Benthic Foraminifera in Arctic Methane Hydrate Bearing Sediments
Benthic foraminifera have been widely used as proxy for paleo-methane emissions, mainly based on their stable isotopic signature. In cold seeps, the ecology of these organisms remains uncertain, in particular their ability to thrive during active phases of seepage. In this study, we evaluate the ben...
Published in: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2019
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00765 https://doaj.org/article/fa05e42f7402474c928be6f21cb92386 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:fa05e42f7402474c928be6f21cb92386 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:fa05e42f7402474c928be6f21cb92386 2023-05-15T14:31:47+02:00 Benthic Foraminifera in Arctic Methane Hydrate Bearing Sediments Pierre-Antoine Dessandier Chiara Borrelli Dimitri Kalenitchenko Giuliana Panieri 2019-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00765 https://doaj.org/article/fa05e42f7402474c928be6f21cb92386 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2019.00765/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00765 https://doaj.org/article/fa05e42f7402474c928be6f21cb92386 Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 6 (2019) benthic foraminiferal assemblages methane advection methane diffusion Arctic Ocean microbial mats Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00765 2022-12-31T15:36:01Z Benthic foraminifera have been widely used as proxy for paleo-methane emissions, mainly based on their stable isotopic signature. In cold seeps, the ecology of these organisms remains uncertain, in particular their ability to thrive during active phases of seepage. In this study, we evaluate the benthic foraminiferal response to methane seepage in Arctic sediments. We do so by examining living and dead benthic foraminiferal assemblages (>63 μm) of 11 push cores collected in two of the most active pockmarks (Lunde and Lomvi) along Vestnesa Ridge, offshore western Svalbard. Benthic foraminiferal assemblages are interpreted in the context of sediment geochemistry, seafloor images, and pore water analyses, which are used to characterize the different microhabitats. At the sampling locations, methane is currently being released making these the ideal sites to investigate the connection between the benthic foraminiferal distribution and methane seepage in the Arctic Ocean. Our results show that benthic calcareous foraminifera live in methane charged sediments, even if the faunal density and diversity is low. We note that the eutrophic-tolerant species Melonis barleeanus withstand the methane-induced hostile geochemical conditions and that it seems to prosper on the additional food availability represented by microbial mats growing at methane seeps. We also observe that the methane transport mechanisms affect different species differently. For example, sediments characterized by advective-like conditions are distinguished by a high density of living individuals, dominated by Cassidulina neoteretis, whereas sediments characterized by methane diffusion exhibit a very low faunal density. Agglutinated foraminifera are less abundant in sediments influenced by methane seepage, suggesting that this group of foraminifera does not tolerate the geochemical conditions at seeps. A comparison between the size fractions >63 and >125 μm highlights the importance of studying the finer size fraction for ecological studies in ... Article in Journal/Newspaper arctic methane Arctic Arctic Ocean Foraminifera* Lomvi Methane hydrate Svalbard Lunde Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Arctic Ocean Svalbard Lunde ENVELOPE(50.467,50.467,-66.967,-66.967) Frontiers in Marine Science 6 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
benthic foraminiferal assemblages methane advection methane diffusion Arctic Ocean microbial mats Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
spellingShingle |
benthic foraminiferal assemblages methane advection methane diffusion Arctic Ocean microbial mats Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Pierre-Antoine Dessandier Chiara Borrelli Dimitri Kalenitchenko Giuliana Panieri Benthic Foraminifera in Arctic Methane Hydrate Bearing Sediments |
topic_facet |
benthic foraminiferal assemblages methane advection methane diffusion Arctic Ocean microbial mats Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
description |
Benthic foraminifera have been widely used as proxy for paleo-methane emissions, mainly based on their stable isotopic signature. In cold seeps, the ecology of these organisms remains uncertain, in particular their ability to thrive during active phases of seepage. In this study, we evaluate the benthic foraminiferal response to methane seepage in Arctic sediments. We do so by examining living and dead benthic foraminiferal assemblages (>63 μm) of 11 push cores collected in two of the most active pockmarks (Lunde and Lomvi) along Vestnesa Ridge, offshore western Svalbard. Benthic foraminiferal assemblages are interpreted in the context of sediment geochemistry, seafloor images, and pore water analyses, which are used to characterize the different microhabitats. At the sampling locations, methane is currently being released making these the ideal sites to investigate the connection between the benthic foraminiferal distribution and methane seepage in the Arctic Ocean. Our results show that benthic calcareous foraminifera live in methane charged sediments, even if the faunal density and diversity is low. We note that the eutrophic-tolerant species Melonis barleeanus withstand the methane-induced hostile geochemical conditions and that it seems to prosper on the additional food availability represented by microbial mats growing at methane seeps. We also observe that the methane transport mechanisms affect different species differently. For example, sediments characterized by advective-like conditions are distinguished by a high density of living individuals, dominated by Cassidulina neoteretis, whereas sediments characterized by methane diffusion exhibit a very low faunal density. Agglutinated foraminifera are less abundant in sediments influenced by methane seepage, suggesting that this group of foraminifera does not tolerate the geochemical conditions at seeps. A comparison between the size fractions >63 and >125 μm highlights the importance of studying the finer size fraction for ecological studies in ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pierre-Antoine Dessandier Chiara Borrelli Dimitri Kalenitchenko Giuliana Panieri |
author_facet |
Pierre-Antoine Dessandier Chiara Borrelli Dimitri Kalenitchenko Giuliana Panieri |
author_sort |
Pierre-Antoine Dessandier |
title |
Benthic Foraminifera in Arctic Methane Hydrate Bearing Sediments |
title_short |
Benthic Foraminifera in Arctic Methane Hydrate Bearing Sediments |
title_full |
Benthic Foraminifera in Arctic Methane Hydrate Bearing Sediments |
title_fullStr |
Benthic Foraminifera in Arctic Methane Hydrate Bearing Sediments |
title_full_unstemmed |
Benthic Foraminifera in Arctic Methane Hydrate Bearing Sediments |
title_sort |
benthic foraminifera in arctic methane hydrate bearing sediments |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00765 https://doaj.org/article/fa05e42f7402474c928be6f21cb92386 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(50.467,50.467,-66.967,-66.967) |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Svalbard Lunde |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Svalbard Lunde |
genre |
arctic methane Arctic Arctic Ocean Foraminifera* Lomvi Methane hydrate Svalbard Lunde |
genre_facet |
arctic methane Arctic Arctic Ocean Foraminifera* Lomvi Methane hydrate Svalbard Lunde |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 6 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2019.00765/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00765 https://doaj.org/article/fa05e42f7402474c928be6f21cb92386 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00765 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
6 |
_version_ |
1766305320675573760 |