Reconstructing climate change

Foraminifera (unicellular protists) from the Marquesas Keys, located 30 km west of Key West (Florida) allowed to reconstruct climatic conditions in this shallow-water carbonate platform for the last 150 years. Climatic changes were related with variation in precipitation patterns in the Gulf of Mexico region linked with shifts in the major modes of natural climate variability (like for example El Niño), along with tropical storms and hurricanes. Despite a generally negative impact of the ocean-atmosphere teleconnections on the South Florida region, a well-developed assemblage associated with sea-grass was recorded in the uppermost part of the record dated to the period between 1990 and 2010.

 

Figure: Foraminifera from the Marquesas Keys, Florida (Foto: Anna Binczewska).