DIATOM ASSEMBLAGES FROM SURFACE SEDIMENTS, WEST OF GREENLAND

Abstract

Correspondence analysis was made for the diatom data from surface sediments in the west of Greenland.A total of 35 samples were divided into five assemblages based on the scores of samples,and the results show that the diatom assemblages are dominated by sea-ice species,Arctic species and cold-water species in the study area,whereas warm-water species mainly exist in the Labrador Sea.Moreover,the environmental variables(e.g.currents、polar waters、melt-water) of the west of Greenland were also discussed in this paper.It is proved that there is a good correlation between the diatom surface sediment assemblages and the environmental variables mentioned above.