Cold-Water Coral Mound Archive Provides Unique Insights Into Intermediate Water Mass Dynamics in the Alboran Sea During the Last Deglaciation
The Alboran Sea is widely recognized to host numerous cold-water coral ecosystems, including the East Melilla Coral Province. Yet, their development through time and response to climatic variability has still to be fully understood. Based on a combined investigation of benthic foraminiferal assembla...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a071ab253f74488ca3695d9ae4a8028d 2023-05-15T16:25:08+02:00 Cold-Water Coral Mound Archive Provides Unique Insights Into Intermediate Water Mass Dynamics in the Alboran Sea During the Last Deglaciation Robin Fentimen Eline Feenstra Andres Rüggeberg Torsten Vennemann Irka Hajdas Thierry Adatte David Van Rooij Anneleen Foubert 2020-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00354 https://doaj.org/article/a071ab253f74488ca3695d9ae4a8028d EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2020.00354/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00354 https://doaj.org/article/a071ab253f74488ca3695d9ae4a8028d Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 7 (2020) benthic foraminifera stable isotopes grain size Mediterranean paleoenvironment Bølling-Allerød Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00354 2022-12-31T11:32:09Z The Alboran Sea is widely recognized to host numerous cold-water coral ecosystems, including the East Melilla Coral Province. Yet, their development through time and response to climatic variability has still to be fully understood. Based on a combined investigation of benthic foraminiferal assemblages, foraminiferal stable isotope compositions, grain size analysis, sediment geochemistry, and macrofaunal quantification, this study identifies key events and processes having governed cold-water coral development at the East Melilla Coral Province between Greenland Stadial 2.1 and the Early Holocene. The transition from Greenland Stadial 2.1 to Greenland Interstadial 1 is associated to a decline of bryozoan communities and their replacement by cold-water corals, together with changes in benthic foraminiferal assemblages and a decrease in the sediment mean grain size. These results suggest that a rapid decrease in bottom currents and the establishment of dysoxic and mesotrophic conditions at the seafloor, possibly associated to enhanced fluvial input, resulted in the decline of bryozoans as the dominant suspension feeding organisms and their replacement by a thriving cold-water coral community. This transition from a bryozoan to a coral dominated environment is concomitant with the beginning of the African Humid Period, confirming that increasing fluvial input could have been a main factor triggering the establishment of cold-water corals in the East Melilla Coral Province during Greenland Interstadial 1. A change in benthic foraminiferal communities and an increase in the sediment mean grain size mark the passage from the Early to Late Greenland Interstadial 1. The current velocity of intermediate water masses is suggested to have increased during the Early to Late Greenland Interstadial 1, whilst simultaneously fluvial input would have reduced. Such changes suggest that the climate became more arid during the second phase of Greenland Interstadial 1. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Greenland Frontiers in Marine Science 7 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
benthic foraminifera stable isotopes grain size Mediterranean paleoenvironment Bølling-Allerød Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
spellingShingle |
benthic foraminifera stable isotopes grain size Mediterranean paleoenvironment Bølling-Allerød Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Robin Fentimen Eline Feenstra Andres Rüggeberg Torsten Vennemann Irka Hajdas Thierry Adatte David Van Rooij Anneleen Foubert Cold-Water Coral Mound Archive Provides Unique Insights Into Intermediate Water Mass Dynamics in the Alboran Sea During the Last Deglaciation |
topic_facet |
benthic foraminifera stable isotopes grain size Mediterranean paleoenvironment Bølling-Allerød Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
description |
The Alboran Sea is widely recognized to host numerous cold-water coral ecosystems, including the East Melilla Coral Province. Yet, their development through time and response to climatic variability has still to be fully understood. Based on a combined investigation of benthic foraminiferal assemblages, foraminiferal stable isotope compositions, grain size analysis, sediment geochemistry, and macrofaunal quantification, this study identifies key events and processes having governed cold-water coral development at the East Melilla Coral Province between Greenland Stadial 2.1 and the Early Holocene. The transition from Greenland Stadial 2.1 to Greenland Interstadial 1 is associated to a decline of bryozoan communities and their replacement by cold-water corals, together with changes in benthic foraminiferal assemblages and a decrease in the sediment mean grain size. These results suggest that a rapid decrease in bottom currents and the establishment of dysoxic and mesotrophic conditions at the seafloor, possibly associated to enhanced fluvial input, resulted in the decline of bryozoans as the dominant suspension feeding organisms and their replacement by a thriving cold-water coral community. This transition from a bryozoan to a coral dominated environment is concomitant with the beginning of the African Humid Period, confirming that increasing fluvial input could have been a main factor triggering the establishment of cold-water corals in the East Melilla Coral Province during Greenland Interstadial 1. A change in benthic foraminiferal communities and an increase in the sediment mean grain size mark the passage from the Early to Late Greenland Interstadial 1. The current velocity of intermediate water masses is suggested to have increased during the Early to Late Greenland Interstadial 1, whilst simultaneously fluvial input would have reduced. Such changes suggest that the climate became more arid during the second phase of Greenland Interstadial 1. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Robin Fentimen Eline Feenstra Andres Rüggeberg Torsten Vennemann Irka Hajdas Thierry Adatte David Van Rooij Anneleen Foubert |
author_facet |
Robin Fentimen Eline Feenstra Andres Rüggeberg Torsten Vennemann Irka Hajdas Thierry Adatte David Van Rooij Anneleen Foubert |
author_sort |
Robin Fentimen |
title |
Cold-Water Coral Mound Archive Provides Unique Insights Into Intermediate Water Mass Dynamics in the Alboran Sea During the Last Deglaciation |
title_short |
Cold-Water Coral Mound Archive Provides Unique Insights Into Intermediate Water Mass Dynamics in the Alboran Sea During the Last Deglaciation |
title_full |
Cold-Water Coral Mound Archive Provides Unique Insights Into Intermediate Water Mass Dynamics in the Alboran Sea During the Last Deglaciation |
title_fullStr |
Cold-Water Coral Mound Archive Provides Unique Insights Into Intermediate Water Mass Dynamics in the Alboran Sea During the Last Deglaciation |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cold-Water Coral Mound Archive Provides Unique Insights Into Intermediate Water Mass Dynamics in the Alboran Sea During the Last Deglaciation |
title_sort |
cold-water coral mound archive provides unique insights into intermediate water mass dynamics in the alboran sea during the last deglaciation |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00354 https://doaj.org/article/a071ab253f74488ca3695d9ae4a8028d |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland |
genre_facet |
Greenland |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 7 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2020.00354/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00354 https://doaj.org/article/a071ab253f74488ca3695d9ae4a8028d |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00354 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
7 |
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1766013835539382272 |