The western channel observatory: Benthic foraminifera in the plankton following storms

The Western Channel Observatory was established by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), with Plymouth Marine Laboratory managing two autonomous buoys that are located to the south of Plymouth in the English Channel (Stations L4 and El). These two locations are now monitored continually and there is regular sampling of the water column and the sea floor at both locations. At Station L4, despite being in waters with a depth of 50 m, benthic foraminifera are regularly found in the surface water plankton samples. Some of these benthic foraminifera appear to contain algal symbionts, indicating that they may have been living at the time of collection. The redistribution of benthic foraminifera within sediment samples by means of storm events has significant implications for the palaeoecological interpretation of 'fossil' sediments. Recolonization by foraminifera, following disturbance, could well be facilitated by this mechanism which has only rarely been reported in the literature. It is clearly limited to depths impacted by fair weather (~ 20 m) or storm wave base (>50 m). Data gathered thus far certainly indicate that the greater the severity of the storm, the larger the number of benthic foraminifera in the plankton tows and the greater their overall size.