Abundance of organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts in surface sediments from the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean (Appendix 2) ...

• Main Authors: Esper, Oliver, Zonneveld, Karin A F
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA - Publishing Network for Geoscientific and Environmental Data 2002
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctica; Southern Ocean
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.15468/w2jr9e; https://www.gbif.org/dataset/6a34d094-f762-11e1-a439-00145eb45e9a

Thirty-two surface sediment samples from the Southern Ocean (eastern Atlantic sector), between the Subtropical Front and the Weddell Gyre, were investigated to provide information on the distribution of modern organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts in relation to the oceanic fronts of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). A clearly distinguishable distribution pattern was observed in relation to the water masses and fronts of the ACC. The dinoflagellate cysts of species characteristic of open oceanic environments, such as Impagidinium species, are highly abundant around the Subtropical Front, whereas south of this front, cosmopolitan species such as Nematosphaeropsis labyrinthus and the cysts of Protoceratium reticulatum characterise the transition from subtropical to subantarctic surface waters. The subantarctic surface waters are dominated by the cysts of heterotrophic dinoflagellates, such as Protoperidinium spp. and Selenopemphix antarctica. The cysts of Protoperidinium spp. form the dominant part of the ...