Benthic foraminiferal assemblages and environmental data from surface samples across Baffin Bay, Labrador Sea and Davis Strait (2023-2025)

Surface samples from 10 sites were collected at continental slop depths in Baffin Bay, Davis Strait and the Labrador Sea as part of the AR2307 cruise in summer 2023. Surface samples were taken from the upper 0.5-1 centimeters of box and multi-cores. Benthic foraminifera were analysed from these samples; samples were sieved and all fauna greater than 63 micrometers (µm) were counted wet. Environmental variables from the corresponding sites: sea-ice cover, water depth, bottom water temperature, bottom water salinity, total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), ice proxy with 25 carbon atoms (IP25) concentration, phytoplankton sterols, and grain size characteristics are also included. Bottom water temperature, bottom water salinity, bottom water oxygen, and water depth were recorded at each site during the cruises using a Seabird SBE 9+ CTD. Sea-ice concentration data has been extracted from the Global Ocean OSTIA Sea Ice Product (Worsfold et al., 2024).
Data published: Davies, J., Jennings, A., Carter-Champion, A., D’Andrea, W.J., Fritz, C., Gregory, E.E., Harning, D.J., Kelleher, R., Mix, A.C., Stelling, K., Stoner, J.S., Walczak, M.H., Klotsko, S., Hatfield, R.G., Reilly, B., 2025. Linkages between modern benthic foraminiferal assemblages and environmental conditions at continental slope depths: From Baffin Bay to the Labrador Sea. Marine Micropaleontology 201, 102527. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marmicro.2025.102527
Reference: Worsfold, M., Good, S., Atkinson, C., Embury, O., 2024. Presenting a Long-Term, Reprocessed Dataset of Global Sea Surface Temperature Produced Using the OSTIA System. Remote Sensing 16, 3358. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16183358