A dinoflagellate cyst record for the last 0.7 Ma from the Rockall Plateau, northeast Atlantic Ocean

Abstract

Organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst analysis of samples previously used to establish a high resolution oxygen and carbon isotope stratigraphy for the last 0.7 Ma in the northeastern Atlantic is detailed. Data from Hole 552A, Leg 81 of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, drilled on the western flank of the Rockall Plateau reveal peaks of dinoflagellate cyst recovery relatable with isotope stages 1, 11, 13 and 17. Cysts most prersistently present include the oceanic Impagidinium species, Nematosphaeropsb labyrinthea (Ostenfeld) Reid and the ubiquitous Operculodinium centrocarpum (Deflandre & Cookson) Wall. The results offer a correlation between the oceanic oxygen isotope stratigraphy and the dinoflagellate cyst record. The potential for further correlation with the extensive Quaternary marine sequences of the continental shelf around the British Isles is explored. The dinoflagellate cyst signal is an important factor in understanding oceanographic changes both at the surface and at depth.