8马。我们的研究结果强调了年内变化作为中更新世全球生物地球化学气候模型的一个潜在的新考虑因素，并暗示深海生物群可能对未来生产力的变化敏感。 中更新世期间海底钙质有孔虫物种减少20%的原因仍然是个谜。在这里，作者提出了新的地球化学证据，来自塔斯曼海，支持浮游植物食物来源的变化作为主要驱动力。
Understanding the interaction between climate and biotic evolution is crucial for deciphering the sensitivity of life. An enigmatic mass extinction occurred in the deep oceans during the Mid Pleistocene, with a loss of over 100 species (20%) of sea floor calcareous foraminifera. An evolutionarily conservative group, benthic foraminifera often comprise >50% of eukaryote biomass on the deep-ocean floor. Here we test extinction hypotheses (temperature, corrosiveness and productivity) in the Tasman Sea, using geochemistry and micropalaeontology, and find evidence from several globally distributed sites that the extinction was caused by a change in phytoplankton food source. Coccolithophore evolution may have enhanced the seasonal ‘bloom' nature of primary productivity and fundamentally shifted it towards a more intra-annually variable state at ∼0.8 Ma. Our results highlight intra-annual variability as a potential new consideration for Mid Pleistocene global biogeochemical climate models, and imply that deep-sea biota may be sensitive to future changes in productivity. The cause of a 20% decline in sea floor calcareous foraminifera species during the Mid-Pleistocene remains enigmatic. Here, the authors present new geochemical evidence, from the Tasman Sea that supports a change in phytoplankton food source as the primary driver.