W4: Sediment Plankton, The Bottom of the Ocean

______________, like dinoflagellates, have long flagella. They either absorb their food or engulf it in food vacuoles or pockets.

Zooflagellates

Only free swimming ciliates are considered ___________!

Zooplankton

____________ are ocean animals that don't swim at all or are very weak swimmers, and they drift or move with ocean currents.

Zooplankton

Plankton comes from the Greek word "planktons," which means:

Drifting.

*The cell wall of ________ is also one of the major reasons why these algae are today a favorite tool of modern ecological and evolutionary researchers, because the fossils are often well preserved in lake and marine systems.*

Diatoms

*The _________ went extinct around 65 million years ago. Without these large predators, we begin to see mammals getting larger over the next 10 million years, which coincides with the beginning of PETM around 56 million years ago.*

Dinosaurs

At the beginning of PETM, white shelled organisms disappeared from the fossil record during this time due to ocean ________________.

acidification

Krill often have _______________ organs. They can be found in the sunlit zone and in the twilight zone.

bioluminescent

A drop in pH and rising levels in ocean water acidity affects the many marine animals such as those with calcium __________ shells.

carbonate

In addition to ocean temperature, as the foraminifera and ____________ fossils reveal, scientists can detect dust from marine sediment cores, just as they can from ice cores.

radiolaria

Zooplankton can be found in the ______ zone and in deep ocean waters.

sunlit

Yet these variety of shapes also tell us the ___________ of the water in which they can survive since chamber shape correlates to ___________. Studying this variable in present foraminifera is the key to the past knowledge of climate when we study these fossils in marine sediment!

temperature

According to the text, "Geological record is held in everything from _____ _____ to coral, from lake and deep-sea sediments to glacial ice"

tree rings

*The possible start or cause of this climatic optimum during the *Eocene Climatic Optimum* was a "combination of increased ____________ of oceanic carbon and increased petroleum generation in sedimentary basins.."*

ventilation

Some _______________ are parasites and can be found in the digestive tracts of animals like the cockroach and termite; others are free swimmers.

zooflagellates

There are two types of ____________. Permanent or holoplankton will always be ____________. Temporary or meroplankton are made up of the larvae of fish, crustaceans and other marine animals. If they survive, they will grow into nekton or free-swimming organisms.

zooplankton

*Scientists can determine the ratio of the oxygen present at the time of the foraminifera or radiolaria death. The colder the water, the heavier the oxygen isotope. Heavy oxygen is O18, light is O16 (number of neutrons determines isotope of atom). By comparing the fossils dating back to early Cambrian through the geological timescale to the extant organism and its present environment, scientists can use the principle of ___________________ to deduce paleoclimate.*

Uniformitarianism

Earth's last Ice Age:

*-During this time, lengthy cold periods were interrupted by short warm periods. -13,000 years ago, however, as a glacial period was ending, global temperatures suddenly dropped, as much as 50 degrees Fahrenheit in Greenland. -This brief, about 1,300 years long, glacial period is known as The Younger Dryas, which ended 11,640 years ago.*

*When did Earth's last ice age begin?*

*2.75 million years ago*

*Other interesting paleoclimate data in the marine sediment is also from the Eocene Climatic Optimum, ___-____ _______ years ago.*

*50-33 million*

*For the past 40+ years, the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at OSU has operated and maintained the Marine Geology Repository for the National Science Foundation. They house over ______ ocean sediment core samples from research ship expeditions all over the world.*

*6,000+*

*As CO2 rose and the planet warmed, the plants changed as the environment changed, and the evidence of chewed plant fossils show insects were on the rise. *_______________*, algae, were also on the rise, indicating a warming ocean.*

*Dinoflagellates*

Pseudopodia

-A cellular extension of amoeboid cells used in moving and feeding. -Radiolarians use them to catch phytoplankton as it floats by.

The fossils of ____________ date back 570 million years; and species still exist today, making comparison studies from past to present extant specimens possible (MIRACLE). The varying chamber arrangements of _____________ species as shown in the picture, left, are pretty (MIRACLE).

*Foraminifera*

*Scientists have used ice cores in _________* to date the Younger Dryas, but they wanted to know why it began and ended so quickly. Like forensic scientists on the case, researchers focused on the ocean as the possible reason.

*Greenland*

There are two types of zooplankton. Permanent or ___________ will always be zooplankton.

*Holoplankton*

Temporary or ___________ are made up of the larvae of fish, crustaceans and other marine animals. They will grow into nekton or free-swimming organisms.

*Meroplankton*

*Two oceanographers, studying carbon isotopes near Antarctica in the early 90s, noted a rise in ocean CO2 in their studies of foraminifera fossils. They deduced there would also have been a rise in atmospheric CO2 as well as warming of the ocean and atmosphere. The increase in CO2 during the period is called the _________-______ _______ _______, (PETM), and it lasted 150,000 years.*

*Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum*

*As important as the ice cores are for giving us information on ____________, it's also important to cross-reference the data using other ____________ records. Marine sediments give us this opportunity. When icebergs melt, the debris settles as sediment in the ocean. This acts as a record of sea level and sea temperature by how far the debris was carried.*

*Paleoclimate*

*_____ _________ comes into play at the end of the Eocene Climatic Optimum, as ocean circulation opened up and climate once again changed.*

*Plate Tectonics*

*____________ and diatoms (algae) also produce and leave behind shells made of silicon carbonate, SiO2 (NASA).*

*Radiolarians*

*___________ sediment mineral composition, such as from dust that blows into the ocean from land, shows ocean current patterns, wind direction, and the climate for the dated time period.*

*Terrigenous*

Diatoms are unicellular ______.

*algae*

PETM's rising CO2 brought on environmental and ___________ changes. So as in any ecosystem, when the environment changes, the organisms must adapt or they go extinct. Other organisms move in to evolve and take the place of the organisms that are no longer there.

*atmospheric*

*As CO2 levels rise in the atmosphere, it accumulates in the ocean. This is a natural part of the ______ _____. What we are noting now, however, is an imbalance in this natural cycle, and a buildup of CO2 in the ocean.*

*carbon cycle*

*Two oceanographers, studying carbon isotopes near Antarctica in the early 90s, noted a rise in ocean ______ _______, ___ in their studies of foraminifera fossils. They deduced there would also have been a rise in atmospheric ___ as well as warming of the ocean and atmosphere. The increase in ___ during the period called the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, PETM, lasted 150,000 years.*

*carbon dioxide* (CO2)

The cell walls of these organisms are made of silica, and the varied shapes and beautiful ornamentation of these walls make the study of the _______ interesting.

*diatoms*

*Depending on the depth of the ice, scientists can go back thousands to millions of years to show _____________ factors that shaped the climate. How? Gas, dust, and chemicals in snowfall, accumulate in the ice, layer upon layer, frozen in time until scientists pull out cores to "read" the data.*

*environment*

*CO2 diffuses in the ocean to form carbonic acid, which gives up _________ _____. ________ _____ are what we measure when we measure pH. An increase in CO2 correlates with a drop in pH, which can raise acidic levels if it is not balanced by a base.*

*hydrogen atoms*

When the dam of ___ _____, sending more water down the St. Lawrence River, the proverbial dam broke as well. This not only caused the water level in Lake Agassiz to drop 130 feet, but freshwater flooded, covering the warmer, denser saline waters of the northern Atlantic ocean with the fresh water, which acted as a turn-off valve for the ocean conveyor belt.

*ice broke*

Radiolarians, like foraminifera, are extant (species still exist today) amoeba-like _________. They were also first noted in the fossil record dating back 550 million years.

*protists*

*Due to __________, no seafloor is older than 180 million years old. Except for parts of the oceanic plate that "scrape" off onto the continental plate, the recycling and ___________ of the ocean floor takes much of the fossil record with it.*

*subduction*

Many hypotheses of the origin of Earth's CO2 were formed, but the one most supported by *marine sediment data* is that large deposits of methane hydrate were made unstable by *_________ __________* or a shifting of Earth's orbit. Released methane causes more warming than does carbon. After only 12 or more years, the methane oxidizes to CO2, and the warming continues.

*volcanic activity*

*Paleoclimate*

-A climate prevalent at a particular time in the geological past. -*past climate studies, allows us to understand our present climate.* -Myriad variables affect our climate to include Earth's orbit and axis tilt as described in the Milankovitch cycles, the Sun's energy, volcanic activity, and ocean circulation.

Ciliates

-A group of protozoans that move by waving tiny, hair-like organelles called cilia. -There are over 8000 species of ciliates, one of which is the paramecium. They live in salt and freshwater. -Some are free swimmers, others attach themselves to organisms or objects, and some are parasites.

Foraminifera

-A large group of amoeboid protists with reticulating pseudopods—fine strands of cytoplasm that branch and merge to form a dynamic net. -They typically produce a test, or shell, which can have either one or multiple chambers, some becoming quite elaborate in structure. *-The 4,000+ species are single-celled amoeba-like protists (MIRACLE) that produce a shell called a test (Microbial)—a perfect specimen for fossil finds in marine sediment studies.*

Radiolarians

-A protist, usually marine, with a shell generally made of silica and pseudopodia that radiate from the central body. -Small, round shell-covered organisms. -They make their shells with silica. -Have long, sticky tentacle-like arms called pseudopodia.

Zooflagellates

-Animal-like protists that have one or more flagella at some point in their life cycle and use them to be motile. -Either absorb their food or engulf it in food vacuoles or pockets. -Live under many different conditions.

Nitrogen Fixers

-Blue-Green Algae. -They photosynthesize, but some also use nitrogen for their energy. -They change free nitrogen into nitrates which are used by the cyanobacteria and by other plants in the ocean. Phytoplankton are the base of the ocean's food web and are the food source for zooplankton.

Cyanobacteria

-Blue-green algae; Bacteria that can carry out photosynthesis. -They photosynthesize, but some also use nitrogen for their energy. -They are nitrogen fixers; They change free nitrogen into nitrates which are used by the cyanobacteria and by other plants in the ocean.

Phaeophyta

-Brown algae (kelp). -Anther type of phytoplankton.

Foraminifera

-One of a group of tiny single-celled organisms that live in surface waters and whose secretions and calcite shells account for most of the ocean's carbonate sediments. -As they grow, they add chambers to their shells. Depending on the species, the shell may be made of sand, calcite or organic matter. -They move and catch their food with thin, hair-like extensions called pseudopodia.

Dinoflagellates

-Plant-like protists that have two tails, or flagella. -Come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. -Some have shells and some don't. Not all dinoflagellates rely only on photosynthesis for all their energy. Some wrap themselves around food and absorb it. Some dinoflagellates can make light using bioluminescence.

*Forams*

-Single-celled organisms that typically live in the ocean and produce a mineralized test. -Most have shells for protection and either float in the water column (Pelagic) or live on the sea floor (Benthic). -*There are approximately 8,000 species living today (extant) that we can compare to fossils that are thousands to millions of years old.* -*Their fossils give us data on water and climate information from the past.*

Diatoms

-The most common and abundant phytoplankton. -Single-celled algae that join together in long chains.

Copepods

-Tiny, shrimp-like crustaceans that are often the most free-floating animals in estuarine waters. -Sometimes called the insects of the sea because there are so many of them, about 10,000 species! -Can be found in fresh and salt water. -Very small- usually not more than a few millimeters long.

Cilia

-What ciliates have. -Hairlike projections that extend from the plasma membrane and are used for locomotion.

It took another ______ ______ for the water flushing from the Saint Lawrence River to stop, reversing the effects on the North Atlantic, allowing it to once again warm, which also warmed the climate.

1,300 years

The density of phytoplankton varies. They sometimes float just at the surface, but at other times and places they can congregate up to ___ _______ thick.

100 meters

Around ______ _____ ago, a couple of thousand years before the beginning of the Younger Dryas, melting glaciers in Canada temporarily held in Lake Agassiz before heading toward the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River.

15,000 years

How long did the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) last?

150,000 years

About ____ _______ years ago, scientists say enough oxygen had accumulated in Earth's atmosphere for the evolution of air-breathing land animals.

400 million

Scientists believe that phytoplankton contribute what percent of the oxygen in Earth's atmosphere? (Hint: it's a range.)

50 to 85 percent

Foraminifera, also known as Forams, have been around for at least ___ _________ years!

500 million

Paramecium

A ciliated (it propels itself via cilia) protist that lives in fresh water and eats other tiny organisms for food.

Silica

A material found in magma that is formed from the elements oxygen and silicon.

It can take _ ________ _____ or more for ocean water to move from the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

A thousand years

Nekton

All organisms that swim actively in open water, independent of currents, including free-swimming plankton.

Parasite

An organism that lives on or in a host and causes harm to the host.

Vacuoles

Cell organelle or pocket that stores materials such as water, salts, proteins, and carbohydrates.

Siphonophores

Colonial hydrozoans that form drifting colonies of polyps.

Pennella balaenopterae have two antenna, a shell and segmented bodies. They graze on phytoplankton and zooplankton. ________ are the largest source of protein in the ocean!

Copepods

Depending on the species, the shell of _____________ may be made of sand, calcite or organic matter.

Foraminifera

When ____________ die, their shells sink to the ocean floor and form an ooze. It is estimated that 30 percent of the ocean floor is made of the shells of foraminifera. Both limestone and chalk come from ____________.

Foraminifera

Scientists and educators can search for samples at the Index to Marine & Lacustrine __________ _______ (NOAA, NGDCD).

Geological samples

_________ are also zooplankton. _________ are basically big stomachs and long tentacles! Their tentacles have stingers on them and they use them to catch and paralyze food and carry it to their stomachs.

Jellyfish

______, one of the ocean's smallest animals, is dinner for one of its largest, whales! There are about 82 species of ______, ranging in size from less than a quarter of an inch long to two inches long.

Krill

Siphonophores like the Portuguese ___-__-___ look like jellyfish but they are not. They are really groups or colonies of animals. Each organism in the colony has a special niche or role. Some form the tentacles, and some form the mouth and stomach.

Man-Of-War

*_____ _________ also contains shells from coccolithophores, blue-green algae that produces a calcium carbonate, CaCO3, shell similar to the foraminifera.*

Marine sediments

*_____________* are the base of the ocean's food web and are the food source for zooplankton.

Phytoplankton

Most of Earth's oxygen comes from tiny ocean plants - called ______________ - that live near the water's surface and drift with the currents.

Phytoplankton

Over time, if enough ____________ shells sink together, the skeletal remains can become sedimentary rock!

Radiolorian

_______ is used in making glass and can be found in minerals like quartz.

Silica

Holoplankton

Species of zooplankton that spend their entire lives as plankton

Phytoplankton blooms happen in what season, when there's more available light and nutrients?

Spring

Meroplankton

Temporary or meroplankton are made up of the larvae of fish, crustaceans and other marine animals. If they survive, they will grow into nekton or free-swimming organisms.

What "data" might scientists find and interpret in glacial ice, such as ice from the last Ice Age?

The data might be methane gas bubbles that indicate swamps; nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide are indicators of fossil fuel combustion; sulfate shows us volcanic activity; and ammonium points to forest fires.

Phytoplankton

Tiny, microscopic, floating plant organisms that use photosynthesis for their energy, but some acquire additional energy by consuming other organisms.

Temperatures were 180 F. higher, and sea levels were at least 200' higher. The poles had little or no ice. The atmospheric CO2 was 3,000 ppm. Some refer to this time period after the dinosaurs as a "_________ _________" where vegetation was abundant in this wet world.

Tropical Paradise

Mathez notes that one species of _________, Emiliania huxleyi, has shown no effects so far of rising ocean acidity, but do we know where that tipping point is? Research continues as paleoclimate scientists use varied methods such as ice cores, marine sediments, and tree rings.

coccolith

The largest ________, the Pennella balaenopterae, lives on the finback whale and can grow to be over a foot long!

copepod

Krill are ____________ like copepods. They often have bioluminescent organs. They can be found in the sunlit zone and in the twilight zone.

crustaceans

Plankton is the foundation of the ocean ____ ___.

food web

*In addition to temperature ranges and changes, scientists can learn about currents and surface winds from these Foraminifera ________.

fossils

Zooplankton range in size from tiny microbes to _________, although most zooplankton are tiny, single-celled organisms.

jellyfish

During the PETM, many ________ got smaller before the climate changed again, and their descendants got bigger again.

mammals

Jellyfish tentacles have stingers on them and they use them to catch and _________ food and carry it to their stomachs. They move in the water by pumping their stomachs. They mostly move up and down in the water and let the currents carry them from side to side.

paralyze

Copepods are crustaceans. They have two antenna, a shell, and segmented bodies. They graze on phytoplankton and zooplankton. Copepods are the largest source of *________* in the ocean!

protein

Radiolarians have long, sticky tentacle-like arms called ___________.

pseudopodia