Elsevier

Marine Micropaleontology

Volumes 84–85, March 2012, Pages 87-113
Marine Micropaleontology

Modern distribution of dinocysts from the North Pacific Ocean (37–64°N, 144°E–148°W) in relation to hydrographic conditions, sea-ice and productivity

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marmicro.2011.11.006Get rights and content

Abstract

Palynological analyses were performed on 53 surface sediment samples from the North Pacific Ocean, including the Bering and Okhotsk Seas (37–64°N, 144°E–148°W), in order to document the relationships between the dinocyst distribution and sea-surface conditions (temperatures, salinities, primary productivity and sea-ice cover).

Samples are characterized by concentrations ranging from 18 to 143 816 cysts/cm3 and the occurrence of 32 species. A canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was carried out to determine the relationship between environmental variables and the distribution of dinocyst taxa. The first and second axes represent, respectively, 47% and 17.8% of the canonical variance. Axis 1 is positively correlated with all parameters except to the sea-ice and primary productivity in August, which are on the negative side. Results indicate that the composition of dinocyst assemblages is mostly controlled by temperature and that all environmental variables are correlated together. The CCA distinguishes 3 groups of dinocysts: the heterotrophic taxa, the genera Impagidinium and Spiniferites as well as the cyst of Pentapharsodinium dalei and Operculodinium centrocarpum. Five assemblage zones can be distinguished: 1) the Okhotsk Sea zone, which is associated to temperate and eutrophic conditions, seasonal upwellings and Amur River discharges. It is characterized by the dominance of O. centrocarpum, Brigantedinium spp. and Islandinium minutum; 2) the Western Subarctic Gyre zone with subpolar and mesotrophic conditions due to the Kamchatka Current and Alaska Stream inflows. Assemblages are dominated by Nematosphaeropsis labyrinthus, Pyxidinopsis reticulata and Brigantedinium spp.; 3) the Bering Sea zone, depicting a subpolar environment, influenced by seasonal upwellings and inputs from the Anadyr and Yukon Rivers. It is characterized by the dominance of I. minutum and Brigantedinium spp.; 4) the Alaska Gyre zone with temperate conditions and nutrient-enriched surface waters, which is dominated by N. labyrinthus and Brigantedinium spp. and 5) the Kuroshio Extension-North Pacific-Subarctic Current zone characterized by a subtropical and oligotrophic environment, which is dominated by O. centrocarpum, N. labyrinthus and warm taxa of the genus Impagidinium.

Transfer functions were tested using the modern analog technique (MAT) on the North Pacific Ocean (= 359 sites) and the entire Northern Hemisphere databases (= 1419 sites). Results confirm that the updated Northern Hemisphere database is suitable for further paleoenvironmental reconstructions, and the best results are obtained for temperatures with an accuracy of ± 1.7 °C.

Highlights

► Distribution of dinocysts in the North Pacific Ocean, integration of deep-sea sites. ► Overview of the high taxonomic diversity. ► New morphotype similar to P. reticulata (P. reticulata Okhotsk morphotype). ► Temperature as a key variable in dinocyst distribution. ► Validations of transfer functions (all environmental parameters well reconstructed).

Introduction

Organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts (dinocysts) are commonly used as a proxy for environmental conditions in the upper water column. It is now well established that their modern distribution is determined by hydrographic parameters such as temperature, salinity and the seasonal duration and extent of the sea-ice cover (e.g., Williams, 1977, Harland, 1988, de Vernal et al., 1994, de Vernal et al., 1997, de Vernal et al., 2001, de Vernal et al., 2005, Rochon et al., 1999). The distribution of dinocysts seems also related to productivity and nutrient availability (e.g., Radi and de Vernal, 2008). Although only 10 to 20% of dinoflagellate species produce fossilizable cysts during their life cycle, dinocyst assemblages can be used as a proxy for sea-surface conditions in which dinoflagellate populations developed (Taylor and Pollingher, 1987, Fensome et al., 1993, Fensome et al., 1996). Contrary to siliceous and calcareous microfossils like diatoms, radiolarians, coccolithophorids and foraminifera, dinocysts that are formed by a highly resistant organic matter (dinosporin) are not affected by dissolution (Dale, 1976, Harland, 1988, Kokinos et al., 1998, Versteegh and Blokker, 2004). Nonetheless, even if dinocysts are usually well preserved in marine sediment, it has been demonstrated that some taxa are sensitive to oxidation (Zonneveld et al., 2008, Zonneveld et al., 2010).

Dinocyst assemblages constitute a useful proxy for the reconstruction of past sea-surface conditions like temperature, salinity, seasonality, sea-ice cover, and primary productivity (e.g., de Vernal et al., 1994, de Vernal et al., 1997, de Vernal et al., 2005, Radi and de Vernal, 2008). Quantitative paleoceanographic and paleoenvironmental reconstructions from transfer functions require large databases representative of diverse environmental conditions (e.g., de Vernal et al., 2005).

Most studies conducted on recent dinocyst assemblages, for the development of a reference database, focused on the North Atlantic Ocean (e.g., de Vernal et al., 1994, Rochon et al., 1999) and the marginal Arctic and subarctic seas (e.g., Rochon and de Vernal, 1994, Matthiessen, 1995, Grøsfjeld and Harland, 2001, Kunz-Pirrung, 2001, Mudie and Rochon, 2001, Radi et al., 2001, Voronina et al., 2001, Hamel et al., 2002, Novichkova and Polyakova, 2007, Richerol et al., 2008, Grøsfjeld et al., 2009, Solignac et al., 2009, Bonnet et al., 2010). A few were performed off the northwest coast of Africa (Marret, 1994, Targarona et al., 1999, Bouimetarhan et al., 2009) and off the northeast coast of Brazil (Vink et al., 2000). However, unlike the Atlantic–Arctic regions, the North Pacific Ocean is still poorly documented. Some works were conducted on dinocysts from the western Pacific notably along the north and west coasts of Japan (Matsuoka, 1985, Matsuoka, 1987, Kobayashi et al., 1986, Furio et al., 2006), off Korea (Shin et al., 2007, Pospelova and Kim, 2010), in the Philippine Sea (Matsuoka, 1981) and in the Yellow and China Seas (Cho and Matsuoka, 2001, Kawamura, 2004, Wang et al., 2004). Few researches were carried out in the Okhotsk Sea (Miyazono and Minoda, 1990, Selina and Morozova, 2005, Hoppenrath and Selina, 2006, Selina and Orlova, 2009) but they focused on dinoflagellates from the water column and did not document the distribution of dinocysts in marine sediments. There are few other ones about the distribution of dinocyst assemblages off the American and Mexican coasts (16–60°N) in relation with sea-surface salinities and temperatures, upwelling intensity, productivity as well as geochemical parameters such as organic carbon, nitrogen and opal (Radi and de Vernal, 2004, Radi et al., 2007, Pospelova et al., 2008, Vásquez-Bedoya et al., 2008, Krepakevich and Pospelova, 2010, Limoges et al., 2010). The subarctic domain including the Bering Sea was explored by Radi et al. (2001) who documented the modern distribution of dinocysts. Finally, it is relevant to mention that some studies were undertaken in the Southern Hemisphere: the South Atlantic Ocean, off the southwest coast of Africa (Zonneveld et al., 2001, Holzwarth et al., 2007), off the east coast of New Zealand (McMinn and Sun, 1994, Sun and McMinn, 1994, Crouch et al., 2010), off the Chilean coast (Verleye and Louwye, 2010) and in the Southern Ocean (Marret and de Vernal, 1997, Esper and Zonneveld, 2002, Esper and Zonneveld, 2007).

Here, we report on the distribution of dinocyst assemblages from 53 surface sediment samples collected in the northern North Pacific Ocean, including the Okhotsk and Bering Seas (Fig. 1 and Table 1). Sampling sites encompass areas from temperate to subpolar regions and are located from Asian to American coasts (i.e., 37–64°N, 144°E–148°W). We aim at providing an overview of dinocyst taxonomic diversity in the northern North Pacific Ocean and documenting the relationships between the species and sea-surface conditions to North Pacific surface water masses and/or currents. The ultimate objective of this work is to update the North Pacific Ocean database and the Northern Hemisphere reference database for further paleoceanographic and paleoenvironmental reconstructions like in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans.

Section snippets

Atmospheric circulation

Thermodynamic properties of upper water masses in the North Pacific region are determined by the Pacific/North American pattern (PNAP), Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) and Aleutian low (AL). The PNAP was defined by Wallace and Gutzler (1981) as a linear relation of the normalized height anomalies at four centers located near Hawaii (20°N 160°W), over the North Pacific (45°N 165°W), over Alberta (55°N 115°W) and over the Gulf of Mexico (30°N 85°W). Developed by Hare, 1996, Zhang, 1996, the PDO

Sampling and palynological treatments

The 53 surface sediment samples analyzed in this study were collected with a multi-corer, mini-corer or box-corer during expeditions of the CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier (2007), R/V Akademik Lavrentyev (Biebow and Hutten, 1999), R/V Marshal Gelovany (Biebow et al., 2000) and R/V Sonne (Gersonde and SO-202-INOPEX participants, 2010; Table 1; Fig. 1). The surface sediment (0–1 cm) is generally considered to represent recent sedimentation although it may cover the last 101 to 103 years depending upon the

Dinocyst concentrations and assemblages

Dinocyst concentrations of the 53 surface sediment samples analyzed are highly variable. They range from 18 to 143 816 cysts/cm3 with a mean of 6443 cysts/cm3. The lowest values correspond to sites located in the open oceanic realm whereas the highest ones are recorded in coastal and neritic areas (Fig. 3 and Appendix A).

Dinocyst assemblages include 19 cysts produced by autotrophic dinoflagellates and 13 by heterotrophic ones. The occurrence of many taxa is occasional and only 15 taxa were counted

Taphonomic processes

Amongst the numerous taphonomic processes that can affect dinocysts, preservation (i.e., oxidation) and transport (i.e., direction and strength of oceanic currents) constitute the most significant parameters in the marine environment. Apart from cyst production, which is highly variable from area-to-area and year-to-year, assemblages in surface sediments depend also upon sedimentary processes.

Conclusion

This study fills the gap in the dinocyst distribution from the North Pacific realm and particularly, by integrating deep-sea sites. The analyses of the 53 surface sediment samples provide an overview of the high taxonomic diversity in the North Pacific Ocean compared to the North Atlantic. Furthermore, this work improves our knowledge on the ecological range of certain taxa such as Impagidinium spp., E. granulatum, and notably those that were presumed to be restricted to the Southern Ocean

Acknowledgments

This study is a contribution to the international INOPEX (Innovative NOrth Pacific EXperiment) project funded by the German Ministry of Education and Science (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung) and led by the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (Bremerhaven, Germany). This is also a Past4Future contribution n°15. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no

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