Diatoms and aquatic palynomorphs in the Barents sea sediments: main distribution patterns and use in palaeoceanological studies

Abstract

The Chapter deals with the uniqueness of the Barents Sea and adjacent sea areas from the viewpoint of the main groups of phytoplankton (diatom algae and dinoflagellate) development and their reflection in tanatocenoses of bottom sediments. Special attention is paid to the distribution of microfossils in surface waters as an indicator of the modern sea ice and hydrological signal. A distinctive feature of the Barents Sea tanatocenoses is the frequency of re-deposited Paleogene and Cretaceous forms of diatoms and dinocysts. Despite all the difficulties in finding microfossils in bottom sediments, data were obtained on characteristic associations mainly related to the redistribution of relatively warm North Atlantic waters. The issues of microfossils in cores and boreholes located on the Barents Sea shelf and continental slope are considered and the most extensive material on changes in sedimentation conditions in the Pleistocene and Holocene is generalized.