Abstract
Detailed palynological studies in the northeast (NE) Pacific, Strait of Georgia (BC, Canada), southeast (SE) Pacific and northwest Pacific (Dongdo Bay, South Korea) resulted in the recognition of the new dinoflagellate cyst species Selenopemphix undulata sp. nov. This species is restricted to cool temperate to sub-polar climate zones, where it is found in highest relative abundances in highly productive non- to reduced upwelling regions with an annual mean sea-surface temperature (aSST) below 16 °C and an annual mean sea-surface salinity (aSSS) between 20 and 35. psu. Those observations are in agreement with the late Quaternary fossil records from Santa Barbara Basin (ODP 893; 34°N) and offshore Chile (ODP 1233; 41°S), where this species thrived during the last glacial. This period was characterised by high nutrient availability and the absence of species favouring upwelling conditions. The indirect dependence of S. undulata sp. nov. abundances on nutrient availability during reduced or non-upwelling periods is expressed by the synchronous fluctuations with diatom abundances, since the distribution and growth rates of the latter are directly related with the availability of macronutrients in the surface waters.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 65-83 |
Number of pages | 19 |
Journal | Marine Micropaleontology |
Volume | 78 |
Issue number | 3-4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 2011 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Thanks to Maryse Henry (GEOTOP-UQAM) for providing us the MODIS productivity data of the East Pacific core-top sites. Surface sample material is provided by Oregon State University (OSU), Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), U.S. Geological Survey (USGSMP) and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). M. A. Godoi Millan is thanked for providing additional surface sample material. M. J. Head and one anonymous reviewer are acknowledged, since their suggestions considerably improved the manuscript. Financial support to T.J. Verleye was provided by the Institute for the Encouragement of Innovation through Science and Technology in Flanders (IWT). This work was partially funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) through grant to V. Pospelova. K.N. Mertens is a Postdoctoral fellow of FWO Belgium.
Keywords
- (palaeo)ecology
- Dinoflagellate cysts
- Late Quaternary
- Pacific Ocean
- Selenopemphix undulata sp. nov.