Depth Habitats of Pelagic Foraminifera during the Pleistocene (original) (raw)

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• Published: 01 January 1968

Nature volume 217, pages 245–247 (1968)Cite this article

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Abstract

PLANKTONIC foraminifera, numbering about thirty modern species, have been found alive not only near the surface but as deep as 2,000 m (ref. 1). Emiliani2 analysed the O18/O16 composition of the shells of several species and concluded that different species occupy different depth habitats, with Globigerinoides ruber and G. sacculifera living very close to the ocean surface, Globigerina spp. living somewhat deeper and Globorotalia spp. occupying the deepest habitats down to about 200 m for population averages. Whereas O18/O16 analysis of the carbonate shells can only establish the depth at which average shell deposition takes place, not only for individual shells but for entire populations, recent work by Jones3, using opening and closing plankton nets, has shown that the conclusions reached by Emiliani2 are essentially correct. It therefore seems that the average depths of shell deposition are also the average depths at which the different species live.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

1. Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Miami,
   BARBARA LIDZ, ALEXIS KEHM & HENDRICK MILLER

Authors

1. BARBARA LIDZ
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2. ALEXIS KEHM
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3. HENDRICK MILLER
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LIDZ, B., KEHM, A. & MILLER, H. Depth Habitats of Pelagic Foraminifera during the Pleistocene.Nature 217, 245–247 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/217245a0

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• Received: 13 December 1967
• Published: 01 January 1968
• Issue Date: 20 January 1968
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/217245a0

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