Available for 1 or 2 students.
The MSc project will be part of the comprehensive research project The Nansen Legacy (https://arvenetternansen.com/), which is the Norwegian Arctic research community’s joint effort to establish an understanding of a changing marine Arctic climate and ecosystem. The project will provide a scientific knowledge base for future sustainable resource management in the transitional Barents Sea and the adjacent Arctic Basin.
Background
Foraminifers are widespread, highly abundant protists and active participants in marine carbon cycling. They are a key taxon in marine ecosystems, composing more than 50% of the biomass in the deep oceans and some high latitude areas. Due to their sensitivity to environmental changes, fast turnover rates, and the preservation of dead assemblages in the fossil record, benthic foraminifera are a valuable model group for studying the effects of ocean warming on marine ecosystems.
Marine continental margins display gradients of pressure, temperature and food availability associated with proximity to the zone of primary production. These areas are highly vulnerable to climate-induced changes. In the Barents Sea, the competing influences between cold Arctic Water and warm Atlantic Water significantly affect the distribution of sea ice. Thus, the increased warming in recent decades is likely to change the ecosystem functioning and biodiversity patterns in this region. Still, knowledge about these northern regions and how their biogeochemical processes change and affect biodiversity remains limited.
Aim of the project
This project aims to investigate the spatial distribution and diversity patterns of living benthic foraminifera in the Northern Barents Sea. The MSc research will include interdisciplinary studies of the Arctic marine physical, chemical and biological properties to investigate possible changes in the northern Barents Sea due to global warming. This involves analyses of how changes in sediment characteristics, productivity, sea ice conditions, and currents affect bathymetric patterns of benthic foraminifera species diversity. This study will shed light on the steadily diminishing sea-ice cover and the prolongation of the productive season.
Research questions
- Which benthic foraminifera species are present along the bathymetry gradient in the Northern Barents Sea (determination of distribution patterns)?
- How benthic foraminifera biodiversity is shaped by environmental gradients along the transect, and is there an effect of sea-ice extent on the studied species?
Implementation / Method
The MSc study will focus on the analyses of surface sediment samples from sites in different northern Barents Sea continental margin sectors, from the shelf, slope and rise areas (Fig. 2). Living benthic foraminifera, grain size, and sedimentary geochemical components (e.g., TOC, TN, stable C- and N-isotopes) will be analysed in sediment samples. The MSc student will afterwards compare the findings with previously published data from these high latitude areas. During the last decade, boreal organisms have been expanding northward in the Barents Sea and elsewhere in the Arctic Ocean, while Arctic species have been pushed northwards and potentially out of their suitable habitats. Consequently, one of the aims will be to investigate whether any living foraminifera assemblages include recently immigrated species. The sediment samples to be used in the MSc-study are already available, but the student will get the possibility to be part of the larger Nansen Legacy team.
What will you learn?
The assignment will be suitable for one or two students who are interested in learning to conduct field surveys, geochemical analysis, microscopy work, and taxonomic identification. You will also learn about benthic ecology in the Arctic region, as well as some programming and conducting statistical analysis of your results.