PNW Foram Ecology 1 of 4

The project will improve the utility of temperate and high-latitude planktic foraminifera in paleoclimate research and quantify the effects of modern climate change on foraminifera assemblages in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. The main objectives are to expand our knowledge of the ecology and environmental controls on the geochemistry of temperate and higher-latitude foraminifera species, quantify their response to modern changes in oceanographic conditions (specifically marine heat waves), and constrain foraminiferal geochemical signatures as they sink to the seafloor. This will be achieved through a significant field-based and laboratory effort that includes newly collected plankton tows, short-duration ship-based culture experiments, assemblage data from archived plankton tow samples, and the deployment of two moored sediment traps. The proposed multi-pronged sampling strategy will provide critical samples needed to understand the biogeochemistry and ecology of foraminifera in this important ocean margin region, increase their utility in understanding past oceanographic conditions, and lay the groundwork for understanding how high-latitude species will respond to future climate change. Highly controlled culture experiments will quantify trace element incorporation dynamics and mechanisms responsible for intrashell trace element variability in temperate to polar species. The results of these experiments will offer important information that can be used to interpret the geochemistry of fossil foraminifera in temperate to high-latitude regions, broaden our understanding of the controls on trace element incorporation in high-latitude and temperate foraminifera species, and improve their utility in paleoceanographic reconstructions. Sediment trap, plankton tow, and cultured specimens will be analyzed for their trace element and isotopic composition. Live captured specimens will be analyzed to determine their genotype and microbiome. Foraminifera and sediment trap samples not used by the PIs in this project will be archived at the OSU Marine Geological Repository for future studies by the scientific community.