Record Details

Assessing the suitability of benthic foraminiferal morpho-groups to reconstruct paleomonsoon from Bay of Bengal

DRS at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography

View Archive Info
 
 
Field Value
 
Title Assessing the suitability of benthic foraminiferal morpho-groups to reconstruct paleomonsoon from Bay of Bengal
 
Creator Manasa, M.
Saraswat, R.
Nigam, R.
 
Subject GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS
PALAEO-STUDIES
AQUATIC COMMUNITIES
CHEMISTRY AND BIOGEOCHEMISTRY
CHEMISTRY AND BIOGEOCHEMISTRY
 
Description Temporal changes in benthic foraminiferal morpho-groups were suggested as an effective proxy to reconstruct past monsoon intensity from the Arabian Sea. Here, in order to test the applicability of temporal variation in morpho-groups to reconstruct past monsoon intensity from the Bay of Bengal, we have documented recent benthic foraminiferal distribution from the continental shelf region of the northwestern Bay of Bengal. Based on the external morphology, benthic foraminifera were categorized into rounded symmetrical (RSBF) and angular asymmetrical benthic foraminifera (AABF). Additionally, a few other dominant groups were also identified based on test composition (agglutinated, calcareous) and abundance (Asterorotalids and Nonions). The relative abundance of each group was compared with the ambient physico-chemical conditions, including dissolved oxygen, organic matter, salinity and temperature. We report that the RSBF are abundant in comparatively warm and well oxygenated waters of low salinity, suggesting a preference for high energy environment, whereas AABF dominate relatively cold, hypersaline deeper waters with low dissolved oxygen, indicating a low energy environment. The agglutinated foraminifera, Asterorotalids and Nonions dominate shallow water, low salinity regions, whereas the calcareous benthic foraminiferal abundance increases away from the riverine influx regions. Food availability, as estimated from organic carbon abundance in sediments, has comparatively less influence on faunal distribution in the northwestern Bay of Bengal, as compared to dissolved oxygen, temperature and salinity. We conclude that the factors associated with freshwater influx affect the distribution of benthic foraminiferal morpho-groups in the northwestern Bay of Bengal and thus it can be used to reconstruct past monsoon intensity from the Bay of Bengal
 
Date 2016-06-14T06:59:03Z
2016-06-14T06:59:03Z
2016
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Journal of Earth System Science, vol.125(3); 2016; 571-584
no
http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/4979
 
Language en
 
Relation J_Earth_Syst_Sci_125_571.jpg
 
Rights Copyright [2016]. All efforts have been made to respect the copyright to the best of our knowledge. Inadvertent omissions, if brought to our notice, stand for correction and withdrawal of document from this repository.
 
Publisher Indian Academy of Sciences