Species-specific responses of late Miocene Discoaster spp. to enhanced biosilica productivity conditions in the equatorial Pacific and the Mediterranean

Census data of a major Cenozoic calcareous nannofossil genus (Discoaster) have been acquired from Site U1338, located near the Equator in the eastern Pacific Ocean and drilled in 2009 during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 321. The investigated 147.53 m thick upper Miocene sediment sequence is primarily composed of biogenic carbonate and biogenic silica. Diatom biostratigraphic data were used to develop a revised biomagnetostratigraphic age model, resulting in more variable late Miocene sedimentation rates. Carbonate content variations mainly reflect dilution by biogenic silica production, although intense carbonate dissolution affects a few shorter intervals. Abundance variations of discoasters show no distinct correlation with either carbonate or biosilica contents. The two dominant Discoaster taxa are D. brouweri and D. variabilis, except for a 12 m thick interval where D. bellus outnumbers the sum of all other discoasters by a factor of 4.6. Data presented indicate that first D. hamatus and then D. berggrenii both evolved from D. bellus. Three unusual morphotypes, here referred to as Discoaster A, B and C, increase in relative abundance during episodes of enhanced biosilica production in the upper half of the investigated sequence (Messinian). Strikingly similar morphotypes have been observed previously in Messinian age sediments from the Mediterranean, characterized by alternating deposition of biogenic carbonate and biosilica. This suggests a species-specific response among some of the late Miocene discoasters to broader oceanographic and climatic forcing that promoted episodes of enhanced deposition of biogenic silica.