Use of Deep-Living Planktonic Foraminifera to Probe the Past Thermocline

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The objective of the study is to exploit the modern day relationship of the size and shape of planktonic foraminifer G. truncatulinoides to the thermocline depth as a tool for reconstructing the structure and properties of the past thermocline of the Late Pleistocene. The thermocline depth has been shown to affect the life history of this species - as it shallows it alters the shell size frequency distribution and the rate ofshell development. Funds are provided for a pilot study of one year toconcentrate on plankton tow samples to further document the relationship of shape/size of G. truncatulinoides to thermocline dymanics. Once this relationship has been fully documented only then the downcore study of the Late Pleistocene sediments would be menaingful.