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R.E. Arnal

Publications and source records attributed to R.E. Arnal.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1984

The Mohnian-Luisian boundary in the Coccolithus miopelagicus subzone, with new and related species of forminifers.

New information obtained from samples colleced in a 1979 cruise is presented for the Luisian-Mohnian (Miocene) boundary. In some areas of the S California Borderland, the early Mohnian-Luisian boundary apparently occurs within the Coccolithus miopelagicus subzone. To suppor this statement, the location of the samples and a list of the diagnostic foraminifers are provided for each sample in part I of this report. Fifteen species and one variety of new or undescribed benthic foraminifers which were observed in the course of this and other studies of the foraminiferal content of Dart core samples from the S California Borderland are reported and described in part II. The genus Bolivina is represented by 3 new species and 1 species previously undescribed. There are also 2 new species each of Uvigerina, Siphogenerina, Cassidulina, and Ehrenbergina; one undescribed species and a new variety of Megastomella; and one new species each of Epistominella and Concavella. -from Author

Journal of Foraminiferal Research↗
USGS1980

Biostratigraphic results of dart-coring in the western Gulf of Alaska, and their tectonic implications

Age determinations are reported for microfossils from 56 dart-cores collected in 1978 from the Kodiak shelf. The ages suggest that rocks cropping out along Albatross Bank, at the shelf edge, are as old as middle or late Miocene, and that the anticline forming Albatross Bank, previously defined with multi- and single-channel seismic records, plunges northeastward in the sampled area. Foraminiferal paleobathymetry further suggests that m.ajor tectonic activity has occurred on the Kodiak shelf since the early or middle Pliocene, including two episodes of vertical movement--first subsidence on the order of 2000 m, then uplift of at least 3000 m. Microfossil ages and paleobathymetric determinations indicate an average uplift rate of 1000- 3000 m/m.y. for the seaward edge of the Kodiak shelf during the Quaternary.

Alaska↗
USGS1980

Trends in the distribution of recent foraminifera in San Francisco Bay

Much of the bathymetry of the southern part of San Francisco Bay reflects the drainage pattern of late Pleistocene streams. Holocene estuarine silt and clay cover most of the bay floor; relict eolian and deltaic sand occurs along the eastern shore; sandy patches are present in the main channel owing to higher tidal current velocities. Organic content is high along the western shore, where tidal flats are extensive, and in the slough at the mouth of Coyote Creek where wastewaters discharge. Thirty-one species of benthonic foraminifera were identified in surficial sediments of San Francisco Bay estuary; of these, 20 species were stained red by rose Bengal and are considered as live. Water depth, sediment textural characteristics, salinity, organic matter, sediment pH, and biological competition were considered as factors that might affect distribution of foraminifera. Four ecologic zones based on observed trends in the distribution and abundance of several species correlate well with some environmental factors. Four groups based on the Q-mode analysis of frequency counts of foraminiferal assemblages are reasonably similar to the four ecologic zones. These zones, showing restricted depth ranges, are: Inner Coastal Zone, where Elphidium incertum obscurum and Trochammina infiata are prominent; Outer Coastal Zone, dominated by Ammonia beccarii tepida and Elphidium incatum; Deep Bay Zone, where Elphidietla hannai, Elphidium incertum clavatum, Hopkinsina pacifica, and Bolivina spp. appear in abundance; and Deep Channel Zone, where Elphidiella hannai is most abundant. In the Inner Coastal Zone, salinity due to large fluctuations is a limiting factor for many species. Substrate textural characteristics are primary determinants of the distribution of agglutinated foraminifers. The percentage of organic matter in the sediment correlates well with the abundance of Elphidium incertum obscurum, a ubiquitous species in San Francisco Bay. Sediment pH is not critical. Biologic competition can be estimated by comparing the percentage of a species with the number of species present in the assemblage, as shown for Ammonia beccarii tepida and Elphidiella hannai.

California↗
USGS1977

Descriptions of pre-Quaternary samples, R/V Ellen B. Scripps, September 1976, Patton Ridge to Blake Knolls, California continental borderland

A sampling cruise under the joint sponsorship of Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the U. S. Geological Survey was completed in early October 1976 as part of the Survey's resource and environmental studies on the California Continental Borderland. J. K. Crouch was Chief Scientist for the cruise aboard R/V ELLEN B. SCRIPPS. Samples were taken entirely by means of dart corers, and navigation for sample sites was done using the LORAC system supported by shipboard radar. Depths were corrected for sound-velocity variations in water (Matthews, 1939). In some instances, recorded depths in the table may not match bathymetric contours on published maps because of imprecise navigation on pre-1940 surveys.

California↗