Abstract
Site U1446 (19°50′N, 85°44′E, at water depth 1 430 m) was drilled during Expedition 353 (Indian monsoon rainfall) of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP). It is located in the Mahanadi offshore basin, on the northern Bay of Bengal. Sedimentation rates and contents of biocarbonates are high at this relatively shallow site. Using a micropaleontological approach, we examined planktonic and benthic foraminifera in the upper around 40 m of this site, spanning the last around 190 ka. A striking feature of the foraminiferal record is the occurrence of strong but varying dissolution although the site is located well above the modern lysocline. Such strong dissolution has never been reported in this area. We estimated the flux of foraminifera and quantified the ratio of benthic foraminifera over total foraminifera (benthic/total foraminifera) along with the foraminifer fragmentation index in order to characterize past changes in this above-lysocline dissolution. This study reveals a clear glacial-interglacial contrast, with a stronger dissolution during marine isotope stages (MISs) 1 and 5 than during MISs 2–4 and 6. Such a difference in preservation is likely to have a strong impact on geochemical proxies measured on foraminifera. Our new observations call for an in-depth study of the causes of such above-lysocline dissolution in the region, and an evaluation of its impact on the foraminifera-based proxies used for paleoenvironmental reconstruction.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Balakrishna K, Probst J L. 2005. Organic carbon transport and C/N ratio variations in a large tropical river: Godavari as a case study, India. Biogeochemistry, 73(3): 457–473, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-004-0879-2
Belyaeva N V, Burmistrova I I. 1985. Critical carbonate levels in the Indian Ocean. Journal of Foraminiferal Research, 15(4): 337–341, doi: https://doi.org/10.2113/gsjfr.15.4.337
Berger W H, Diester-Haass L. 1988. Paleoproductivity: the benthic/planktonic ratio in foraminifera as a productivity index. Marine Geology, 81(1–4): 15–25, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/0025-3227(88)90014-x
Canfield D E. 1994. Factors influencing organic carbon preservation in marine sediments, Chemical Geology, 114: 315–329, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/0009-2541(94)90061-2
Caley T, Malaizé B, Zaragosi S, et al. 2011. New Arabian Sea records help decipher orbital timing of Indo-Asian monsoon. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 308(3–4): 433–444, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2011.06.019
Chen Shuangxi, Nan Qingyun, Li Tiegang, et al. 2011. Inhibiting effect of high organic matter influx on the bloom of benthic foraminifera fauna—an example from core MD06-3054 in Philippine Sea, northwestern Pacific. Quaternary Sciences (in Chinese), 31(2): 292–298, doi: https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1001-7410.2011.02.11
Chesner C A, Rose W I, Deino A, et al. 1991. Eruptive history of Earth’s largest Quaternary Caldera (Toba, Indonesia) clarified. Geology, 19(3): 200–203, doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1991)019<0200:EHOESL>2.3.CO;2
Clemens S C, Kuhnt W, LeVay L J, et al. 2016. Site U1446, Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program, 353: 1–23, doi: https://doi.org/10.14379/iodp.proc.353.106.2016
Corliss B H. 1979. Recent deep-sea benthonic for aminiferal distributions in the southeast Indian Ocean: Inferred bottom-water routes and ecological implications. Marine Geology, 31(1–2): 115–138, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/0025-3227(79)90059-8
Cullen J L, Prell W L. 1984. Planktonic foraminifera of the northern Indian Ocean: Distribution and preservation in surface sediments. Marine Micropaleontology, 9(1): 1–52, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/0377-8398(84)90022-7
Da Silva R, Mazumdar A, Mapder T, et al. 2017. Salinity stratification controlled productivity variation over 300 ky in the Bay of Bengal, Scientific Reports, 7: 14439, doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-14781-3
Ding Xuan, Bassinot F, Guichard F, et al. 2006. Distribution and ecology of planktonic foraminifera from the seas around the Indonesian Archipelago. Marine Micropaleontology, 58(2): 114–134, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marmicro.2005.10.003
Duplessy J C. 1982. Glacial to interglacial contrasts in the northern Indian Ocean. Nature, 295(5849): 494–498, doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/295494a0
Emerson S, Bender M. 1981. Carbon fluxes at the sediment-water interface of the deep-sea: calcium carbonate preservation. Journal of Marine Research, 39(1), 139–162
Freiwald A. 1995. Bacteria-induced carbonate degradation: a taphonomic case study of Cibicides lobatulus from a high-boreal carbonate setting. Palaios, 10(4): 337–346, doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/3515159
Gomes H R, Goes J I, Saino T. 2000. Influence of physical processes and freshwater discharge on the seasonality of phytoplankton regime in the Bay of Bengal. Continental Shelf Research, 20(3): 313–330, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0278-4343(99)00072-2
Herguera J C, Berger W H. 1991. Paleoproductivity from benthic foraminifera abundance: Glacial to postglacial change in the west-equatorial Pacific. Geology, 19(12): 1173–1176, doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1991)019<1173:PFBFAG>2.3.CO;2
Kennett J P, Srinivasan M S. 1983. Neogene Planktonic Foraminifera: A Phylogenetic Atlas. Pennsylvania: Hutchinson Ross Publishing Company, 1–263
Le Jianning, Shackleton N J. 1992. Carbonate dissolution fluctuations in the Western Equatorial Pacific during the late Quaternary. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 7(1): 21–42, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/91PA02854
Naidu P D, Malmgren B A. 1995. Do benthic foraminifer records represent a productivity index in oxygen minimum zone areas? An evaluation from the Oman Margin, Arabian Sea. Marine Micropaleontology, 26(1–4): 49–55, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/0377-8398(95)00014-3
O’Boyle S, Nolan G. 2010. The influence of water column stratification on dissolved oxygen levels in coastal and shelf waters around Ireland. Biology and Environment: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 110B(3): 195–209, doi: https://doi.org/10.3318/BIOE.2010.110.3.195
Paulmier A, Ruiz-Pino D, Garçon V. 2011. CO2 maximum in the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ). Biogeosciences, 8(2): 239–252, doi: https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-8-239-2011
Peterson L C, Prell W L. 1985. Carbonate dissolution in recent sediments of the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean: Preservation patterns and carbonate loss above the lysocline. Marine Geology, 64(3–4): 259–290, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/0025-3227(85)90108-2
Phillips S C, Johnson J E, Giosan L, et al. 2014. Monsoon-influenced variation in productivity and lithogenic sediment flux since 110 ka in the offshore Mahanadi Basin, northern Bay of Bengal, Marine and Petroleum Geology, 58: 502–525, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2014.05.007
Prasanna Kumar S, Muraleedharan P M, Prasad T G, et al. 2002. Why is the Bay of Bengal less productive during summer monsoon compared to the Arabian Sea?. Geophysical Research Letters, 29(24): 88–1–88–4, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/2002GL016013
Sarma V V S S, Krishna M S, Viswanadham R, et al. 2013. Intensified oxygen minimum zone on the western shelf of Bay of Bengal during summer monsoon: influence of river discharge. Journal of Oceanography, 69(1): 45–55, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-012-0156-2
Schiebel R, Barker S, Lendt R, et al. 2007. Planktic foraminiferal dissolution in the twilight zone. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 54(5–7): 676–686, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2007.01.009
Schott F A, McCreary Jr J P. 2001. The monsoon circulation of the Indian Ocean. Progress in Oceanography, 51(1): 1–123, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-6611(01)00083-0
Shetye S R, Shenoi S S C, Gouveia A D, et al. 1991. Wind-driven coastal upwelling along the western boundary of the Bay of Bengal during the southwest monsoon. Continental Shelf Research, 11(11): 1397–1408, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/0278-4343(91)90042-5
Thompson P R, Bé A W H, Duplessy J C, et al. 1979. Disappearance of pink-pigmented Globigerinoides ruber at 120,000 yr BP in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Nature, 280(5723): 554–558, doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/280554a0
Varkey M J, Murty V S N, Suryanarayana A. 1996. Physical oceanography of the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea. In: Oceanography and Marine Biology: an Annual Review. London: Aberdeen University Press/Allen & Unwin, 34: 1–70
Zhang Jiangyong, Wang Pinxian, Li Qianyu, et al. 2007. Western equatorial Pacific productivity and carbonate dissolution over the last 550 kyr: Foraminiferal and nannofossil evidence from ODP Hole 807A. Marine Micropaleontology, 64(3–4): 121–140, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marmicro.2007.03.003
Acknowledgements
Samples were taken by International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 353. We thank the shipboard participants of the IODP Expedition 353. We thank Liping Zhou from Peking University for helpful discussions. We also thank three anonymous reviewers for their critical remarks and constructive suggestions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Foundation item: The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract No. 41976060; the Fund of Research on Paleoclimate in the Eastern Indian Ocean under contract No. GASI-04-01-03; the Foreign Cultural and Educational Experts Employment Program under contract No. GDW20181100256; the Fund of Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement under contract No. 7437.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, D., Ding, X. & Bassinot, F. Observations of contrasted glacial-interglacial dissolution of foraminifera above the lysocline in the Bay of Bengal, northeastern Indian Ocean. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 40, 155–161 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-021-1821-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-021-1821-3