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Science 26 October 1979:
Vol. 206. no. 4417, pp. 447 - 449
DOI: 10.1126/science.206.4417.447
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Articles

Seasonal Oxygen Isotopic Variations in Living Planktonic Foraminifera off Bermuda

DOUGLAS F. WILLIAMS 1, ALLAN W.H. BÉ 2, and RICHARD G. FAIRBANKS 2

1 Department of Geology and Belle W. Baruch Institute, University of South Carolina, Columbia 29208
2 Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York 10964

Seasonal variations in the oxygen-18/oxygen-16 ratio of calcite shells of living planktonic foraminifera in the Sargasso Sea off Bermuda are a direct function of surface water temperature. Seasonal occurrence as well as depth habitat are determining factors in the oxygen isotopic composition of planktonic foraminifera. These relationships may be used to determine the seasonal temperature contrast of oceans in the past.

Submitted on November 13, 1978
Revised on April 20, 1979


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Daily Growth Rates in Shells of Arctica islandica: Assessing Sub-seasonal Environmental Controls on a Long-lived Bivalve Mollusk.
(2005)
Palaios 20, 78-92
Meltwater influences and palaeocirculation changes in the North Atlantic during the last glacial termination.
D. F. Williams and R. N. Fillon (1986)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 21, 175-180
   Abstract »    PDF »
Vertical Distribution and Isotopic Composition of Living Planktonic Foraminifera in the Western North Atlantic.
R. G. Fairbanks, R. G. FAIRBANKS, P. H. WIEBE, and A. W. H. BE (1980)
Science 207, 61-63
   Abstract »    PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)