Assessing the contribution of
foraminiferan protists to global ocean carbonate production.
Startling as it may seem, I had neither seen nor heard the word '
foraminiferan' before the 2005 research season in New Harbor.
The researchers were therefore surprised to discover that
foraminiferan tests sampled from the Challenger Deep contained calcareous components, including the dissolved remnants of coccoliths, the calcium carbonate plates of tiny algae called coccolithophores, and planktonic
foraminiferan test fragments.
They include grains and fragments from corals,
foraminiferan tests, gastropod shells, bivalve shells, sponge spicules, fossiliferous fragments, crinoids, sea urchin spines, and others.
It is further confirmed by the
foraminiferan species Rugoglobigerina rugosa, Globotruncanella petaloidea, Bolivina decurrens, and B.
An example of a pre-listening activity to prepare for a video on marine geology might be: How many of the following can you define: epifauna, sesile, crevices, infauna, substrate, planktonic, lecithotrophic, demersal,
foraminiferan protozoans, macrofauna, meiofauna, abyssal plain, continental shelf, oscillate, flotsam and jetsam.
Previous work on milkfish, crown-of-thorns starfish, pearl oyster,
foraminiferan and sponge populations (Winans 1980; Nishida and Lucas 1988; Benzie and Stoddart 1992b; Durand and Blanc 1988; Benzie 1991, 1994) identified major currents crossing proposed dispersal routes as the reason for the genetic differentiation of the populations concerned.
According to Dr Chris Wade from the Institute of Genetics, "Using genetic data we have been able to prove that the planktonic species Streptochilus globigerus and the benthic - sediment living -
foraminiferan Bolivina variabilis are one and the same biological species."
Benthic
foraminiferan species were dominant in 1600 but pelagic species (Cooper & Brush 1993) and relatively few benthic species tolerant of anaerobic conditions (Karlsen et al.
By counting the abundance of different types of
foraminiferan shells in sediments deposited throughout the northern Atlantic during the Last Ice Age, other researchers have shown that polar Foraminifera had greatly extended their range to the south; the Gulf Stream must have then flowed more-or-less straight across the Atlantic toward Portugal, rather than northward, toward Norway.
Towards a nonterminal viability assay for
foraminiferan protists.
