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The Response of Benthic Foraminifera to Low-Oxygen Conditions of the Peruvian Oxygen Minimum Zone

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Anoxia

Part of the book series: Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology ((COLE,volume 21))

Abstract

Recent benthic foraminifera and their distribution in surface sediments were studied on a transect through the Peruvian oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) between 10 and 12°S. The OMZ with its steep gradients of oxygen concentrations allows determinations of the oxygen-dependent changes of species compositions in a relatively small area. Our results from sediments of 13 multicorer stations from 79 to 823 m water depth demonstrate that calcareous species, especially bolivinids, dominate the assemblages throughout the OMZ. The depth distribution of several species matches distinct ranges of bottom water oxygen levels. The distribution pattern inferred a proxy which allows estimating dissolved oxygen concentrations for reconstructing oxygen levels in the geological past.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. S. Sommer and S. Kriwanek for providing us with the calibrated oxygen data and Dr. C. Hensen for providing the Corg and [NO3] data. A. Bleyer, B. Domeyer and R. Ebbinghaus are gratefully acknowledged for the analytical work onboard. Very special thanks go to Dr. M. E. Perez for supporting us with taxonomy and also for fruitful discussions and for providing us access to the foraminiferal collection at the National History Museum, London. This study was financially supported by the DFG through the Sonderforschungsbereich 754: “Climate – Biogeochemistry Interactions in the Tropical Ocean.”

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Sonderforschungsbereich 754, Kiel, Germany

    Jürgen Mallon & Nicolaas Glock

  2. Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences, Ifm-Geomar, Wischhofstrasse 1-3, D-24148, Kiel, Germany

    Jürgen Mallon, Nicolaas Glock & Joachim Schönfeld

Authors
  1. Jürgen Mallon
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  2. Nicolaas Glock
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  3. Joachim Schönfeld
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jürgen Mallon .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Dept. for Earth and Environmental Resear, Ludwig-maximilians-University, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, Munich, 80333, Germany

    Alexander V. Altenbach

  2. , Geology & Geophysics Department, Wood Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole Road 266, Woods Hole, 02543, Massachusetts, USA

    Joan M. Bernhard

  3. Jerusalem, The Hebrew University Of, P.O.Box 1132, Efrat, 90435, Israel

    Joseph Seckbach

Appendices

Appendix 1: Faunal Reference List

Species

References

Angulogerina angulosa (Williamson, 1858)

Loeblich and Tappan (1994): p. 487, pl. 250, figs. 13–20.

Bolivina alata (Seguenza, 1862)

van Marle (1991): p. 305, pl. 17, figs. 1–2.

Bolivina costata (d’Orbigny, 1839)

Resig (1981): p. 647, pl. 1, fig. 1.

Bolivina interjuncta (Cushman, 1926)

Boltovskoy and Theyer (1970): p. 304, pl. 1, figs. 8, 9.

Bolivina plicata (d’Orbigny, 1839)

Resig (1981): p. 647, pl. 1, figs. 3, 4.

Bolivina seminuda (Cushman, 1911)

Resig (1981): p. 655, pl. 5, fig. 14.

Bolivina serrata (Natland, 1938)

Whittaker (1988): p. 100, pl. 13, figs. 1–3.

Bolivina spissa (Cushman, 1926)

Resig (1981): p. 647, pl. 1, fig. 7.

Bolivina minuta (Natland, 1938)

Resig (1981): p. 647, pl. 1, fig. 9.

Cancris carmenensis (Natland, 1950)

Resig (1981): p. 649, pl. 2, fig. 9–11.

Cassidulina crassa (d’Orbigny, 1839)

van Marle (1991): p. 289, pl. 9, figs. 13–15.

Cyclammina cancellata (Brady, 1879)

Zheng (2001): pl. 52, figs. 3–6.

Fursenkoina fusiformis (Williamson, 1858)

Murray (1971): p. 184, pl. 77, figs. 1–5.

Globobulimina pacifica (Cushman, 1927)

Loeblich and Tappan (1994): p. 480, pl. 243, figs. 13–16.

Nonionella stella (Cushman & Moyer, 1930)

Narayan et al. (2005): p. 147, pl. 4, fig. 23.

Uvigerina peregrina (Cushman, 1923)

Frezza and Carboni (2009): p. 56, pl. 2, fig. 15.

Valvulineria glabra (Cushman, 1927)

Loeblich and Tappan (1994): p. 505, pl. 268, figs. 1–3.

Appendix 2: Supplementary Data

Supplementary data to this article can be found online at: http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.757092

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Mallon, J., Glock, N., Schönfeld, J. (2012). The Response of Benthic Foraminifera to Low-Oxygen Conditions of the Peruvian Oxygen Minimum Zone. In: Altenbach, A., Bernhard, J., Seckbach, J. (eds) Anoxia. Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, vol 21. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1896-8_16

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