Variability of the Monsoon and Biogenic Particle Flux in the Arabian Sea: Faunal and Isotopic Tracers

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9310676 Prell Besides their importance in the zooplankton and as links in the marine food web, foraminifera and radiolaria also produce hard parts that contribute to the flux, respectively, of calcium carbonate and opaline silica from the upper ocean to the sea floor. As part of the Arabian Sea Process Study, scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Brown University will quantify the effects of the monsoon winds upon the production of foraminifera and radiolaria and upon the flux of their hard parts to the seafloor by examining samples taken from plankton tows, sediment traps, and in sediment cores from the seafloor. Such studies should help us to understand both present- day and historical patterns of oceanic biological production and particle flux associated with the monsoons. ***