Pleistocene to Holocene benthic foraminiferal assemblages from the Peruvian continental margin

Abstract

The benthic foraminiferal inventory and their assemblage composition was documented along five sediment cores from the Peruvian margin between 3°S and 18°S at water depths of 500 to 1250 m, covering the lower boundary of today’s Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ). Emphasis was given to certain time intervals during the last 22 thousand years when different climatic and oceanographic conditions prevailed than today. In total three agglutinated and 186 calcareous species were recognised. Bolivina costata, Bolivinita minuta, Cassidulina delicata and Epistominella exigua were most abundant. The foraminiferal distributions revealed a marked change in assemblage composition particularly at the deeper cores during and after the deglaciation. The diversity declined and Bolivina species became dominant. These changes took place gradually over several millennia, and high-frequency fluctuations were not recorded. This pattern provides evidence for rather stable ecological conditions and sluggish changes in bottom water circulation during the last deglaciation.