Fragilariopsis diatom evolution in Pliocene and Pleistocene
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TitleFragilariopsis diatom evolution in Pliocene and Pleistocene Antarctic shelf sedimentsAbstractThe late Pliocene - early Pleistocene sediment record in the AND-1B core from the McMurdo Sound, Ross Sea, Antarctica, displays a rich diversity and high abundance of diatoms, including several new morphologies within the genus Fragilariopsis. These new morphologies exhibit similarities to the extinct late Miocene/early Pliocene species Fragilariopsis aurica Gersonde and Fragilariopsis praecurta Gersonde, as well as to the modern sea ice-associated species Fragilariopsis ritscheri Hustedt and Fragilariopsis obliquecostata van Heurck. From the diverse morphologies present, we use light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy to identify and describe the characteristics of three new taxa, Fragilariopsis laqueata Riesselman, Fragilariopsis bohatyi Sjunneskog et Riesselman, and Fragilariopsis robusta Sjunneskog, which are common in the diatom-bearing intervals from  3.2 to 1.95 Ma. Comparisons with extant and extinct species are made to assess possible environmental affinities, evolutionary relationships, and potential for future biostratigraphic utility. This complex of newmorphologies diversified as conditions cooled during the Pliocene, then went into decline as heavy sea ice conditions of the Pleistocene were established. Only the lineage of F. robusta appears to continue into the late Pleistocene, where it is interpreted to have evolved into F. obliquecostata.AcknowledgementsThe authors thank Dr. John Barron, Dr. Sherwood Wise, and two anonymous reviewers for their comments and insights, which have significantly improved this manuscript. The ANDRILL Program is a multinational collaboration between the Antarctic Programs of Germany, Italy, New Zealand (AntNZ) and the United States. Scientific studies are jointly supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, NZ Foundation for Research, the Italian Antarctic Research Program, the German Science Foundation and the Alfred Wegener Institute. This study is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation and the ANDRILL Science Management Office under Cooperative Agreement No. 0342484. Samples for this investigation were provided by the Antarctic Marine Geology Research Facility, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida.
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1st AuthorSjunneskog, C.AuthorSjunneskog, C.Riesselman, C.Winter, D.Scherer, R.Year2012JournalMicropaleontologyVolume58Number3Pages273-289URLhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/recor.....1a7ebcd4be73d2d2d2481c25dKeywordsabundancebiostratigraphydiatommorphologynew taxonPliocene-Pleistocene boundarysea iceshelf sediment, AntarcticaEast AntarcticaMcMurdo SoundRoss SeaSouthern Ocean, BacillariophytaFragilariopsisFragilariopsis obliquecostata, rank1Author KeywordsANDRILLAntarcticaFragilariopsisRoss SeaSea iceSPliocene
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TypeArticleCitationSjunneskog, C., Riesselman, C., Winter, D. and Scherer, R. (2012) Fragilariopsis diatom evolution in Pliocene and Pleistocene Antarctic shelf sediments. Micropaleontology, 58(3): 273-289 IdentifierSjunneskog2012Relevancerank1
Scherer, R., Fragilariopsis diatom evolution in Pliocene and Pleistocene , [Sjunneskog2012]. Antarctica NZ, accessed 01/08/2026, https://adam.antarcticanz.govt.nz/nodes/view/63771