Response of pteropod and related faunas to climate change and ocean acidification ...

• Main Author: Wall-Palmer, Deborah
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of Plymouth 2013
• Subjects: Pteropod; Heteropod; Planktic Foraminifera; Caribbean Sea; Mediterranean Sea; Indian Ocean; Late Pleistocene; Calcification; Ocean Acidification; Limacina Dissolution Index; Indian; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.24382/1709; https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/handle/10026.1/1398

Recent concern over the effects of ocean acidification upon calcifying organisms in the modern ocean has highlighted the aragonitic shelled thecosomatous pteropods as being at a high risk. Laboratory studies have shown that increased pCO2, leading to decreased pH and low carbonate concentrations, has a negative impact on the ability of pteropods to calcify and maintain their shells. This study presents the micropalaeontological analysis of marine cores from the Caribbean Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean. Pteropods, heteropods and planktic foraminifera were picked from samples to provide palaeoenvironmental data for each core. Determination of pteropod calcification was made using the Limacina Dissolution Index (LDX) and the average shell size of Limacina inflata specimens. Pteropod calcification indices were compared to global ice volume and Vostok atmospheric CO2 concentrations to determine any associations between climate and calcification. Results show that changes in surface ocean carbonate ...