Funds are provided to support the investigator's ongoing efforts to study the response of planktonic foraminifera to oceanic upwelling. This study area is strongly influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in the strength of the California Current, resulting in pronounced periods of Ekman- induced upwelling. The study will result in an (1) increased understanding of the ecology of planktonic foraminifera which live in a highly unstable but productive seasonal upwelling habitat; (2) documentation of the seasonal succession and assemblage composition of these species: (3) identification of species that respond to periods of upwelling and/or phytoplankton bloom conditions; (4) identification of upwelling signals recorded in the stable isotopic composition of foraminiferal tests; (5) an composition of foraminiferal seasonal abundance/distribution patterns and isotopic composition to sedimentary assemblages in both bioturbated and non-bioturbated sediments.
