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Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Holes 980 B and C, Feni Drift at the eastern slope of the Rockall Plateau, eastern North Atlantic, were examined for late Quaternary deep-sea ostracode taxonomy. Nineteen genera and 32 species were examined and (re-)illustrated with high-resolution scanning electron microscopy images. One new species Cytheropteron paramassoni n. sp. is described and one new name Eucytherura zehali is proposed for Eucytherura hazeli Yasuhara et al., 2009. This study provides updated taxonomic information for deep-sea ostracode genera and species from the eastern North Atlantic, which is an important baseline for application of deep-sea ostracodes to paleoceanographical reconstructions and paleoecological studies in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We present a detailed study of glacial/interglacial deep sea benthic ostracod assemblage variability at IODP Site U1314 (subpolar North Atlantic) in relation to the history of ice-rafting events and changes in deep ocean circulation over the past 170 ky. Our records of ostracod diversity, abundance and dissolution and sediment properties (IRD and CaCO3) show an excellent correspondence to high amplitude orbital and millennial variability observed in the climate records (δ13C and δ18O) from neighboring deep water sites, suggesting that the benthic meiofauna fluctuates synchronously with the prevailing oceanographic conditions (surface ocean conditions, deep ocean circulation and water temperature and food flux). Krithe (dominant), Argilloecia and Cytheropteron are the most abundant and diverse genera in association with Rockallia enigmatica. Three ostracod assemblages are recognized. The genera Pennyella, Argilloecia, Pelecocythere, Ambocythere, Pseudobosquetina, Bradleya and Nannocythere are associated with interglacials and interstadials, and possibly reflect increased flux of food to the sediments and more vigorous NADW formation. A transitional assemblage composed of species of Cytheropteron, Xestoleberis and Eucythere is restricted to climatic transitions and indicate moderate environmental conditions and seasonal productivity. A glacial/stadial assemblage is characterized by a temporal predominance of either intermediate-depth and shallow water Arctic/subarctic species (belonging to Cytheropteron, Polycope, Pedicythere, Swainocythere, Cluthia, Heterocyprideis, Elofsonella and Finmarchinella) or abyssal North Atlantic ostracods (Bythocythere, Dutoitella, Bathycythere and Bythocypris). The influx of high latitude taxa can be partially explained by ice-rafting, but may also represent a shift of the location of intermediate and deep water convection to the area south of Iceland. Therefore the combination of species characteristic of different watermasses during glacials may reflect shifts in the influence of high nutrient southern source water (e.g. AABW) vs. low nutrient GNAIW during glacials. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Ostracodes are small, bivalved crustaceans with the finest-scale fossil resolution of any metazoan, rivaled only by the fossil record of the protistan Foraminifera. This article presents a synthesis of the patterns and possible causes of alpha species diversity variation in benthic deep-sea ostracodes at drilling sites in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. Taken together, these sites represent a period of great climatic variability covering the past three million years. Sediment cores taken from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge show a positive correlation between warm temperatures and high species diversity. These Mid-Atlantic Ridge cores, at the same latitude as northern Spain, show the same positive correlation during the last two glacial-interglacial cycles (200-0 ka [thousands of years ago]) as they do during the pre-glacial Pliocene 2.85-2.4 Ma (millions of years ago). This positive correlation is also found in Pliocene cores from the Rockall Plateau, at the same latitude as Ireland. During the last 200 thousand years, however, this correlation is reversed in cores taken from both the Rockall and Iceland Plateaus. The discovery of high diversity during colder periods in recent high-latitude Rockall and Iceland cores seems to be explained by spikes in diversity caused by ice-rafting events, which would notaffect the lower-latitude Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The Heinrich ice-rafting events reduce North Atlantic surface temperatures and salinity every ̃6-12 ka, dramatically decreasing surface productivity. This increase in diversity during Heinrich events may be explained either by a negative correlation between surface productivity and benthic diversity or by increase in diversity caused by moderate disturbance when ice rafted debris fall to the bottom of the ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]