The Effects of Volcanic Eruptions on the Population of Marine Planktonic Communities

Abstract

This research project investigates how volcanic eruptions affect the temporal abundance and spatial distribution of planktonic organisms in ocean basins adjacent to volcanic arcs. Previous studies have attempted to correlate volcanism with major faunal turnover in the terrestrial record (Shane et al., 2004); however, results from these studies have recently been questioned (Yost et al., 2018). To date, even fewer studies have looked at this possible linkage in marine sedimentary records (Maguire et al., 2016). Here, presence/absence data is presented for both planktonic organisms and volcanic ashes from five Indian and Pacific Ocean sediment cores recovered and analyzed by the Deep Sea Drilling Program (DSDP) and the International Oceanic Discovery Program (IODP) scientists. Chi-Squared tests of the presence/absence data from volcanic ashes and marine planktonic organisms suggest that the effects of volcanic eruptions on plankton communities is variable from site to site but are generally not significant. These results imply that dynamic oceanographic conditions (e.g., nutrient availability, water temperature, turbidity) play a larger role in plankton growth and survival than short-lived volcanic eruptions.