Description: Fragilariopsis kerguelensis (O’ Meara) Hust. is a ubiquitous diatom of the Southern Ocean. Its thick frustules are the numerically dominant component of the siliceous sediment layer covering large parts of the seafloor beneath. Morphometric variability of frustules of this diatom has been of interest for paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Recently, two morphotypes differentiated by the morphometric descriptor rectangularity were described from a Southern Ocean sediment core, the relative abundance of which correlated with reconstructed paleotemperatures. In the present study, we use semi-automated microscopic and image analysis methods to answer whether these morphotypes also appear in recent assemblages, and if yes, do their distributions reflect geographic location or environmental factors. Three transects from the water column, sampled along the Greenwich meridian with hand nets, and one sediment surface transect from the South Pacific, were analyzed. In each of these transects, both morphotypes were detected, and annual mean sea surface temperatures (SST) were found to be a good predictor of their relative abundances. The transition between dominance of one or the other morphotype appeared roughly between the Antarctic Polar Front and the Southern Boundary of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Although more extensive circumpolar sampling will be needed to confirm the generality of our conclusions, the observed morphometric cline is a novel aspect of the biology of this species and can in the future potentially be used for further developing paleoproxies especially for highly F. kerguelensis-dominated sediment in the Southern Ocean.

Description: A multi-proxy study including sedimentological, mineralogical, biogeochemical and micropaleontological methods was conducted on sediment core PS69/849-2 retrieved from Burton Basin, MacRobertson Shelf, East Antarctica. The goal of this study was to depict the deglacial and Holocene environmental history of the MacRobertson Land–Prydz Bay region. A special focus was put on the timing of ice-sheet retreat and the variability of bottom-water formation due to sea ice formation through the Holocene. Results from site PS69/849-2 provide the first paleo-environmental record of Holocene variations in bottom-water production probably associated to the Cape Darnley polynya, which is the second largest polynya in the Antarctic. Methods included end-member modeling of laser-derived high-resolution grain size data to reconstruct the depositional regimes and bottom-water activity. The provenance of current-derived and ice-transported material was reconstructed using clay-mineral and heavy-mineral analysis. Conclusions on biogenic production were drawn by determination of biogenic opal and total organic carbon. It was found that the ice shelf front started to retreat from the site around 12.8 ka BP. This coincides with results from other records in Prydz Bay and suggests warming during the early Holocene optimum next to global sea level rise as the main trigger. Ice-rafted debris was then supplied to the site until 5.5 cal. ka BP, when Holocene global sea level rise stabilized and glacial isostatic rebound on MacRobertson Land commenced. Throughout the Holocene, three episodes of enhanced bottom-water activity probably due to elevated brine rejection in Cape Darnley polynya occured between 11.5 and 9 cal. ka BP, 5.6 and 4.5 cal. ka BP and since 1.5 cal. ka BP. These periods are related to shifts from warmer to cooler conditions at the end of Holocene warm periods, in particular the early Holocene optimum, the mid-Holocene warm period and at the beginning of the neoglacial. In contrast, between 7.7 and 6.7 cal. ka BP, brine rejection shut down, maybe owed to warm conditions and pronounced open-water intervals.

Description: Light microscopy analysis of diatom frustules is widely used in basic and applied research, notably taxonomy, morphometrics, water quality monitoring and paleo-environmental studies. Although there is a need for automation in these applications, various developments in image processing and analysis methodology supporting these tasks have not become widespread in diatom-based analyses. We have addressed this issue by combining our automated diatom image analysis software SHERPA with a commercial slide-scanning microscope. The resulting workflow enables mass-analyses of a broad range of morphometric features from individual frustules mounted on permanent slides. Extensive automation and internal quality control of the results helps to minimize user intervention, but care was taken to allow the user to stay in control of the most critical steps (exact segmentation of valve outlines and selection of objects of interest) using interactive functions for reviewing and revising results. In this contribution, we describe our workflow and give an overview of factors critical for success, ranging from preparation and mounting through slide scanning and autofocus finding to final morphometric data extraction. To demonstrate the usability of our methods we finally provide an example application by analysing Fragilariopsis kerguelensis valves originating from a sediment core, which substantially extends the size range reported in the literature.