Evolutionary Palaeoecological and Morphological Response of <i>Globorotalia menardii</i> to Environmental Stress Conditions Preceding the Tortonian–Messinian Boundary in the Mediterranean Basin
The Tortonian–Messinian transition is associated with important climatic and oceanographic changes in the Mediterranean Basin, which have shaped both the biotic and abiotic nature of this setting. The morphological variability of the planktonic foraminifera <i>Globorotalia menardii</i>,...
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MDPI AG
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/11/6/1228 |
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| author | Evangelia Besiou George Kontakiotis Iuliana Vasiliev Pierre Moissette Jean-Jacques Cornée Assimina Antonarakou |
| author_facet | Evangelia Besiou George Kontakiotis Iuliana Vasiliev Pierre Moissette Jean-Jacques Cornée Assimina Antonarakou |
| author_sort | Evangelia Besiou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Tortonian–Messinian transition is associated with important climatic and oceanographic changes in the Mediterranean Basin, which have shaped both the biotic and abiotic nature of this setting. The morphological variability of the planktonic foraminifera <i>Globorotalia menardii</i>, a species that is highly sensitive to water column structure, has been investigated from the sedimentary archive of three Cretan sections across a west–east transect covering the Tortonian–Messinian Boundary. The present work explicitly focuses on test-size and coiling direction changes occurring during the 7.36–7.24 Ma time slice. On such a short timescale, the most important morphological differentiation accounts for the average size of <i>G. menardii</i>, which is mostly associated with evolutionary adaptation to new ecological niches during the latest Tortonian as a response to the environmental perturbations and ecological stress conditions preceding the Tortonian–Messinian Boundary. A combined thermal and/or salinity-driven stratification and thermocline development hypothesis has been suggested to explain the observed size variability. To ameliorate the accuracy of the proposed model and further determine which environmental parameter reflects the optimum conditions of the analysed species, additional sea surface temperature and salinity data derived from the same sampling intervals of the studied or additional Mediterranean sites are needed. The coiling direction of this species within the study time interval remained constant and not environmentally controlled. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:16:43Z |
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| id | doaj.art-c48e0970753f4cee96d736aa4d1726ef |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1312 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:16:43Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
| spelling | doaj.art-c48e0970753f4cee96d736aa4d1726ef2023-11-18T11:07:39ZengMDPI AGJournal of Marine Science and Engineering2077-13122023-06-01116122810.3390/jmse11061228Evolutionary Palaeoecological and Morphological Response of <i>Globorotalia menardii</i> to Environmental Stress Conditions Preceding the Tortonian–Messinian Boundary in the Mediterranean BasinEvangelia Besiou0George Kontakiotis1Iuliana Vasiliev2Pierre Moissette3Jean-Jacques Cornée4Assimina Antonarakou5Department of Historical Geology-Paleontology, Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, School of Earth Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Zografou, 15784 Athens, GreeceDepartment of Historical Geology-Paleontology, Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, School of Earth Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Zografou, 15784 Athens, GreeceSenckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Senckenberganlage 25, D-60325 Frankfurt am Main, GermanyDepartment of Historical Geology-Paleontology, Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, School of Earth Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Zografou, 15784 Athens, GreeceGéosciences Montpellier, Université des Antilles-Université de Montpellier-CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Pointe à Pitre (FWI), 34095 Montpellier, FranceDepartment of Historical Geology-Paleontology, Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, School of Earth Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Zografou, 15784 Athens, GreeceThe Tortonian–Messinian transition is associated with important climatic and oceanographic changes in the Mediterranean Basin, which have shaped both the biotic and abiotic nature of this setting. The morphological variability of the planktonic foraminifera <i>Globorotalia menardii</i>, a species that is highly sensitive to water column structure, has been investigated from the sedimentary archive of three Cretan sections across a west–east transect covering the Tortonian–Messinian Boundary. The present work explicitly focuses on test-size and coiling direction changes occurring during the 7.36–7.24 Ma time slice. On such a short timescale, the most important morphological differentiation accounts for the average size of <i>G. menardii</i>, which is mostly associated with evolutionary adaptation to new ecological niches during the latest Tortonian as a response to the environmental perturbations and ecological stress conditions preceding the Tortonian–Messinian Boundary. A combined thermal and/or salinity-driven stratification and thermocline development hypothesis has been suggested to explain the observed size variability. To ameliorate the accuracy of the proposed model and further determine which environmental parameter reflects the optimum conditions of the analysed species, additional sea surface temperature and salinity data derived from the same sampling intervals of the studied or additional Mediterranean sites are needed. The coiling direction of this species within the study time interval remained constant and not environmentally controlled.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/11/6/1228planktonic foraminiferaupper MioceneMediterranean Basinsize distributiontemperaturesalinity |
| spellingShingle | Evangelia Besiou George Kontakiotis Iuliana Vasiliev Pierre Moissette Jean-Jacques Cornée Assimina Antonarakou Evolutionary Palaeoecological and Morphological Response of <i>Globorotalia menardii</i> to Environmental Stress Conditions Preceding the Tortonian–Messinian Boundary in the Mediterranean Basin Journal of Marine Science and Engineering planktonic foraminifera upper Miocene Mediterranean Basin size distribution temperature salinity |
| title | Evolutionary Palaeoecological and Morphological Response of <i>Globorotalia menardii</i> to Environmental Stress Conditions Preceding the Tortonian–Messinian Boundary in the Mediterranean Basin |
| title_full | Evolutionary Palaeoecological and Morphological Response of <i>Globorotalia menardii</i> to Environmental Stress Conditions Preceding the Tortonian–Messinian Boundary in the Mediterranean Basin |
| title_fullStr | Evolutionary Palaeoecological and Morphological Response of <i>Globorotalia menardii</i> to Environmental Stress Conditions Preceding the Tortonian–Messinian Boundary in the Mediterranean Basin |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evolutionary Palaeoecological and Morphological Response of <i>Globorotalia menardii</i> to Environmental Stress Conditions Preceding the Tortonian–Messinian Boundary in the Mediterranean Basin |
| title_short | Evolutionary Palaeoecological and Morphological Response of <i>Globorotalia menardii</i> to Environmental Stress Conditions Preceding the Tortonian–Messinian Boundary in the Mediterranean Basin |
| title_sort | evolutionary palaeoecological and morphological response of i globorotalia menardii i to environmental stress conditions preceding the tortonian messinian boundary in the mediterranean basin |
| topic | planktonic foraminifera upper Miocene Mediterranean Basin size distribution temperature salinity |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/11/6/1228 |
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