T302 Insights from Microfossils, from Traditional to Novel Approaches

Wednesday, 25 October 2017
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Room 609

APPLICATIONS OF THE ARCTIC OSTRACODE DATABASE (AOD) TO SPECIES ECOLOGY AND PALEOENVIRONMENTAL RECONSTRUCTIONS

Paper number: T302-13
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 11:00 AM – 11:15 AM

Authors

Abstract

The Arctic Ostracode Database (AOD) provides census data for 96 species of marine Ostracoda from 1340 modern surface sediments from the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas. Ostracodes are meiofaunal Crustacea that secrete a bivalved calcareous (CaCO3) shell commonly preserved in sediments. Ostracode species have specific ecological limits controlled by temperature, salinity, oxygen, sea ice, food and other habitat-related factors. In addition to unique species ecology, their shell chemistry (Mg/Ca ratios, stable oxygen and carbon isotopes) and limited stratigraphic ranges make Ostracodaa useful tool for paleoceanography and biostratigraphy. Modern sediment samples in the AOD come from various sampling expeditions over the past few decades including Arctic abyssal plains, submarine ridges, continental slopes and shelves of the Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi, Beaufort Seas and several subarctic regions such as the Bering Sea. An open-sourced file, the AOD includes latitude, longitude, water depth, bottom water temperature and collection year for most samples.

The AOD is used to investigate modern ostracode biogeography, regional community structure and ecology. In addition, fossil occurrences of a species with known modern environmental tolerances and ecology can provide a basis for the reconstruction of Cenozoic environments. Therefore, the AOD can provide a better understanding of how the Arctic Ocean has been affected by, and perhaps influence climatic and oceanographic change during both the Common Era and deeper geologic time (e.g. Quaternary and Pliocene).

This talk will address how the AOD can be used to address questions such as:

-- How is contemporary climate change affecting benthic ecosystems? Specifically, have ostracode assemblages changed over the last ~40 years?

-- What factors explain geographic differences in ostracode abundance and diversity?

-- Can the AOD be used to create temperature envelopes for modern Arctic and subarctic ostracode species environmental ranges and applied to fossil ostracode assemblages to approximate past ocean temperatures from the early Pliocene though the Pleistocene?

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 49, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2017AM-300147

© Copyright 2017 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.