Southern Ocean Planktonic Foraminifera Carbon Isotope Records from Sediment Traps

Carbon isotopic composition measurements for three species of planktonic foraminifera collected from sediment traps in the Southern Ocean's western Pacific/Southern Australia sector. The dataset, provided by Geoscience Australia Data, allows for the determination of disequilibrium effects and the estimation of the oceanic Suess effect. It was last updated on 2026-05-14.

Use Cases

• Quantify the oceanic Suess effect based on modern depletion in foraminiferal d13C compared to core tops.
• Analyze latitudinal trends in isotopic disequilibrium between foraminifera and dissolved inorganic carbon.
• Calibrate foraminiferal d13C as a nutrient tracer in Southern Ocean environments based on correlation with seasonal nutrient changes.
• Validate laboratory-derived temperature-disequilibrium relationships with field data from sediment traps.

Strengths

• Focuses on three specific foraminifera species (Globigerina bulloides, Globorotalia inflata, Neogloboquadrina pachyderma) enabling species-level analysis.
• Data covers a latitudinal gradient from Subtropical to Polar Frontal environments in the Southern Ocean.
• Includes comparison with core-top samples to estimate modern anthropogenic impacts.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the western Pacific/Southern Australia sector.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Measurements from sediment traps collecting annual flux of foraminifera.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 03:17:03.143104; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Southern Ocean, western Pacific/Southern Australia sector, Subtropical to Polar Frontal environments.