Sedimentary record of radiolarian biogeography in the equatorial to Antarctic western Pacific Ocean.

BOLTOVSKOY DEMETRIO

MICROPALEONTOLOGY

MICROPALEONTOLOGY PRESS

Lugar: Washington DC; Año: 1987 vol. 33 p. 267 - 281

0026-2803

Analysis of 18 surface sediment samples from between 1 S and 64 S, along approx. 180 E, yielded 195 Recent radiolarian taxa. Clustering of the species and the samples, and further examination of the distribution patterns of radiolarian abundances, allowed definition of 5 climatic zones (Tropical to Antarctic) and several species groups and isolated species with variable degrees of selective loading on the 5 areas. Specific diversities were highest in the Tropical zone, and a secondary peak occurred at the northern edge of the Transition; the latter area was barren of endemic and, probably, also of characteristic taxa. A zonation of the transect based on a family and suborder level radiolarian census was very similar to the one based on the species, suggesting that the distribution of these higher-level categories is meaningful in ecological terms.