Holocene Diatoms Recovered in the Firth of Tay, Antarctic Peninsula (Sites NBP0602A-8 and NBP0703-02JPC) Susan Murr Foley
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Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2010 Holocene Diatoms Recovered in the Firth of Tay, Antarctic Peninsula (Sites NBP0602A-8 and NBP0703-02JPC) Susan Murr Foley Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES HOLOCENE DIATOMS RECOVERED IN THE FIRTH OF TAY, ANTARCTIC PENINSULA (Sites NBP0602A-8 and NBP0703-02JPC) By SUSAN MURR FOLEY A Thesis presented to the Department of Geology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2010 The members of the committee approve the thesis of Susan M. Foley defended on May 3, 2010. _________________________________ Sherwood W. Wise Professor Directing Thesis _________________________________ Anthony J. Arnold Committee Member _________________________________ Joseph F. Donoghue Committee Member Approved: _________________________________ Lynn Dudley, Chair, Department of Geological Sciences The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. iv List of Figures ..................................................................................................................................v Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... vi INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1 OBJECTIVES ..................................................................................................................................5 STUDY AREA ................................................................................................................................6 LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY ...............................................................................................................7 PREVIOUS WORK .........................................................................................................................9 METHODS AND MATERIALS ...................................................................................................10 RESULTS ......................................................................................................................................14 DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................16 CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................................20 APPENDIX ....................................................................................................................................21 TABLES ........................................................................................................................................22 FIGURES .......................................................................................................................................30 PLATES .........................................................................................................................................45 REFERENCES ..............................................................................................................................51 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .........................................................................................................54 iii LIST OF TABLES I. Species abundance ................................................................................................................22 II. Chaetoceros spp. abundance, (T) Total diatom abundance/g sediment ...............................26 III. Radiocarbon age data ............................................................................................................28 IV. Shannon Wiener Index values ..............................................................................................29 iv LIST OF FIGURES 1. Map of study area .................................................................................................................30 2. Map of Antarctic Peninsula and site locations ......................................................................31 3. Seismic profile of core site NBP0602A-8B ..........................................................................32 4. Bathymetric survey of study area .........................................................................................33 5. Lithologic description sheet for core NBP0602A-8B ...........................................................34 6. Lithologic description sheet for core NBP0602A-8C ...........................................................35 7. Lithologic description sheet for core NBP0703 JPC-02 .......................................................36 8. Down-core diatom data including “T” values, density, Chaetoceros spp. abundance, and diversity ................................................................................................................................37 9. Shannon Wiener index values versus depth graph ...............................................................38 10. Relative diatom abundance (%) ............................................................................................39 11. Subpolar proxy signal, climatic events, and radiocarbon age versus depth curve ................42 12. Map of Bransfield Basin and different surface water masses, the Bellinghausen Sea current, the Weddell Sea Gyre and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) ................................43 13. Map of Antarctica and the surrounding water masses ..........................................................44 v ABSTRACT A greatly expanded section of Holocene sediment was recovered at Site NBP0602-8 in the Firth of Tay near the tip of the West Antarctic Peninsula during the SHALDRIL II cruise aboard the R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer, 2006. Recovery in the four holes at this site was ~85%, with the exception of the uppermost eight meters of water saturated sediments. The next year the site was revisited during Cruise NBP0703 and a jumbo piston core (JPC 02) recovered sediment to 23 meters below seafloor to fill missing gaps in the upper section. Fossil diatoms have been proven to be highly useful in paleontological climate reconstruction. Therefore, this investigation is a down-core quantitative study of diatom assemblages from this Firth of Tay sequence to identify and constrain changes in paleoenvironmental events. The project provides evidence of an early deglaciation episode, the Mid-Holocene Climatic Optimum, and subsequent cooling and Neoglacial conditions that persist until the present. The Mid-Holocene Climatic Optimum delineated in this study correlates closely with the timing and duration of this event in Maxwell Bay, to the north. The same event is recorded in Palmer Deep on the opposite (west) side of the Antarctic Peninsula but with an earlier onset and longer duration. The Climatic Optimum recorded at the Firth of Tay is less pronounced than at the other two sites, however, due to the colder water stemming from the Weddell Sea Gyre. vi INTRODUCTION In an extensive review of “Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment”, the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) noted that following the early Holocene deglaciation the Mid-Holocene Climatic Optimum (sometimes referred to as the “Hypsithermal”) is present in many ice, lake, and coastal marine records from around the continent but that marine and climate anomalies are “apparently out of phase” (Turner et al. 2009). They go on to say that “there is an urgent need for well-dated, high resolution climate records in coastal Antarctica and in … particular regions of the Antarctic Peninsula to fully understand these regional climate anomalies.” Here I report on a new record from the Weddell Sea side of the Antarctic Peninsula. The primary tool I will use to interpret paleoclimate, in particular the presence/absence of the Mid- Holocene Climatic Optimum, is the fossil marine diatom assemblages. The hypothesis to be tested is whether or not this climate optimum can be detected at this site, and why or why not. Holocene Diatom Assemblages Diatoms (division Chrysophyta, class Bacillariophyceae) are autotrophic, single-celled, golden-brown algae that are widely distributed in the photic zones of virtually all aqueous and semi-aqueous environments. The cell is enclosed in an external mineralized skeleton or frustule made largely of opaline silica (SiO2.nH2O) with an upper valve, the epitheca and its associated girdle elements (cingulum) fitting tightly a lower valve, the hypotheca and its associated elements, similar to the design of a Petri Dish. In the Southern Ocean, diatoms dominate the phytoplankton community as the top primary producers and form the basis of various marine food webs. They are divided into two orders, the Centrales and the Pennales, on the basis of the shape and symmetry of their valve in plan view. They are further classified by their surface ornamentation of pores and pore patterns, grooves, spines, tubes, processes (Round et al. 1990). Of particular geologic significance to Antarctic research, the diatom opaline silica frustule is fairly resistant