Description: Samples and Methods: Six marine sediment samples were used on total in my master thesis, covering different world oceans, to obtain as many as possible recent planktonic foraminiferal species for analysing their morphological traits. Sample origin of the samples 1: Caribbean, 2: North Atlantic, 3: Arabian-Sea, 4: South-China-Sea, 5: Norwegian-Sea and 6: North Pacific (for available metadata see the data table). Sample 1, 2 and 5 were core-top samples and were obtained from the collection of the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, they were obtained already processed as a resdiue 〉63 µm. Sample 6 another core-top sample was just used to obtain three specimen of Globoquadrina conglomerata as this species was missing in the other samples. Sample 3 and 4 (sediment-trap samples) were provided by Dr. Hartmut Schulz (University of Tübingen) and were processed with standard micropaleontological techniques during my master thesis. Sample 1, 2 and 6 are old samples from the micropalaeontological collection of the University of Tübingen and do unfortunately not have geographic location data as longitude and latitude. The aim of my master thesis was to obtain as many extant planktonic foraminiferal species as possible and extract three random specimens per species to be imaged and to investigate their morphological features. All specimens were embedded in "Utermöl"- containers with Ethanol and were imaged with a binocular microscope from below, following the method described by Brummer and Kroon (1988). The same three specimens were imaged using a Leo-1450VP scanning electron microscope (SEM), all images are given in the electronic appendix of the master thesis Baranowski (2013). All test-size measurements are preformed if possible on the SEM pictures and where impossible on the binocular microscope pictures. To be consistent the test-size diameter was measured from the middle of the last chamber through the proloculus to the opposite side of the test to obtain a consitent morphological size measurment throughout the different planktonic foraminiferal species. Acknowledgement: This dataset was published to complement the size-data used in: Rillo et al. (in submission) - I would like to thank Dr. Marina Rillo that my data could be of use for her publication. Enormously I would like to thank the two supervisors of my Master thesis: Prof. Michal Kucera (MARUM - University of Bremen) and Prof. Walter Joyce (Universite de Fribourg). Further tremendous thanks belong to Dr. Harmut Schulz (University of Tübingen) who contributed to this dataset by supporting the extensive SEM analysis and providing samples. Special thanks I would like to attribute to Prof. Geert-Jan Brummer (NIOZ, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research) who helpt hugly with my understanding of the extant minute planktonic foraminiferal species. Margret Bayer, Peter Fittkau and Willfried Rönnfeld I would like to thank for technical support during the master thesis at the University of Tübingen. Dipl.-Geol. Sofie Jehle and Dipl.-Geol. Dominic Köhler I would like to thank for reading my master thesis and providing advice on academic writing, grammer and orthography. Additionally I would like to thank my PhD supervisor Dr. Tom Dunkley-Jones (University of Birmingham), Dr. Isabel Fenton (University of Oxford) and Prof. Andy Purvis (NHM, London) who brought my master thesis to Marina Rillos (University of Oldenburg) attention.

Description: Cruise M140 combined sampling of plankton, mineral dust and other particles in the water column with recovery of data and samples from long-term observational platforms (sediment traps and dust-collecting buoys). The aim of the cruise was to provide new observations to improve our understanding of the ecology of planktonic foraminifera as important carriers of paleoceanographic proxies and to investigate how mineral dust deposition and the production of marine snow and biogenic particle ballast vary in space and time and how they affect the marine biological pump. To this end, the cruise followed a transect in the central western Atlantic between oligotrophic waters of the subtropical gyre and the productive coastal waters off Mauretania affected by coastal upwelling. To characterise population dynamics, ecology and physiology of planktonic foraminifera, we obtained a series of fourteen vertically resolved plankton net profiles along the cruise track, together with profiles of physical and chemical properties of the ambient water masses. Live foraminifera extracted from these profiles were used to quantify photosynthetic activity of selected species and determine their photoadaptation. High-resolution spatial and temporal sampling of the upper 300 m over 24 hours was carried out at two locations (recovering 41 and 46 vertical profiles), allowing the characterisation of patchiness and daily vertical migration of planktonic foraminifera. Moorings with sediment traps monitoring the seasonal and short-term variability of particle fluxes and buoys monitoring atmospheric dust deposition in the region were successfully recovered in the central Atlantic (M3), south of Cabo Verde (M1) and off Mauretania (CB and CBi) and redeployed in the latter two regions to continue the monitoring. Short-term variability of sizes and types of sinking particles in the water column were characterised in each of the monitoring regions with drifting sediment traps and in the Cape Blanc region off Mauretania also with continuous vertical particle camera profile. All aims of the cruise have been met – the plankton sampling and particle characterization studies were carried out successfully and all moorings and buoys could be recovered and/or redeployed as planned.

Description: Diurnal vertical migration (DVM) is a widespread phenomenon in the upper ocean, but it remains unclear to what degree it also involves passively transported micro- and meso-zooplankton. These organisms are difficult to monitor by in situ sensing and observations from discrete samples are often inconclusive. Prime examples of such ambiguity are planktonic foraminifera, where contradictory evidence for DVM continues to cast doubt on the stability of species vertical habitats, which introduces uncertainties in geochemical proxy interpretation. To provide a robust answer, we carried out highly replicated randomised sampling with 41 vertically resolved plankton net hauls taken within 26 hours in a confined area of 400 km2 in the tropical North Atlantic, where DVM in larger plankton occurs. Manual enumeration of planktonic foraminifera cell density consistently reveals the highest total cell concentrations in the surface mixed layer (top 50 m) and analysis of cell density in seven individual species representing different shell sizes, life strategies and presumed depth habitats reveals consistent vertical habitats not changing over the 26 hours sampling period. These observations robustly reject the existence of DVM in planktonic foraminifera in a setting where DVM occurs in other organisms.