Ostracod Assemblages in the East Siberian Sea: A Comparative Study of River-Influenced and River-Isolated Shelf Ecosystems

The East Siberian Sea (ESS) is one of the least studied seas in terms of ostracod fauna. Ostracods are sensitive organisms to environmental changes, and detailed information on their ecology is still required. To fill this knowledge gap, we studied 33 meiobenthic dredge samples collected from the we...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Quaternary
Main Authors: Maria Zenina, Ekaterina Ovsepyan, Yaroslav Ovsepyan
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024
Subjects:
distribution
salinity
temperature
Chaun Bay
Indigirka River
Arctic Ocean
Human evolution
GN281-289
Stratigraphy
QE640-699
East Siberian Sea
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7010016
https://doaj.org/article/dd46a3a68c9f4185810dde0e74571b3e
Description
Summary:The East Siberian Sea (ESS) is one of the least studied seas in terms of ostracod fauna. Ostracods are sensitive organisms to environmental changes, and detailed information on their ecology is still required. To fill this knowledge gap, we studied 33 meiobenthic dredge samples collected from the western part of the ESS and the Chaun Bay together with 17 grab samples taken from the eastern part of the sea. Quantitative analyses of the ostracod assemblages demonstrate that the river-influenced western part of the ESS is inhabited by low diverse and impoverished fauna consisting of the taxa which are able to adapt to different environmental conditions. In the isolated Chaun Bay sheltered from significant riverine influence, the ostracod assemblages contain species that prefer more stable conditions. The predominance of living specimens over dead ones and individual valves points to strong carbonate dissolution that is more pronounced in the western ESS than in the Chaun Bay. The formation of such conditions might be related to the high content of dissolved carbon dioxide resulting from bacterial remineralization of in situ produced and land-derived organic matter in the bottom sediments and low pH near the seabed. Numerous ferromanganese crusts were found on the ostracod valve surfaces and inside the shells from the Chaun Bay.

Similar Items