Response of deep-sea benthonic foraminifera to development of ...
Valley, the sedimentology of Unit B in Ross Sea cores, benthic foraminifera from dirt bands on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, and diatoms in Ross Sea cores. Five new publications appeared during this period: Kellogg, Osterman, and Stuiver, 1979; Kellogg and Truesdale, 1979; Kellogg, Truesdale, and Osterman, 1979; Osterman and Kellogg, 1979; and Truesdale and Kellogg, 1979. We were assisted in the field by Carolyn Lepage. We thank the officers and men of U.S. Navy Antarctic Development Squadron (vxE-6) for their assistance in making our field project successful. This work has been supported by National Science Foundation grant DPP 7721083-AO1. References
Kellogg, D. E., M. Stuiver, T. B. Kellogg, and G. H. Denton. In press. Non-marine diatoms from Late Wisconsin perched deltas in Taylor Valley, Antarctica. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.
Kellogg, T. B., L. E. Osterman, and M. Stuiver. 1979. Late Quaternary paleo-oceanography and paleoclimatology of the Ross Sea, Antarctica: Relation to ecologic and oceano-
Response of deep-sea benthonic foraminifera to development of psychrosphere near Eocene/ Oligocene boundary BRUCE
H.
CoRLIss
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543
It has been suggested that the initiation of vigorous antarctic bottom water and the development of the psychrosphere (lower cold layer of a two-layer ocean with temperatures of less than 100 C) occurred near the Eocene/Oligocene boundary. The oxygen isotope curve from Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) site 277 for the Late Eocene-Early Oligocene (see figure) shows a sharp temperature drop (4° C) in the earliest Oligocene, which Kennett and Shackleton inferred to be associated with the development of the psychrosphere (1976). Previous studies suggested that the temperature drop associated with the development of the psychrosphere caused a crisis for deep-sea ostrocodes (Benson, 1975) and benthonic foraminifera (Douglas, 1973). To study the benthonic foraminiferal response to the development of the psychrosphere, I examined benthonic foraminifera in 15 closely spaced sediment samples, cores 16 to 24, from site 277 (52°13.43'S/166° 132
graphic conditions. Journal of Foraminiferal Research, 9: 32235.
Kellogg, T. B., M. Stuiver, D. E. Kellogg, and G. H. Denton. 1977. Marine microfossils on the McMurdo Ice Shelf. Antarctic Journal of the United States, 12(4): 82-83.
Kellogg, T. B., and R. S. Truesdale. 1979. Late Quaternary paleoecology and paleoclimatology of the Ross Sea: The diatom record. Marine Micropaleontology, 4: 137-58. Kellogg, T. B., R. S. Truesdale, and L. E. Osterman. 1979. Late Quaternary extent of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Geology, 7: 249-53.
Miagkov, S. M., G. N. Nedeshava, and E. I. Riabova. 1976. McMurdo Sound sea level changes in the last 50,000 years. Antarctic Journal of the United States, 11(4): 233-35.
Osterman, L. E., and T. B. Kellogg. 1979. Recent benthic foraminiferal distributions from the Ross Sea, Antarctica: Relation to ecologic and oceanographic conditions. Journal of Foramin[eral Research, 9: 250-69.
Stuiver, M., I. C. Yang, G. H. Denton, and T. B. Kellogg. In prep. Oxygen isotope ratios of antarctic permafrost and glacier ice. (To be submitted to the American Geophysical Union for the Antarctic Research Series.) Truesdale, R. S., and T. B. Kellogg. 1979. Ross Sea diatoms: Modern assemblage distributions and their relationship to ecologic, oceanographic, and sedimentary conditions. Marine Micropaleontology, 4: 13-31.
11.48'E, at 1,222 meters in the Southern Ocean. Approximately 300 benthonic foraminifera (greater than 125 micrometers in size) were picked from each sample and identified. The accompanying figure shows biostratigraphic ranges of 41 taxa. Numerically important species include Alabamina wilcoxensis Toulmin, Anomalinoides alazanensis (Nuttall), Astrononion pusillum Hornibrook, Cibicidoides dutemplei (d'Orbigny), Epistominella umbonifera (Cushman), Globocassidulina subglobosa (Brady), Gyroidinoides complanatus (Cushman and Stainforth), Gyroidinoides peramplus (Cushman and Stainforth), Oridorsalis umbonatus (Reuss), Pullenia eocenica (Cushman and Siegfus), and Pullenia quinqueloba (Reuss). A majority of the species show no response to the inferred temperature change (column a in figure). First or last occurrences of 19 other taxa are shown in column b of figure. Twelve first appearances and four last occurrences are recorded before the isotopic drop, one first appearance and one last occurrence during the event, and one first appearance and five last occurrences are recorded after the isotopic drop. Species that exhibit faunal changes are all of minor importance (equal to or less than 6 percent of the assemblage). Species frequencies of 4 dominant taxa, C. dutemplei, E. umbonfera, G. subglobosa, and 0. umbonatus, are shown in column c of figure. The inferred temperature drop did not affect the relative abundance of three of these species, but had a pronounced effect on the relative abundance of E. umbonfera and changed the composition of the assemblage. The faunal patterns indicate that only two fauna] changes coincided with the development of the psy. chrosphere. Faunal changes coming before and after the
EARLY OLIGOCENE
LATE EOCENE N) N) N) N) ()J N) G. brevis
0)
AGE CORE
G.
-
('I
-
I I I I 1 II I II
I
4/obcrnrnc wi/coxensis Anomo/ino,des o/ozonens,s Astrononion p,is,llum Astronon,on sp. C,b,c,do,o'es dulemp/e/ C,b,c,do,des ho/tens/s C/b/c/do/des four/sae Cibic/doides sp Cibicidoides ter,C//us C/b/c/do/des tuxpornensls Egger.//o brodyi Ep/stomine/lo umbon,/ero Globocossidu//no subg/oboso Gyroid/noides Comp/onotus Gyro/d/noio'es peromp/us Cyroidino/des sp. Lanticu/ino spp. t'on,on hovonense Or/dorsal/s umbonotus Pu//en/a eOcen/ca Pu//en/c quinque/oba Rota/jot/no mwcono Anomo//noid,s pomp/I/o/des Bu/im,no subiruncono C#b/c/doides gronu/osus 7eponides sp /1.ror,o/Ienio /ingu/oto Korrer,eI/o olticomero Lot,cor/n,no pouperoto Nonion.//ino sp Osongel/oria sp P/eurostome//o sp. PU//snio r,yero/ Pu//eno sp Rectuvigerino sp S/gmon,orph,no sp Sphoroidino ba/to/des Turn/mo robrts/ Uvignino sp. Uvig.nino splAicostoto Uc/gen/no spinuloso
0
U'
I
U
I
•
I U
I
U
U I
I
I
-
4-
44-* •
4-
I
I U I'I 14-
CY
-cul 4-*U
I.-
4-D 44-I
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0
•
7
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000
0
Summary of benthonic foraminiferal blostratigraphic data of 41 taxa from DSDP site 277 Key: Left-hand columns = inferred age, core recovery, planktonic foraminiferal zones, and isotopic curve based on mixed benthonlc foraminifera (Kennett and Shackleton, 1976); tick marks alongside column a = samples examined for benthonic foraminiferal analysis; column a = taxa lacking first or last occurrences, open arrows = first appearances; solid arrows = last occurrences); column b = taxa exhibiting first or last occurrences; column c = quantitative data of four dominant benthonic foramlniferal species. 133
isotopic change appear to have occurred gradually. These data and other faunal data from the Pacific (Douglas, 1973) and Atlantic (Boersma, 1977; Proto Decima and Bolli, 1977) suggest that the faunal turnover documented in Eocene-Oligocene time occurred in a gradual manner and that the immediate response of the benthonic foraminifera to the inferred temperature change was limited to a few taxa. The lack of faunal change occurring immediately after the bottom-water temperature drop suggests that the species must have had fairly wide environmental tolerances and that stenotopic species, such as those found presently in the deep sea, evolved sometime after the development of the psychrosphere. The isotopic data at site 277 show a pronounced cooling in bottom waters occurring in the Mid-Early Eocene followed generally by a steady decrease in bottom temperatures to the Eocene/Oligocene boundary where the sharp temperature drop is observed (Shackleton and Kennett, 1975). The decrease in bottom temperatures during the Middle-Late Eocene may reflect the initial and gradual development of the psychrosphere, with the isotopic change near the Eocene/Oligocene boundary representing part of this development and caused by some event that marks a threshold in Southern Ocean paleocirculation. If the psychrosphere did develop gradually, this would account for the gradual changes in benthonic foraminifera observed during the Late Eocene previous to the isotopic drop near the Eocene/Oligocene boundary.
Amino acid stereochemistry in siliceous oozes: Indications of bacterial activity DETLEF A. WARNKE
and DAVID J . BLUNT
Department of Geological Sciences California State University Hayward, California 94542
GLENN E. POLLOCK Ames Research Center National Aeronautics and Space Administration Moffett Field, California 94035
We are continuing our studies of enantiomeric (D-L) ratios of amino acids in Southern Ocean sediments, particularly with respect to the possibility of using such ratios as age indicators (Warnke, Blunt, and Pollock, in 134
This research has been supported by National Science Foundation grants DPP 78-21105 and DPP 77-06687. Discussions with J . P. Kennett are acknowledged. References Benson, R. H. 1975. The origin of the psychrosphere as recorded in changes of deep-sea ostracode assemblages. Lethaia, 8: 69-83. Boersma, A. 1977. Eocene to early Miocene benthic foraminifera D5DP Leg 39, South Atlantic. In Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, 39: 643-56. (P. R. Supko et al.) Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. Douglas, R. C. 1973. Benthonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy in the central North Pacific, Leg 17, Deep Sea Drilling Project. In Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, 17: 60771. (E. L. Winterer et al.) Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. Kennett, J . P., and N. J . Shackleton. 1976. Oxygen isotope evidence for the development of the psychrosphere 38 Myr ago. Nature, 260: 513-15. Proto Decima, F., and H. M. Bolli. 1978. Southeast Atlantic DSDP Leg 40 Paleogene benthic foraminifers. In Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, 40: 783-809. (H. M. Bolli et al.) Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. Shackleton, N. J . , and J . P. Kennett. 1975. Paleotemperature history of the Cenozoic and the initiation of antarctic glaciation: Oxygen and carbon isotope analyses in DSDP Sites 277, 279, and 281. In Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, 29, 734-55. U. P. Kennett et al.) Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
press). We have investigated D-L ratios in both calcareous sediments (Blunt, Warnke, and DeFelice, 1978; Blunt and Warnke, in press) and siliceous sediments (Blunt, Warnke, and Pollock, 1977; Warnke, Blunt, and Pollock, in press). These studies have confirmed that D-L ratios of amino acids increase with time because of the diagenesis of proteinaceous skeletal debris. Our initial observations of amino acid D-L ratios in siliceous materials from the Weddell Sea showed only slight increases for proline and aspartic acid (of seven amino acids investigated). However, early results from cores collected during two ARA Islas Orcadas cruises (July 1975 and December 1977) showed such increases much more clearly. We have now analyzed (near-) surface sediments from cores raised east of the Scotia Arc. The experimental cores consist essentially of diatomaceous ooze, with some volcaniclastic and other admixtures (taken from Cassidy et al., 1977). We washed samples from these cores with distilled water and hydrolyzed them. The hydrolysate was removed, desalted, and the amino acid extracts were derivatized as N-pentafluoroprOprionyl-(+)-(2)-butyl esters. These derivatives were resolved by gas chromatography on stationary phases of Carbowax 20M and UCON 75H-90,000 in a stainless steel column measuring 200 feet by 0.02 inch. Details of the procedures are provided in Warnke, Blunt, and Pollock (in press). The resulting
Kellogg, D. E., M. Stuiver, T. B. Kellogg, and G. H. Denton. In press. Non-marine diatoms from Late Wisconsin perched deltas in Taylor Valley, Antarctica. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.
Kellogg, T. B., L. E. Osterman, and M. Stuiver. 1979. Late Quaternary paleo-oceanography and paleoclimatology of the Ross Sea, Antarctica: Relation to ecologic and oceano-
Response of deep-sea benthonic foraminifera to development of psychrosphere near Eocene/ Oligocene boundary BRUCE
H.
CoRLIss
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543
It has been suggested that the initiation of vigorous antarctic bottom water and the development of the psychrosphere (lower cold layer of a two-layer ocean with temperatures of less than 100 C) occurred near the Eocene/Oligocene boundary. The oxygen isotope curve from Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) site 277 for the Late Eocene-Early Oligocene (see figure) shows a sharp temperature drop (4° C) in the earliest Oligocene, which Kennett and Shackleton inferred to be associated with the development of the psychrosphere (1976). Previous studies suggested that the temperature drop associated with the development of the psychrosphere caused a crisis for deep-sea ostrocodes (Benson, 1975) and benthonic foraminifera (Douglas, 1973). To study the benthonic foraminiferal response to the development of the psychrosphere, I examined benthonic foraminifera in 15 closely spaced sediment samples, cores 16 to 24, from site 277 (52°13.43'S/166° 132
graphic conditions. Journal of Foraminiferal Research, 9: 32235.
Kellogg, T. B., M. Stuiver, D. E. Kellogg, and G. H. Denton. 1977. Marine microfossils on the McMurdo Ice Shelf. Antarctic Journal of the United States, 12(4): 82-83.
Kellogg, T. B., and R. S. Truesdale. 1979. Late Quaternary paleoecology and paleoclimatology of the Ross Sea: The diatom record. Marine Micropaleontology, 4: 137-58. Kellogg, T. B., R. S. Truesdale, and L. E. Osterman. 1979. Late Quaternary extent of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Geology, 7: 249-53.
Miagkov, S. M., G. N. Nedeshava, and E. I. Riabova. 1976. McMurdo Sound sea level changes in the last 50,000 years. Antarctic Journal of the United States, 11(4): 233-35.
Osterman, L. E., and T. B. Kellogg. 1979. Recent benthic foraminiferal distributions from the Ross Sea, Antarctica: Relation to ecologic and oceanographic conditions. Journal of Foramin[eral Research, 9: 250-69.
Stuiver, M., I. C. Yang, G. H. Denton, and T. B. Kellogg. In prep. Oxygen isotope ratios of antarctic permafrost and glacier ice. (To be submitted to the American Geophysical Union for the Antarctic Research Series.) Truesdale, R. S., and T. B. Kellogg. 1979. Ross Sea diatoms: Modern assemblage distributions and their relationship to ecologic, oceanographic, and sedimentary conditions. Marine Micropaleontology, 4: 13-31.
11.48'E, at 1,222 meters in the Southern Ocean. Approximately 300 benthonic foraminifera (greater than 125 micrometers in size) were picked from each sample and identified. The accompanying figure shows biostratigraphic ranges of 41 taxa. Numerically important species include Alabamina wilcoxensis Toulmin, Anomalinoides alazanensis (Nuttall), Astrononion pusillum Hornibrook, Cibicidoides dutemplei (d'Orbigny), Epistominella umbonifera (Cushman), Globocassidulina subglobosa (Brady), Gyroidinoides complanatus (Cushman and Stainforth), Gyroidinoides peramplus (Cushman and Stainforth), Oridorsalis umbonatus (Reuss), Pullenia eocenica (Cushman and Siegfus), and Pullenia quinqueloba (Reuss). A majority of the species show no response to the inferred temperature change (column a in figure). First or last occurrences of 19 other taxa are shown in column b of figure. Twelve first appearances and four last occurrences are recorded before the isotopic drop, one first appearance and one last occurrence during the event, and one first appearance and five last occurrences are recorded after the isotopic drop. Species that exhibit faunal changes are all of minor importance (equal to or less than 6 percent of the assemblage). Species frequencies of 4 dominant taxa, C. dutemplei, E. umbonfera, G. subglobosa, and 0. umbonatus, are shown in column c of figure. The inferred temperature drop did not affect the relative abundance of three of these species, but had a pronounced effect on the relative abundance of E. umbonfera and changed the composition of the assemblage. The faunal patterns indicate that only two fauna] changes coincided with the development of the psy. chrosphere. Faunal changes coming before and after the
EARLY OLIGOCENE
LATE EOCENE N) N) N) N) ()J N) G. brevis
0)
AGE CORE
G.
-
('I
-
I I I I 1 II I II
I
4/obcrnrnc wi/coxensis Anomo/ino,des o/ozonens,s Astrononion p,is,llum Astronon,on sp. C,b,c,do,o'es dulemp/e/ C,b,c,do,des ho/tens/s C/b/c/do/des four/sae Cibic/doides sp Cibicidoides ter,C//us C/b/c/do/des tuxpornensls Egger.//o brodyi Ep/stomine/lo umbon,/ero Globocossidu//no subg/oboso Gyroid/noides Comp/onotus Gyro/d/noio'es peromp/us Cyroidino/des sp. Lanticu/ino spp. t'on,on hovonense Or/dorsal/s umbonotus Pu//en/a eOcen/ca Pu//en/c quinque/oba Rota/jot/no mwcono Anomo//noid,s pomp/I/o/des Bu/im,no subiruncono C#b/c/doides gronu/osus 7eponides sp /1.ror,o/Ienio /ingu/oto Korrer,eI/o olticomero Lot,cor/n,no pouperoto Nonion.//ino sp Osongel/oria sp P/eurostome//o sp. PU//snio r,yero/ Pu//eno sp Rectuvigerino sp S/gmon,orph,no sp Sphoroidino ba/to/des Turn/mo robrts/ Uvignino sp. Uvig.nino splAicostoto Uc/gen/no spinuloso
0
U'
I
U
I
•
I U
I
U
U I
I
I
-
4-
44-* •
4-
I
I U I'I 14-
CY
-cul 4-*U
I.-
4-D 44-I
U
0
•
7
Ii
C)
000
0
Summary of benthonic foraminiferal blostratigraphic data of 41 taxa from DSDP site 277 Key: Left-hand columns = inferred age, core recovery, planktonic foraminiferal zones, and isotopic curve based on mixed benthonlc foraminifera (Kennett and Shackleton, 1976); tick marks alongside column a = samples examined for benthonic foraminiferal analysis; column a = taxa lacking first or last occurrences, open arrows = first appearances; solid arrows = last occurrences); column b = taxa exhibiting first or last occurrences; column c = quantitative data of four dominant benthonic foramlniferal species. 133
isotopic change appear to have occurred gradually. These data and other faunal data from the Pacific (Douglas, 1973) and Atlantic (Boersma, 1977; Proto Decima and Bolli, 1977) suggest that the faunal turnover documented in Eocene-Oligocene time occurred in a gradual manner and that the immediate response of the benthonic foraminifera to the inferred temperature change was limited to a few taxa. The lack of faunal change occurring immediately after the bottom-water temperature drop suggests that the species must have had fairly wide environmental tolerances and that stenotopic species, such as those found presently in the deep sea, evolved sometime after the development of the psychrosphere. The isotopic data at site 277 show a pronounced cooling in bottom waters occurring in the Mid-Early Eocene followed generally by a steady decrease in bottom temperatures to the Eocene/Oligocene boundary where the sharp temperature drop is observed (Shackleton and Kennett, 1975). The decrease in bottom temperatures during the Middle-Late Eocene may reflect the initial and gradual development of the psychrosphere, with the isotopic change near the Eocene/Oligocene boundary representing part of this development and caused by some event that marks a threshold in Southern Ocean paleocirculation. If the psychrosphere did develop gradually, this would account for the gradual changes in benthonic foraminifera observed during the Late Eocene previous to the isotopic drop near the Eocene/Oligocene boundary.
Amino acid stereochemistry in siliceous oozes: Indications of bacterial activity DETLEF A. WARNKE
and DAVID J . BLUNT
Department of Geological Sciences California State University Hayward, California 94542
GLENN E. POLLOCK Ames Research Center National Aeronautics and Space Administration Moffett Field, California 94035
We are continuing our studies of enantiomeric (D-L) ratios of amino acids in Southern Ocean sediments, particularly with respect to the possibility of using such ratios as age indicators (Warnke, Blunt, and Pollock, in 134
This research has been supported by National Science Foundation grants DPP 78-21105 and DPP 77-06687. Discussions with J . P. Kennett are acknowledged. References Benson, R. H. 1975. The origin of the psychrosphere as recorded in changes of deep-sea ostracode assemblages. Lethaia, 8: 69-83. Boersma, A. 1977. Eocene to early Miocene benthic foraminifera D5DP Leg 39, South Atlantic. In Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, 39: 643-56. (P. R. Supko et al.) Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. Douglas, R. C. 1973. Benthonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy in the central North Pacific, Leg 17, Deep Sea Drilling Project. In Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, 17: 60771. (E. L. Winterer et al.) Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. Kennett, J . P., and N. J . Shackleton. 1976. Oxygen isotope evidence for the development of the psychrosphere 38 Myr ago. Nature, 260: 513-15. Proto Decima, F., and H. M. Bolli. 1978. Southeast Atlantic DSDP Leg 40 Paleogene benthic foraminifers. In Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, 40: 783-809. (H. M. Bolli et al.) Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. Shackleton, N. J . , and J . P. Kennett. 1975. Paleotemperature history of the Cenozoic and the initiation of antarctic glaciation: Oxygen and carbon isotope analyses in DSDP Sites 277, 279, and 281. In Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, 29, 734-55. U. P. Kennett et al.) Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
press). We have investigated D-L ratios in both calcareous sediments (Blunt, Warnke, and DeFelice, 1978; Blunt and Warnke, in press) and siliceous sediments (Blunt, Warnke, and Pollock, 1977; Warnke, Blunt, and Pollock, in press). These studies have confirmed that D-L ratios of amino acids increase with time because of the diagenesis of proteinaceous skeletal debris. Our initial observations of amino acid D-L ratios in siliceous materials from the Weddell Sea showed only slight increases for proline and aspartic acid (of seven amino acids investigated). However, early results from cores collected during two ARA Islas Orcadas cruises (July 1975 and December 1977) showed such increases much more clearly. We have now analyzed (near-) surface sediments from cores raised east of the Scotia Arc. The experimental cores consist essentially of diatomaceous ooze, with some volcaniclastic and other admixtures (taken from Cassidy et al., 1977). We washed samples from these cores with distilled water and hydrolyzed them. The hydrolysate was removed, desalted, and the amino acid extracts were derivatized as N-pentafluoroprOprionyl-(+)-(2)-butyl esters. These derivatives were resolved by gas chromatography on stationary phases of Carbowax 20M and UCON 75H-90,000 in a stainless steel column measuring 200 feet by 0.02 inch. Details of the procedures are provided in Warnke, Blunt, and Pollock (in press). The resulting
