Miocene to Pliocene Paleoceanography of the Western Equatorial Pacific Ocean Based on Calcareous Nannofossils, ODP Hole 805B

Meutia Farida, Ryo Imai, Tokiyuki Sato

Institute of Applied Earth Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and Resource Science, Akita University, Akita, Japan.

DOI: 10.4236/ojg.2012.22008                

Abstract

We describe in detail the Miocene to Quaternary paleoceanography of the western equatorial Pacific Ocean based on calcareous nannofossils of Hole 805B. The relative abundance of Discoaster which lived in the lower photic zone under the stable sea with nutricline and thermocline, decreased step by step at NN5/NN6 and NN10/NN11 boundaries. Al- though the size of Reticulofenestra which is strongly influenced by nutrient, increased five times throughout the section, it drastically decreased in NN4-5 zone, NN10, NN12, and in NN15/NN16 boundary. On the basis of the relationship between Discoaster abundance and Reticulofenestra size change, collapse of the stability of the sea surface in the west- ern equatorial Pacific Ocean progressed step by step throughout the Miocene to Quaternary.

Keywords

Paleoceanography; Calcareous Nannofossils; Discoaster; Reticulofenestra; Nutricline; Thermocline

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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