Diatoms and Aquatic Palynomorphs in the White Sea Sediments as Indicators of Sedimentation Processes and Paleoceanography

Abstract

Comprehensive studies of diatoms and palynomorphs from the White Sea sediments revealed the following features of the composition of their assemblages. The species composition of the marine plankton diatoms and dinoflagellate cysts in the sediments reflects the features of the high-latitude position of the sea and the impact of the Arctic and North Atlantic water masses on hydrological regime of the White Sea. The spatial distribution of plankton species in the surface sediments (both diatoms and dinoflagellate cysts) matches the distribution of the main types of water masses in the White Sea. The characteristic property of the diatom and dinoflagellate cyst assemblages is the presence, in high concentrations, of relatively warmwater species typical for the Atlantic water masses. Diatom algae, aquatic palynomorphs, and the grain size of surface sediments from bays of the White Sea were investigated in a program dedicated to the study of marginal filters (MF) in the Northern Dvina, the Onega, and the Kem’ Rivers.