Clark, F., Patterson, R.T., and Fishbein, E, 1994, Distribution of Holocene benthic foraminifera from the tropical southwest Pacific Ocean. Journal of Foraminiferal Research, 24: 241-267
A suite of 62 surface and near surface samples has been examined for its benthic foraminiferal faunas. The cores sampled ranged from 110 to 8900 m water depth, and are distributed across the tropical southwest Pacific Ocean, north and east of Australia. A total of 606 species were identified. Census data was obtained for each sample, and species found in statistically significant fractional abundances (88 in all) were analyzed using a new Q-mode clustering algorithm (Error Weighted Maximum Likelihood [EWML]). Both the full data set, and an edited data set comprising 44 samples and 39 species, were analyzed. With the aid of these analyses ten benthic foraminiferal assemblages were identified. Three manually constrained assemblages, each represented by a single sample, were recognized. Five statistically constrained assemblages were recognized, each having a water depth range coincident with the range of known water masses of the region. The Astrononion echolsi-Cassidulina teretisAssemblage and the Nuttalites bradyanus Assemblage were developed in samples from depths bathed by waters of the Deep Oxygen Minimum, the Epistominella exigua-Globocassidulina rarilocula Assemblage was developed in samples from depths bathed by Deep Water, a derivative Antarctic Bottom Water, and both the Globocassidulina subglobosa-Pseudoparrella parca Assemblage and the Nuttalides umboniferus Assemblage were developed in samples from depths bathed by Antarctic Bottom Water proper. From depths very near the calcite compensation depth (CCD), a Mixed Calcareous/Agglutinated Abyssal Assemblage was developed in a pair of samples, whereas below the CCD, the tenth assemblage, the Abyssal Agglutinated Assemblage, was developed, with only a few corroded calcareous specimens accompanying the agglutinated benthic faunas. These latter two assemblages were also manually constrained.