Living benthic foraminifera of the western and southern Arabian Sea

Sediments from the western and southern part of the Arabian Sea were collected periodically in the spring intermonsoon between March and May 1997 and additionally at the end of the Northeast Monsoon in February 1998. Assemblages of Rose Bengal stained, living deep-sea benthic foraminifera, their densities, vertical distribution pattern, and diversity were analysed after the Northeast Monsoon and short-time changes were recorded. In the western Arabian Sea, foraminiferal numbers increased steadily between March and the beginning of May, especially in the smaller size classes (30-63 µm, 63-125 µm). At the same time, the deepening of the foraminiferal living horizon, variable diversity and rapid variations between dominant foraminiferal communities were observed. We interpret these observations as the time-dependent response of benthic foraminifera to enhanced organic carbon fluxes during and after the Northeast Monsoon. […]

在1997年3月至5月间的春季间季以及1998年2月的东北季风末期，定期从阿拉伯海的西部和南部采集沉积物。对经过玫瑰红染色的活深海底栖有孔虫群、其密度、垂直分布模式和多样性进行了分析，并记录了东北季风和短期内的变化。在阿拉伯海的西部地区，有孔虫的数量在3月至5月初稳步增加，特别是在较小的体型类别（30-63微米，63-125微米）中。同时，观察到有孔虫生活层的加深、多样性变化以及优势有孔虫群落之间的快速变异。我们将这些观察结果解释为底栖有孔虫对东北季风期间及之后增强的有机碳通量的时间依赖性响应。