Dinoflagellate cysts in western equatorial Atlantic surface sediments ...

• Main Authors: Vink, Annemiek, Zonneveld, Karin A F, Willems, Helmut
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA - Publishing Network for Geoscientific and Environmental Data 2000
• Subjects: North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.15468/5by3sk; https://www.gbif.org/dataset/4dbc7562-1516-4bf0-9bb2-b4303fff93e7

In contrast to the wide range of studies carried out in temperate and high-latitude oceanic regions, only a few studies have focused on recent and Holocene organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst assemblages from the tropics. This information is, however, essential for fully understanding the ability of species to adapt to different oceanographic regimes, and ultimately their potential application to local and regional palaeoenvironmental and palaeoceanographic reconstructions. Surface sediment samples of the western equatorial Atlantic Ocean north of Brazil, an area greatly influenced by Amazon River discharge waters, were therefore analysed in detail for their organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst content. A diverse association of 43 taxa was identified, and large differences in cyst distribution were observed. The cyst thanatocoenosis in bottom sediments reflects the seasonal advection of Amazon River discharge water through the Guyana Current and the North Equatorial Countercurrent well into the North Atlantic. ...