Abstract
A synoptic study is carried out to reconstruct the development of the plankton community in the late Quaternary in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea. It comprises quantitative analyses of coccolithophores, dinoflagellate cysts, diatoms and radiolarians. An actualistic approach is applied to evaluate the different fossil records of these plankton groups. The preliminary results of the current investigation are reported here.
The composition and distribution of living communities of coccolithophores are presented as an example. A close relationship between the distribution of regional groups and surface water masses is observed. Seasonal vertical fluxes of coccolithophores and radiolarians through the water column show similar patterns within different years. However, diatoms are highly variable, both in absolute fluxes and species composition. The differentiation of sporadic and periodic processes is evident only after several years of observation. During settling and sedimentation biotic and abiotic processes such as grazing, dissolution and lateral transport alter the assemblages.
Investigation of death assemblages in surface sediments reveals that in spite of these alteration processes the abundance and species distribution are related to surface water masses. Higher abundances and diversities are usually found in sediments underlying the warm Norwegian Current. Concentrations decrease to the north-west towards the cold polar water masses.
The sediment assemblages of all groups are strongly altered relicts of former living communities. They are characterized by distinct changes in species composition and absolute abundances related to palaeo-oceanographic development. Their variation through the sedimentary record is used to distinguish four ecostratigraphic units during the late Weichselian and Holocene.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abelmann A (1992) Diatom assemblages in Arctic sea ice — indicator for ice drift pathways. Deep-Sea Res 39:525–538
Andruleit H (1994) Zur Sedimentation von Coccolithophoriden: Ein Vergleich von Sinkstoff-Fallen aus der Norwegensee und Grönlandsee. Greifswalder Geowiss Beitr R A Bd 2:7–9
Backman J, Shackleton NJ (1983) Quantitative biochronology of Pliocene and early Pleistocene calcareous nannofossils from the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. Mar Micropaleontol 8:141–170
Bathmann UV, Peinert R, Noji TT, von Bodungen B (1990) Pelagic origin and fate of sedimenting particles in the Norwegian Sea. Progr Oceanogr 24:117–125
Bauerfeind E, von Bodungen B, Arndt K, Koeve W. Particle flux, and composition of sedimenting matter, in the Greenland Sea. J Mar Syst, in press
Baumann K-H (1990) Veränderlichkeit der Coccolithophoridenflora des Europäischen Nordmeeres im Jungquartär. Ber Sonderforschungsbereich 313, Univ Kiel 22:1–146
Baumann K-H, Matthiessen J (1992) Variations in surface water mass conditions in the Norwegian Sea: evidence from Holocene coccolith and dinoflagellate cyst assemblages. Mar Micropaleontol 20:129–146
Berger WH, Smetacek VS, Wefer G (1989) Ocean productivity and paleoproductivity — an overview. In: Berger WH, Smetacek VS, Wefer G (eds) Production of Ocean: Present and Past. Wiley, Chichester, pp 1–34
Bjørklund KR (1973) Radiolarians from the surface sediment in Lindåspollene, western Norway. Sarsia 53:71–75
Bjørklund KR (1985) Upper Weichselian-Holocene radiolarian stratigraphy in the Skagerrak (NE North Sea). Norsk Geol Tidsskr 65:103–106
Bjørklund KR, Goll RM (1986) Final stages of skeletogenesis and early stages of disintegration for modern polycystine radiolaria. Mar Micropaleontol 11:171–183
Bodungen von B, Bathmann U, Voß M, Wunsch M (1991) Vertical particle flux in the Norwegian Sea — resuspension and interannual variability. In: Wassmann P, Heiskanen A-S, Lindahl O (eds) Sediment Trap Studies in the Nordic Countries (Symposium Proceedings). Nurmi Print Oy, Nurmijärvi, pp 116–136
Bodungen von B, Antia A, Bauerfeind E, Haupt O, Koeve W, Peeken I, Peinert R, Reitmeier S, Thomsen C, Voss M, Wunsch M, Zeller U, Zeitzschel B (1994) Pelagic processes and vertical flux of particles: an overview over a longterm comparative study in the Norwegian Sea and Greenland Sea. Geol Rundsch 84:11–27
Bohrmann G (1986) Accumulation of biogenic silica and opal dissolution in upper Quaternary Skagerrak sediments. Geo-Mar Lett 6:165–172
Dale B (1976) Cyst formation, sedimentation and preservation: factors affecting dinoflagellate assemblages in Recent sediments from Trondheimsfjord, Norway. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 22:39–60
Dale B (1983) Dinoflagellate resting cysts: “benthic plankton”. In: Fryxell GA (ed) Survival Strategies of Algae. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge pp 69–136
Dale B, Dale AL (1992) Dinoflagellate contributions to the sediment flux of the Nordic Seas. In: Dale B, Dale AL (eds) Dinoflagellate Contributions to the Deep Sea. Ocean Biocoenosis Ser 5:1–75
Dansgaard W, White JC, Johnsen X (1989) The abrupt termination of the Younger Dryas climate event. Nature 339:532–534
De Vernal A, Londeix L, Mudie PJ, Harland R, Morzadec-Kerfourn MT, Turon J-L, Wrenn JH (1992) Quaternary organicwalled dinoflagellate cysts of the North Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas: ecostratigraphy and biostratigraphy. In: Head MJ, Wrenn J (eds) Neogene and Quaternary Dinoflagellate Cysts and Acritarchs. Am Assoc Stratigr Palynol Foundation, Dallas, pp 289–328
Eide LK (1990) Distribution of coccoliths in surface sediments in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea. Mar Micropaleontol 16:65–75
Fenner J (1981) Diatoms in the Eocene and Oligocene sediments off NW-Africa, their stratigraphic and paleogeographic occurrences. Unpubl Ph D Thesis, Univ Kiel, pp 1–230
Fryxell GA, Hasle GR (1980) The marine diatom Thalassiosira oestrupii: structure, taxonomy and distribution. Am J Bot 67:804–814
Gard G (1988) Late Quaternary calcareous nannofossil biochronology and paleo-oceanography of Arctic and Subarctic seas. Medd Stockholms Univ Geol Inst:1–45
Gard G, Backmann J (1990) Synthesis of Arctic and Sub-Arctic coccolith biochronology and history of North Atlantic drift water influx during the last 500000 years. In: Bleil U, Thiede J (eds) Geological History of the Polar Oceans: Arctic Versus Antarctic. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, pp 417–436
Goll RM, Bjørklund KR (1985) Nephrospyris knutheieri sp. n., an extant trissocyclid radiolarian (Polycystinea: Nasselarida) from the Norwegian-Greenland Sea. Sarsia 70:103–118
Gowing MM (1993) Seasonal radiolarian flux at the VERTEX North Pacific time-series site. Deep-Sea Res 40:517–545
Gran HH (1902) Das Plankton des Norwegischen Meeres. Rep Norw Fish Invest 2 (5):1–222
Halldal P (1953) Phytoplankton investigations from weather ship M in the Norwegian Sea, 1948–49. Hvalrådets Skr 38:1–91
Hasle GR (1976) The biogeography of some marine planktonic diatoms. Deep-Sea Res 23:319–338
Hasle GR (1978) Diatoms. In: Sournia A (ed) Phytoplankton Manual. Unesco Press, Paris, pp 136–142
Hasle GR (1990) Arctic plankton diatoms: dominant species, biogeography. In: Medlin LK, Priddle J (eds) Polar Marine Diatoms. British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, pp 53–56
Hasle GR, Syvertsen EE (1990) Family Thalassiosiracea. In: Medlin LK, Priddle J (eds) Polar Marine Diatoms. British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, pp 83–97
Heath GR (1974) Dissolved silica and deep-sea sediments. In: Hay WW (ed) Studies in Paleoceanography. Spec Publ Soc Econ Paleontol Mineral: 159–179
Hebbeln D, Wefer G (1991) Effects of ice coverage and ice-rafted material on sedimentation in the Fram Strait. Nature 350:409–411
Honjo S (1975) Dissolution of suspended coccoliths in the deepsea water column and sedimentation of coccolith ooze. In: Sliter WV, Berger WH (eds) Dissolution of Deep-Sea Carbonates. Cushman Foundation for Foraminiferal Research, Spec Publ No 13:114–128
Honjo S (1990) Particle fluxes and modern sedimentation in the Polar Oceans. In: Smith WO (ed) Polar Oceanography, Part B: Chemistry, Biology, and Geology. Academic Press, New York pp 687–739
Honjo S, Manganini SJ, Wefer G (1988) Annual particle flux and a winter outburst of sedimentation in the northern Norwegian Sea. Deep-Sea Res 35:1223–1234
Johannessen T (1994) The relationship between surface water masses, oceanographic fronts and paleoclimatic proxies in surface sediments of the Greenland, Iceland, Norwegian Seas. In: Zahn R, Pedersen TF, Kaminski MA, Labeyrie L (eds) Carbon Cycling in the Glacial Ocean: Constraints on the Ocean's Role in Global Change. NATO ASI Ser I, Vol 17:61–85
Jones GA, Keigwin LD (1988) Evidence from Fram Strait (78°N) for early deglaciation. Nature 336:56–59
Kellogg TB (1975) Late Quaternary climatic changes in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea. In: Bowling SA, Weller G. (eds) Climate of the Arctic. University of Alasks, Fairbanks, pp 3–36
Knappertsbusch M (1993) Geographic distribution of living and Holocene coccolithophores in the Mediterranean Sea. Mar Micropaleontol 21:219–247
Koç Karpuz N, Jansen E (1992) A high resolution diatom record of the last deglaciation from the SE Norwegian Sea: documentation of rapid climatic changes. Paleoceanography 7:499–520
Koç Karpuz N, Schrader H-J (1990) Surface sediment diatom distribution and Holocene in the Greenland, Iceland and Norwegian Sea. Paleoceanogrpahy 5:557–580
Koç N, Jansen E, Haflidason H (1993) Paleoceanographic recon-structions of surface ocean conditions in the Greenland, Iceland and Norwegian Seas through the last 14 ka based on diatoms. Quat Sci Rev 12:115–140
Kohly A (1994) Aktuopalaontologische Untersuchungen zu Verbreitung und Vertikalfluß von Diatomen sowie ihre räumliche und zeitliche Entwicklung im Jungquartär des Europäischen Nordmeeres. Unpubl PhD Thesis, Univ Kiel
Kruglikova SB (1989) Arctic ocean radiolarians. In: Hermann Y (ed) The Arctic Seas. van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York pp 461–480
Machado E (1993) Production, sedimentation and dissolution of biogenic silica in the northern (North Atlantic). Unpubl PhD Thesis, Univ Kiel, 1–123
Matthiessen J (1991) Dinoflagellaten-Zysten im Späquartär des Europäischen Nordmeeres: Palökologie und Paläo-Ozeanographie. Geomar Rep 7:1–104
Mattbiessen J. Distribution patterns of dinoflagellate cysts and other organic-walled microfossils in recent Norwegian-Greenland Sea sediments. Mar Micropaleontol, in press
Matthiessen J (1994) Verbreitung von marine PalynomorphenVergesellschaftungen in rezenten Sedimenten des Europäischen Nordmeeres. N Jb Geol Paläontol Abh 194(1):1–24
Molina-Cruz A (1991) Holocene paleo-oceanography of the northern Iceland Sea, indicated by radiolaria and sponge spicules. J Quat Sci 6:303–312
Moore TC (1973) Method for randomly distributing grains for microscopic examination. J Sedim Petrol 43:904–906
Morley JJ (1983) Identification of density-stratified waters in the Late-Pleistocene North Atlantic: a faunal derivation. Quat Res 20:374–386
Paasche E (1960) Phytoplankton distribution in the Norwegian Sea in June, 1954, related to hydrography and compared with primary production data. Fiskeridir Skr Ser Havunders 12 (11):1–77
Paasche E, Rom A-M (1961) On the phytoplankton vegetation of the Norwegian Sea in May 1958. Nytt Mag Bot 9:33–61
Petrushevskaya MG, Bjørklund KR (1974) Radiolarians in Holocene sediments of the Norwegian-Greenland Seas. Sarsia 57:33–46
Pflaumann U (1988) Plankton-Foraminiferen in der Sedimentoberflache. In: Hirschleber H et al. (eds) Forschungsschiff Meteor, Reise 7 von 1. Juni his 28. September 1988. Ber Sonderforschungsbereich 313, Univ Kiel 10:175–177
Puch M (1990) Zum Silikathaushalt des Pelagials im Europäischen Nordmeer. Unpubl Diplom Thesis, Univ Kiel:1–75
Quadfasel D, Meincke J (1987) Note on the thermal structure of the Greenland Sea gyres. Deep-Sea Res 34:1883–1888
Ramsfjell E (1960) Phytoplankton distribution in the Norwegian Sea in June, 1952 and 1953. Fiskeridir Skr Ser Havunders 12 (10):1–112
Reid PC (1978) Dinoflagellate cysts in the plankton. New Phytol 80:219–229
Samtleben C, Bickert T (1990) Coccoliths in sediment traps from the Norwegian Sea. Mar Micropaleontol 16:39–64
Samtleben C, Schroder A (1990) Coccolithophoriden-Gemeinschaften und Coccolithen-Sedimentation im Europäischen Nordmeer. Zur Abbildung von Planktonzonosen im Sediment. Ber Sonderforschungsbereich 313, Univ Kiel 25:1–52
Samtleben C, Schrdder A (1992) Coccolithophore communities in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea and their record in sediments. Mar Micropaleontol 19:333–354
Samtleben C, Baumann K-H, Schroder-Ritzrau A. Distribution, composition and seasonal variation of coccolithophore communities in the northern North Atlantic. Rev Española Micropal, in press
Schneidermann N (1977) Selective dissolution of recent coccoliths in the Atlantic Ocean. In: Ramsay ATS (ed) Oceanic Micropaleontoleontology. Academic Press, London New York San Francisco, pp 1009–1053
Schrader H-J, Gersonde R (1978) Diatoms and silicoflagellates. In: Zachariasse WJ et al. (eds) Micropaleontological Counting Methods and Techniques — an Exercise on an Eight Metres Section of the Lower Pliocene of Capo Rosello, Silicy. Utrecht Micropaleontol Bull Vol. 17:129–176
Schrader H-J, Schuette G (1981) Marine diatoms. In: Emiliani C (ed) The Sea. Vol 7, The Oceanic Lithosphere. Wiley, Chichester, pp 1179–1232
Schroder-Ritzrau A (1994) Aktuopalaontologische Untersuchungen zu Verbreitung and Vertikalfluß von Radiolarien Bowie ihre raumliche und zeitliche Entwicklung im Jungquartär des Europäischen Nordmeeres. Unpubl Ph D Thesis, Univ Kiel
Smayda TJ (1958) Phytoplankton studies around Jan Mayen Island March–April, 1955. Nytt Mag Bot 6:75–119
Stabell B (1985) Diatoms in Upper Quaternary Skagerrak sediments. Norsk Geol Tidsskr 65:91–95
Stabell B (1986) A diatom maximum horizon in Upper Quaternary deposits. Geol Rundsch 75:175–184
Swanberg NR, Bjørklund KR (1986) The radiolarian fauna of western Norwegian fjords: patterns of abundance in the plankton. Mar Micropaleontol 11:231–241
Swanberg NR, Bjørklund KR (1987) Radiolaria in the plankton of some fjords in western and northern Norway: the distribution of species. Sarsia 72:231–244
Swanberg NR, Bjørklund KR (1992) The radiolarian fauna of western Norwegian fjords: a multivariate comparison of the sediment and plankton assemblages. Micropaleontology 38:57–74
Swanberg NR, Eide LK (1992) The radiolarian fauna at the ice edge in the Greenland Sea during summer, 1988. J Mar Res 50:297–320
Swift JH (1986) The arctic waters. In: Hurdle BG (ed) The Nordic Seas. Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg New York pp 129–153
Takahashi K (1991) Radiolaria: Flux, Ecology, and Taxonomy in the Pacific and Atlantic. Ocean Biocoenosis Ser 3:1–303
van Aken HM, Quadfasel D, Warpakowski A (1991) The Arctic Front in the Greenland Sea during February 1989: hydrographic and biological observations. J Geophys Res 96 (C3):4739–4750
Vogelsang E (1990) Paläo-Ozeanographie des Europäischen Nordmeeres an Hand stabiler Kohlenstoff- und Sauerstoffisotope. Ber Sonderforschungsbereich 313, Univ Kiel 23:1–137
Wassmann P, Peinert R, Smetacek V (1991) Patterns of production and sedimentation in the Norwegian coastal zone, the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea. In: Wassmann P, Heiskanen A-S, Lindahl, O (eds) Sediment Trap Studies in the Nordic Countries (Symposium Proceedings). Nurmi Print Oy, Nurmijärvi, pp 137–156
Weinelt M (1993) Veränderungen der Oberflächenzirkulation im Europäischen Nordmeer während der letzten 60000 Jahre — Hinweise aus stabilen Isotopen. Ber Sonderforschungsbereich 313, Univ Kiel 41:1–106
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Consortia
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Samtleben, C., Schäfer, P., Andruleit, H. et al. Plankton in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea: from living communities to sediment assemblages —an actualistic approach. Geol Rundsch 84, 108–136 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00192245
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00192245