Late Holocene pteropod distribution across the base of the south-eastern Mediterranean margin: the importance of the > 63 µm fraction

Abstract

Euthecosomata pteropods were analysed in core sediments collected in the framework of the 2016 EUROFLEETS2 SEMSEEP cruise, offshore of Israel, in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The investigated cores were retrieved in a deep-sea coral area at 690 m depth, an actively methane-seeping pockmark area at 1038 m depth, and a deep-sea channel area at 1310 m water depth. We identified and documented the pteropod species belonging to the families Heliconoididae, Limacinidae, Creseidae, Cavoliniidae, Cliidae, and Hyalocylidae and to some heteropods. Our study highlights the importance of investigating pteropods in the size fractions > 63 µm instead of the > 125 µm only. In particular, neglecting the small size fraction may result in a remarkable (up to 50 %–60 %) underestimation of the relative abundance of the epipelagic species Creseis acicula and Creseis conica and the mesopelagic species Heliconoides inflatus. This may significantly affect palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. The observed presence of tropical species supports the suggestion that the eastern Mediterranean is a refugium for these species. This study provides a basic benchmark for the late Holocene evolution of pteropod and heteropod distribution over 5800–5300 cal BP across the base of the south-eastern Levantine margin.