Benthic foraminifera as tracers of marine biogeochemical cycles and circulation: resolving microhabitats in relation to biogenic fluxes

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Benthic foraminifera as tracers of marine biogeochemical cycles and circulation: resolving microhabitats in relation to biogenic fluxesAbstractThis project will develop techniques that combine microsensors with small-scale sediment sampling, in order to probe foraminiferal distributions at a range of scales and to determine the responses and distributional patterns of benthic foraminifera to variable biogenic fluxes. The primary objective will be to test and develop a suite of sub-sampling techniques that allow us to This research will provide fundamental data to better model benthic foraminiferal assemblage composition from first principles, and will reveal likely chemical microenvironments that influence foraminiferal shell geochemistry. In turn, the results of this research will bring together techniques in benthic geochemistry and micro-ecology to clarify the encoding of environmental proxy information in the foraminifera. The field research will take place on a Norwegian Polar Institute cruise to a fjord on the west of Svalbard, Norway and will involve multi-coring of surface sediments, production of microsensor profiles and examination of biofeatures using the cell tracker green method. This research will provide support for a program that has actively promoted research experiences for both undergraduate and graduate students, and will include a strong international collaboration component. This project is supported by both the Marine Geology & Geophysics Program of the Ocean Sciences Division and the Office of International Science and Engineering.