Recent Planktonic Foraminifera: Dominance and Diversity in North Atlantic Surface Sediments

• Published in: Science
• Main Author: Ruddiman, William F.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 1969
• Subjects: North Atlantic; Planktonic foraminifera
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.164.3884.1164; https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.164.3884.1164

Foraminferal dominance values above 50 percent and associated diversity minimums in surface sediments of the North Atlantic coincide with past extremes of temperature, productivity, or salinity in overlying surface waters. These parameters delimit a cold Polar-Subpolar water mass and an impoverished, saline Southern Sargasso Central water mass for the late Recent. Anticipated pole-to-equator diversity and dominance gradients in the open ocean are virtually eliminated by the stronger trends of the vigorous subtropical North Atlantic gyre.