Diversity and faunal composition of benthic foraminifera in Hole 44-390A on the Blake Nose Plateau ...

• Main Authors: Friedrich, Oliver, Hemleben, Christoph
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2007
• Subjects: Drilling/drill rig; Leg44; Glomar Challenger; Deep Sea Drilling Project DSDP; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.472293; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.472293

Benthic foraminiferal assemblages are a widespread tool to understand changes in organic matter flux and bottom-water oxygenation and their relation to paleoceanographic changes in the Upper Cretaceous oceans. In this study, assemblage data (diversity, total number, and number per species and gram) from Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 390 (Blake Nose, western North Atlantic) were processed for the lower Maastrichtian (Globotruncana falsostuarti – Gansserina gansseri Planktic Foraminiferal Zone). These data document significant changes in nutrient flux to the sea floor as well as bottom-water oxygenation during this time interval. Parallel to the observed changes in the benthic foraminiferal assemblages the number of inoceramid shells decreases, reflecting also a significant increase in bottom-water oxygenation. We speculate, that these data could reflect the onset of a shift from warmer low-latitude to cooler high-latitude deep-water sources. This speculation will predate the major reorganization of ... : Contribution of the Kühlokrei Project ...