Articles | Volume 44, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-44-79-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-44-79-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Review article
| 
20 Mar 2025
Review article |
| 20 Mar 2025
| 20 Mar 2025
Recent benthic foraminifera communities offshore of Thwaites Glacier in the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica: implications for interpretations of fossil assemblages
Asmara A. Lehrmann
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA
Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
Rebecca L. Totten
Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
Department of Museum Research and Collections and the Alabama Museum of Natural History, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
Julia S. Wellner
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA
Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK
Svetlana Radionovskaya
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EQ, UK
R. Michael Comas
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA
Robert D. Larter
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK
Alastair G. C. Graham
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF10 3AT, UK
James D. Kirkham
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK
Kelly A. Hogan
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK
Victoria Fitzgerald
Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
Rachel W. Clark
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA
Becky Hopkins
School of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO143ZH, UK
Department of Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 3GP, UK
Allison P. Lepp
Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA
Elaine Mawbey
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK
Rosemary V. Smyth
Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
Lauren E. Miller
Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA
James A. Smith
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK
Frank O. Nitsche
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
Data sets
Modern benthic foraminifera census and grain-size of surface sediments offshore Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica Asmara A.Lehrmann et al. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.965758
Short summary
Thwaites Glacier's retreat is driven by warm ocean water melting its ice shelf. Seafloor-dwelling marine protists, benthic foraminifera, reflect their environment. Here, ice margins, oceanography, and sea ice cover control live foraminiferal populations. Including dead foraminifera in the analyses shows the calcareous test preservation's role in the assemblage make-up. Understanding these modern communities helps interpret past glacial retreat controls through foraminifera in sediment records.
Thwaites Glacier's retreat is driven by warm ocean water melting its ice shelf....
