Abstract
The largest extinction of deep-sea benthic foraminifera in the Cenozoic occurred during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum event (PETM, ~55.8 Ma). Much has been speculated about the causes of such extinction, and proposed mechanisms include changes in productivity and/or oxygenation of bottom waters, metabolic changes and in the composition of the food supply to the seafloor, or the ocean acidification related to the massive input of isotopically light carbon into the ocean-atmosphere system, among others. Here we analyse ocean acidification as a potential triggering mechanism of the extinctions. The early Eocene at the Zumaya section (Basque-Cantabrian Basin) is marked by a 4 m-thick interval with a very low CaCO 3 content. In order to analyse whether CaCO 3 dissolution had a direct effect on the extinctions across the PETM, we car-ried out dissolution experiments on various species of agglutinated benthic foraminifera from Zumaya. In general, agglutinated species that do not disappear in the interval of most intense dissolution at Zumaya were not -or only slightly- affected by our dissolution experiments, since they do not have calcareous particles or cement. However, some species that went extinct or locally disappeared during the early Eocene, such as Dorothia cylindracea, Spiroplectammina spectabilis and Haplophragmoides cf. walteri , are resistant to dissolution. These results sug-gest that, in addition to ocean acidification, other factors must have contributed to the destabilization of benthic foraminiferal assemblages.
Highlights
In order to analyse whether CaCO3 dissolution had a direct effect on the extinctions across the PETM, we carried out dissolution experiments on various species of agglutinated benthic foraminifera from Zumaya
Some species that went extinct or locally disappeared during the early Eocene, such as Dorothia cylindracea, Spiroplectammina spectabilis and Haplophragmoides cf. walteri, are resistant to dissolution. These results suggest that, in addition to ocean acidification, other factors must have contributed to the destabilization of benthic foraminiferal assemblages
Tabla 3.—Características de la pared y posición de vida de las especies de foraminíferos bentónicos aglutinados utilizados en este estudio que muestran los ejemplares de G. pyramidata, M. trochoides y Clavulinoides sp. y C. amorpha disueltos en la segunda serie de experimentos
Summary
Para llevar a cabo los experimentos de disolución en especies aglutinadas, se utilizó material empleado por Alegret et al (2009a) en su estudio sobre foraminíferos bentónicos del PETM de la sección de Zumaya (Cuenca Vasco-Cantábrica). Se considera que tanto los ejemplares identificados en el artículo de Alegret et al (2009a) como los empleados en el presente estudio corresponden a H. cf walteri. Y dado que en el presente estudio únicamente se pretende averiguar si determinadas especies fueron sensibles a la acidificación o no, los experimentos se han realizado con una solución muy ácida que permite reconocer fácilmente aquellos ejemplares afectados por la disolución del carbonato. Tabla 1.—Índice de Conservación Absoluta (APS) de especies de foraminíferos bentónicos aglutinados tras la primera serie de experimentos de disolución con ácido acético
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