0000000001313470
AUTHOR
Patrizia Ziveri
Pelagic calcium carbonate production and shallow dissolution in the North Pacific Ocean
Funding: Funding was provided by NSF Grants OCE1220600 and OCE1220302 awarded to JA and WB, respectively, MINECO PID2020-113526RB-I00, the Generalitat de Catalunya MERS (#2017 SGR-1588) awarded to PZ and NERC grant NE/N011716/1 awarded to JR. Planktonic calcifying organisms play a key role in regulating ocean carbonate chemistry and atmospheric CO2. Surprisingly, references to the absolute and relative contribution of these organisms to calcium carbonate production are lacking. Here we report quantification of pelagic calcium carbonate production in the North Pacific, providing new insights on the contribution of the three main planktonic calcifying groups. Our results show that coccolithop…
Planktic foraminiferal changes in the western Mediterranean Anthropocene
The increase in anthropogenic induced warming over the last two centuries is impacting marine environment. Planktic foraminifera are a globally distributed calcifying marine zooplankton responding sensitively to changes in sea surface temperatures and interacting with the food web structure. Here, we study two high resolution multicore records from two western Mediterranean Sea regions (Alboran and Balearic basins), areas highly affected by both natural climate change and anthropogenic warming. Cores cover the time interval from the Medieval Climate Anomaly to present. Reconstructed sea surface temperatures are in good agreement with other results, tracing temperature changes through the Co…
Decline in coccolithophore diversity and impact on coccolith morphogenesis along a natural CO2 gradient
A natural pH gradient caused by marine CO2 seeps off Vulcano Island (Italy) was used to assess the effects of ocean acidification on coccolithophores, which are abundant planktonic unicellular calcifiers. Such seeps are used as natural laboratories to study the effects of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems, since they cause long-term changes in seawater carbonate chemistry and pH, exposing the organisms to elevated CO2 concentrations and therefore mimicking future scenarios. Previous work at CO2 seeps has focused exclusively on benthic organisms. Here we show progressive depletion of 27 coccolithophore species, in terms of cell concentrations and diversity, along a calcite saturation …
Mediterranean circulation perturbations over the last five centuries: Relevance to past Eastern Mediterranean Transient-type events
The Eastern Mediterranean Transient (EMT) occurred in the Aegean Sea from 1988 to 1995 and is the most significant intermediate-to-deep Mediterranean overturning perturbation reported by instrumental records. The EMT was likely caused by accumulation of high salinity waters in the Levantine and enhanced heat loss in the Aegean Sea, coupled with surface water freshening in the Sicily Channel. It is still unknown whether similar transients occurred in the past and, if so, what their forcing processes were. In this study, sediments from the Sicily Channel document surface water freshening (SCFR) at 1910 ± 12, 1812 ± 18, 1725 ± 25 and 1580 ± 30 CE. A regional ocean hindcast links SCFR to enhanc…
Changes of energy fluxes in marine animal forests of the anthropocene: Factors shaping the future seascape
12 pages, 3 figures
Living Coccolithophores from the Gulf of Sirte (Southern Mediterranean Sea) during the summer of 2008
The Gulf of Sirte is a largely unexplored area in the southernmost Mediterranean Sea.We are presenting here 2008 summer data on the distribution pattern of living coccolithophores, a main phytoplankton calcifying group, in 105 samples from 20 stations. The survey includes coastal and offshore stations, enabling us to provide indications on the dynamics of phytoplankton productivity in relation to oceanographic processes. The total coccosphere concentrations show higher values in the offshore stations and lower ones for coastal sites. Umbellosphaera tenuis, Emiliania huxleyi, Florisphaera profunda, Syracosphaera pulchra HOL (Calyptrosphaera oblonga) and Rhabdosphaera spp. dominate the assemb…
Conflicting coccolithophore and geochemical evidence for productivity levels in the Eastern Mediterranean sapropel S1
Abstract The cyclic development of anoxic conditions in the eastern Mediterranean deep sea waters is one of the most fascinating research topics in paleoceanographic studies. In combination with bottom water stagnation, enhanced primary production is a common explanation for the deposition of organic-rich layers (sapropels). This is supported by extensive evidence from both geochemical and micropaleontological studies. The correspondence of recent sapropel layers with peaks of the lower photic zone coccolithophore species Florisphaera profunda has been interpreted as a proxy for the development of a deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM), due to the pycnocline/nutricline shallowing into the lower p…
Reventilation Episodes During the Sapropel S1 Deposition in the Eastern Mediterranean Based on Holococcolith Preservation
Organic-rich layers (sapropels), preserved in eastern Mediterranean marine sediment records, represent pronounced perturbations to thermohaline circulation and environmental conditions in the basin, in response to enhanced African monsoon activity and subsequent massive freshwater discharge. During the most recent event, Sapropel S1 formed between 10.8 and 6.1 ka, when freshwater-driven stratification caused seafloor anoxia below ~1,800-m depth, as a result of both failure of deep water formation and enhanced productivity. Here we analyze coccolith assemblages from the open eastern Mediterranean that form a west-east transect across the basin and provide insights on past environmental chang…
Productivity modes in the Mediterranean Sea during Dansgaard–Oeschger (20,000–70,000 yr ago) oscillations
The study of planktonic organisms during abrupt climatic variations of the last glacial period (Dansgaard-Oeschger oscillations, D-O) may reveal important insights on climatic, oceanographic and biological interactions. Here we present planktic foraminifera and coccolithophore data collected at the Ocean Drilling Program Site 963 (Sicily Channel), with a mean sampling resolution of respectively 43.5 and 98.9. yr, over the interval between 70,000 and 20,000. yr ago. The paleoenvironmental reconstruction suggests that three different scenarios can be seen across each D-O cycle: 1. oligotrophic surface water and a deep thermocline for the early Interstadials; 2. a Deep Chlorophyll Maximum and …
Integrated annual calcium carbonate production of planktic calcifiers in the North Pacific from the R/V Kilo Moana cruise KM1712
This dataset compiles the estimates of annual CaCO3 production, including the upper and lower limits of the estimates, for the 4 planktic calcifying groups considered in the study, the pteropods (mg/m²/yr), the heteropods (mg/m²/yr), the foraminifers (mg/m²/yr) and the coccolithophores (mg/m²/yr). The estimates derived from the living standing stocks of these 4 groups of organisms collected in the North Pacific between Hawaii and the Gulf of Alaska during the R/V Kilo Moana cruise KM1712 in August 2017. R code was used to calculate the integrated annual CaCO3 production for the different organisms, including the upper and lower limits (Gray, 2022).
Calcifying zooplankton standing stocks and in the North Pacific from the R/V Kilo Moana cruise KM1712
This dataset compiles the standing stocks (ind/m³), the integrated standing stocks (ind/m²) and the integrated CaCO3 standing stocks (mg/m²) for three groups of zooplanktonic calcifying organisms: pteropods, heteropods and foraminifers. The organisms were collected by oblique towing (Ø 0.5 m, 90 μm mesh size, SeaGear mechanical flowmeter) in the North Pacific between Hawaii and the Gulf of Alaska during the R/V Kilo Moana cruise KM1712 in August 2017. The sampling strategy was designed to capture an integrated sample of all foraminifers, pteropods and heteropods from juveniles to adults living throughout the upper water column. Pteropods and heteropods were quantified and shell diameter mea…
Calcifying phytoplankton standing stocks in the North Pacific from the R/V Kilo Moana cruise KM1712
This dataset compiles the CaCO3 standing stocks of living coccolithophores (mg/m³), of detached coccoliths (mg/m³) and the integrated CaCO3 standing stocks of coccolithophores (mg/m²). The samples were collected in the North Pacific between Hawaii and the Gulf of Alaska during the R/V Kilo Moana cruise KM1712 in August 2017, with rosette Niskin bottles equiped with CTD (Sea-Bird SBE 9) at different depths throughout the photic zone including the deep chlorophyll maximum. To estimate the CaCO3 contribution by coccolithophore assemblages in each sample, we carried out the transformation of coccospheres in number of coccoliths, following the estimates by Yang and Wei (2003), and then we adopte…
Decline in Coccolithophore Diversity and Impact on Coccolith Morphogenesis Along a Natural CO2 Gradient
A natural pH gradient caused by marine CO2 seeps off Vulcano Island (Italy) was used to assess the effects of ocean acidification on coccolithophores, which are abundant planktonic unicellular calcifiers. Such seeps are used as natural laboratories to study the effects of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems, since they cause long-term changes in seawater carbonate chemistry and pH, exposing the organisms to elevated CO2 concentrations and therefore mimicking future scenarios. Previous work at CO2 seeps has focused exclusively on benthic organisms. Here we show progressive depletion of 27 coccolithophore species, in terms of cell concentrations and diversity, along a calcite saturation …
Coccolithophora and geochemistry of sapropel S1 in ODP Hole 160-964B
The cyclic development of anoxic conditions in the eastern Mediterranean deep sea waters is one of the most fascinating research topics in paleoceanographic studies. In combination with bottom water stagnation, enhanced primary production is a common explanation for the deposition of organic-rich layers (sapropels). This is supported by extensive evidence from both geochemical and micropaleontological studies. The correspondence of recent sapropel layers with peaks of the lower photic zone coccolithophore species Florisphaera profunda has been interpreted as a proxy for the development of a deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM), due to the pycnocline/nutricline shallowing into the lower part of th…
Planktic calcifiers standing stocks and carbonate production in the North Pacific from the R/V Kilo Moana cruise KM1712
The data collection consists of 3 datasets: - Zooplankton standing stocks: this dataset compiles the standing stocks (ind/m³), the integrated standing stocks (ind/m²) and the integrated CaCO3 standing stocks (mg/m²) for three groups of zooplanktonic calcifying organisms, pteropods, heteropods and foraminifers. The organisms were collected by oblique towing (Ø 0.5 m, 90 μm mesh size, SeaGear mechanical flowmeter) in the North Pacific between Hawaii and the Gulf of Alaska during the R/V Kilo Moana cruise KM1712 in August 2017. The sampling strategy was designed to capture an integrated sample of all foraminifers, pteropods and heteropods from juveniles to adults living throughout the upper wa…