NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology - Ortiz and Mix 1992 California Current Planktonic Foraminifera Trap Data

Preliminary results are presented from the September 1987 to September 1988 deployment of the Multitracers Project, a moored sediment trap experiment in the California Current. Three sediment trap moorings were deployed on a transect off Cape Blanco at 130, 280, and 650 km offshore. The seasonal distribution of foraminifers in the California Current at 42°N reflect variations in the temperatures and water masses present at each site. The winter assemblage of foraminifers at the sites 130 and 280 km offshore comprise mainly the subarctic/transitional species: N. pachyderma (right), N. dutertrei, G. bulloides, G. quinqueloba and G. glutinata. From late June to September 1988 at the site 130 km offshore, G. bulloides, G. falconensis, N. pachyderma (left) and the P-D intergrade category record high fluxes, apparently in response to upwelling conditions. The subtropical species O. universa, G. ruber and T. humilis are most important at the site 650 km offshore. The foraminiferal communities present from September 1987 to September 1988 off Cape Blanco seem to be more diverse but less productive than assemblages from the Alaskan Gyre at Station P (45°N, 150°W) as described in the literature.