Levantine intermediate water hydrodynamic and bottom water ventilation in the northern Tyrrhenian Sea over the past 56,000 years: New insights from benthic foraminifera and ostracods

Abstract

Foraminifera and ostracods have been quantitatively studied in core MD01-2472, from the upper continental\ud slope (at water depth of 501 m), to evaluate their relationship with bottom water condition\ud variability and decipher the control of the Levantine IntermediateWater (LIW) current on benthic faunas.\ud The occurrence of reworked ostracod species (originating from the continental shelf) and, the presence of\ud shallow water Elphidium/Ammonia benthic foraminifera are used to estimate the degree of along-slope\ud transport at the core site. This has revealed two intervals of along-slope transport also associated with\ud coarse-grained contourite deposits, deposited during the YD and HS2 episodes. Planktonic-benthic\ud foraminiferal and ostracod assemblages reflect climate oscillations. Peaks of the polar planktonic Neogloboquadrina\ud pachyderma (left-coiling S) may be used to identify Heinrich Events. Interstadials are\ud marked by abundant ostracod species such as Paracypris sp., Argilloecia acuminata, and Cytheropteron\ud alatum and the presence of benthic foraminifera like Bulimina marginata, Bulimina costata and Gyroidina\ud altiformis. The BeA and Holocene are characterized by abundant warm water species of planktonic\ud foraminifera and by the ostracod species Polycope sp. We hypothesize that there is relationship between\ud LIW intensification during cold rapid climate events and benthic fauna assemblage variations due to\ud changes in: 1) bottom water ventilation; and 2) the export of nutrients and/or sediment particles by\ud bottom currents

Suborbital Hydrological Variability Inferred From Coupled Benthic and Planktic Foraminiferal‐Based Proxies in the Southeastern Mediterranean During the Last 19 ka

“…For this time period, a generally good vertical mixing due to wind activity is supported by the presence of deep‐dwelling planktic species such as Globorotalia truncatulinoides (Mojtahid et al, ). Similar benthic community changes as those we found in our record were interpreted as responding to a period of a better ventilation within a general context of sluggish circulation over the AHP (Abu‐Zied et al, ; Kuhnt et al, ; Minto'o et al, ), a feature confirmed by modeling (Grimm et al, ). An enhanced ventilation of bottom waters would explain the increase of the benthic δ 13 C, which together with the high values of planktic δ 13 C (i.e., high productivity) would explain the close to zero Δδ 13 Cp‐b.…”

The Pianosa Contourite Depositional System (Northern Tyrrhenian Sea): Drift morphology and Plio-Quaternary stratigraphic evolution

“…Similar processes have likely occurred in the past. During cold periods bottom water masses were better ventilated (Cacho et al, 2000;Minto'o et al, 2015) and faster (Toucanne et al, 2012) in the Mediterranean Sea. More arid and cold climatic conditions during cold intervals could favour the production of denser LIW (Cacho et al, 2000).…”

Late glacial and Holocene Ostracoda from the Melilla cold-water coral mound field

“…Increases of ostracod abundance and species richness as well as an assemblage change comparable to the Melilla CWC mound have been reported in the Younger Dryas of the Mediterranean from non-CWC related settings. Angue Minto'o et al (2015) report a shift from a Paracypris polita dominated assemblage during the last glacial period to a diverse assemblage in the Younger Dryas with higher percentages of Krithe spp. and Macrocyprididae comparable to the development in OA2.…”

“…Müller 1894;Bonaduce et al 1975;Montenegro et al 1996;Sciuto 2014;Frezza and Di Bella 2015) and Pleistocene (e.g. Ruggieri 1984;Ciampo 2003;Hastrup and Thomsen 2005a, b;Faranda and Gliozzi 2008;Aiello et al 2015) ostracod assemblages from Mediterranean subbasins is extensive, studies combining benthic Foraminifera and Ostracoda are scarce (Angue Minto'o et al 2015;Stalder et al 2015).…”