Table of Contents

• Coverage
• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
  • BCO-DMO Processing Description
  • Problem Description
• Related Publications
• Related Datasets
• Parameters
• Instruments
• Project Information
• Funding

Similar datasets of planktic foraminiferal flux from the Santa Barbara Basin Sediment Trap: 1993-1996 (Kincaid et al., 2000) and 1995-1998 (Black et al., 2001). See related dataset section.

Samples were collected at 10-to-14-day intervals by a moored sediment trap in Santa Barbara Basin, CA (34°14’42.14’’ N, 120°03’33.45’’ W) between May 24, 2014, and November 11, 2021. The sediment trap is a McLane Parflux 78H model. It has been located at > 400 m depth (the basin is ~589 m deep; Eichhubl et al., 2001) since 1993. Samples were preserved in a borate-buffered formalin solution and collected from the sediment trap every six months, excluding the periods between July-October 2015 and May-November 2020. After collection, samples were split into 16 parts. One 16th was used for foraminiferal flux and species counts. Each sample was wet picked for foraminifera following the procedure outlined in Kincaid et al. (2000). The formalin solution was rinsed out using tap water and a 125µm sieve, remaining consistent with previous SBB assemblage studies (Kincaid et al., 2000; Black et al., 2001). All foraminifera present in the sample were separated from other sediment trap material using a fine paint brush and allowed to air dry. Following wet picking, foraminifera were sorted by species and counted to determine foraminiferal flux and relative abundance. 

Foraminiferal flux was calculated from species counts (1/16th splits) to determine the #foraminifera m-2 day-1 for each full sample. This method is consistent with the flux calculations used in Kincaid et al. (2000) and Black et al. (2001) for the same sediment trap with an area of 0.5 m2. Flux = (raw count*16)/(collection duration(days) * 0.5m2). 

* adjusted column names to comply with database requirements
* added sampling latitude and longitude to dataset
* converted dates to ISO format dates

NSF Award Abstract: 

Modern day releases of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere are the highest observed over the last 30 million years. This has resulted in major changes in the ocean. This work focuses on using a group of shell-forming organisms, planktic foraminifera. The carbonate shells of foraminifera are found in seafloor sediments. They provide a history of the environment in which they grew. The goal of this project is to use the shells of foraminifera to better understand how quickly and why the abundances of different foraminifera species change in response to climate. A thirty-year record of planktic foraminifera abundances will be created from stored samples collected from the Santa Barbara Basin, California. The results will be connected to modern day oceanographic measurements and the foraminifera found in older seafloor sediments. This will allow a better understanding of how climate change has impacted the ocean environment over very long time periods and allow future predictions. This project will provide hands on research training for students. Classroom activities will be developed that promote quantitative and data visualization skills with a real-world dataset.

Foraminifera have species-specific environmental preferences that influence their assemblages in the water column and in marine sediments. Moreover, the geochemistry of foraminiferal shells has become the foundation for widely used paleoceanographic proxies. However, interpretation of the fossil foraminiferal record must be fundamentally grounded in foraminiferal ecology. For example, use of geochemical proxies relies on the assumption of negligible change in seasonality or habitat through time, with violations potentially responsible for key errors in the paleoceanographic record. In addition to assessing rates and drivers of foraminiferal faunal change, this research would fulfill goals including: 1) testing how changing seasonality influences interpretations of foraminiferal-based proxy records, 2) evaluating whether sediment trap faunas are representative of underlying sediment, and 3) integrating 21st century foraminiferal faunal change with the geological record. Assemblages from biweekly sediment traps and near-annually resolved samples from a sediment core will be generated to accomplish these goals. Santa Barbara Basin was chosen because it has an archive of sediment trap material, extensive overlapping observational measurements, a well-preserved fossil record, and experiences climatic oscillations at timescales from seasonal to anthropogenic and longer. Quantitative assemblages will be supported by stable isotope and trace elemental analyses of a subset of shells to test interpretations of geochemical proxy records.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.