(Appendix A) Relative abundance of Emiliania huxleyi in sediment cores of the North Atlantic
Citation
Flores J, Colmenero-Hidalgo E, Mejía Molina A E, Baumann K, Henderiks J, Larsson K, Prabhu C N, Sierro F J, Rodrigues T (2010). (Appendix A) Relative abundance of Emiliania huxleyi in sediment cores of the North Atlantic. PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.774598 accessed via GBIF.org on 2025-07-17.Description
The coccolithophore species Emiliania huxleyi is characterized by a wide range of sizes, which can be easily distinguished in the light microscope. In this study we have quantified the abundance of large (coccoliths > 4 µm in maximum length) E. huxleyi specimens during the last 25 kyr in sedimentary records from eleven cores and drill sites in the NE Atlantic and W Mediterranean Sea, to prove its usefulness in the reconstruction of water mass dynamics and biostratigraphic potential. During the Last Glacial Maximum this large form, a cold-water indicator, was common in the NE Atlantic and Mediterranean, and its regional variation in abundance indicates a displacement of the climatic zones southwards in agreement with the development of ice sheets and sea ice in the Northern Hemisphere during this period. On the other hand, the gradient between northern and southern surface water masses in the Subtropical Gyre appears to have been more pronounced than at present, while the Portugal and Canary Currents were more intense. In the western Mediterranean basin temperatures were cooler than in the adjacent Atlantic, provoking a quasi-endemism of these specimens until the end of Heinrich Event 1. This may have been due to a restriction in the communication between the Atlantic and Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar, the arrival of cold surface water and the amplification of cooling after the development of ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere. During the deglaciation, large E. huxleyi specimens decreased in abundance at medium and low latitudes, but were still numerous close to the Subarctic region during the Holocene. In transitional waters this decrease to present day abundances occurred after Termination Ib. The abrupt change in abundance of this large E. huxleyi form is proposed as a new biostratigraphic event to characterize the Holocene in mid- to low-latitude water masses in the North Atlantic, although this horizon seems to be diachronous by 5 kyr from tropical to subarctic regions, in agreement with the gradual onset of warm conditions.Taxonomic Coverages
-
Chromistarank: kingdom
- rank: kingdom
Geographic Coverages
Event: 162-984,
South Atlantic Ocean
; Event: GeoB5546-2, ; Event: M39/1_29-7, ; Event: MD03-2699,
Iberian slope
; Event: MD03-2705,
North Atlantic
; Event: MD95-2037,
Azores
; Event: MD95-2043,
Alboran Sea
; Event: MD99-2343,
North Minorca
; Event: NEAP-08K, ; Event: SU90-08,
North Atlantic
; Event: SV-04,
Norwegian Sea
;
Bibliographic Citations
Contacts
José-Abel Floresoriginator
Elena Colmenero-Hidalgo
originator
Alejandra E Mejía Molina
originator
Karl-Heinz Baumann
originator
Jorijntje Henderiks
originator
Kristina Larsson
originator
C N Prabhu
originator
Francisco Javier Sierro
originator
Teresa Rodrigues
originator
metadata author
PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science
email: info@pangaea.de
homepage: https://www.pangaea.de
Frank-Oliver Glöckner
administrative point of contact
Robert Huber
administrative point of contact