Communities of Benthic Foraminifera of the Southern Ocean

Kh. M. Saidova

Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

Received June 4, 1997; in final form, December 22, 1997

Abstract—Forty communities of benthic foraminifera were established and mapped in the Southern Ocean on
the basis of the analysis of their composition at 552 stations (within a depth interval of 20–5500 m) with respect
to the prevailing abundance of the dominant species. Communities in which agglutinating species dominate
develop over the shelf at a water temperature of –1.9 to –1.5°C, in the upper part of the continental slope at the
places of permanent runoff of cold shelf waters at a temperature below –1°C, and in the upper part of the con-
tinental slope, and in the deep ocean basins at a temperature below 0°C. Communities of foraminifera with a
secreted carbonate shell develop at all the noted levels (except for the deep-sea ocean basins, where the content
of CaCO₃ is 70% and less) where water temperatures are higher than the temperatures specified above.

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