We determined the abundances and concentrations of coccoliths and alkenones in 66 surface sediment samples from the northwest North Atlantic to evaluate the role that surface ocean temperature, salinity, sea-ice cover, and productivity have on the regional distribution of these two biological remains produced by haptophytes in the photic zone. In areas with sea-ice cover of more than 1 month per year, coccolith and alkenone concentrations in sediments are extremely low to nil. Elsewhere, the distribution of coccolith taxa generally displays strong relationships to water temperature, salinity, and productivity. Coccolithus pelagicus is associated with low summer sea-surface temperatures (<8°C) and relatively high summer sea-surface salinities (>33.5), whereas Helicosphaera carteri seems to follow the path of the North Atlantic Drift. The distribution of Emiliania huxleyi, the dominant alkenone producer, is not strongly correlated with that of alkenones. Calcite dissolution in shelf sediments could explain the occurrence of alkenones in the absence of coccoliths but alkenone production by non-calcifying haptophytes seems to also exert some control on alkenone concentrations in surface sediments, thus blurring alkenone abundance links to coccolithophorid production and their relative preservation.

我们确定了来自北大西洋西北部的 66 个表层沉积物样本中的石块和烯酮的丰度和浓度，以评估表层海洋温度、盐度、海冰覆盖和生产力对这两种生物遗骸区域分布的影响。光区中的触生植物。在每年海冰覆盖超过 1 个月的地区，沉积物中的颗石和烯酮浓度极低，甚至为零。在其他地方，球石类群的分布通常与水温、盐度和生产力密切相关。Coccolithus pelagicus与夏季海面温度低 (<8°C) 和夏季海面盐度相对较高 (>33.5) 相关，而Helicosphaera carteri似乎遵循北大西洋漂移的路径。Emiliania huxleyi的分布是主要的烯酮生产者，与烯酮的分布没有很强的相关性。陆架沉积物中的方解石溶解可以解释在没有球石的情况下烯酮的发生，但非钙化触藻产生的烯酮似乎也对表层沉积物中的烯酮浓度施加了一些控制，从而模糊了烯酮丰度与球石藻生产及其相对保存的联系。