The Carbon Isotopic Composition of Epibenthic Foraminifera: Carbon Flux and Drift Sedimentation

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The proposal requests support to investigate the influence of surface ocean productivity on the carbon isotopic composition of the benthic foraminifer Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi. Analyses of live (stained) benthic foraminifers in 12 NE Atlantic drift sediment sites and 12 continental margin sites in the NW Atlantic to test the hypothesis that high accumulation rates and/or strong seasonality in phytodetritus flux results in anomalously low delta 13C values in C. wuellerstorfi. The NE Atlantic and NW Atlantic sites have high accumulation rates but the seasonal variation in phytodetritus flux is much higher in the NE Atlantic sites. The occurrence and frequency of benthic foraminifer "phytodetritus species" (Epistominella exigua and Alabaminella weddellensis ) in fossil assemblages will be tested as an indicator of "altered" C. wuellerstorfi carbon isotope values.