Phytolith recovery from core MD88-779

Core MD88-779 was taken during the 1988 French APSARA IV cruise in the South East Indian Ocean. The core was situated on the South Tasman Rise (47º50.690S, 146º32.750E) at a depth of 2260m. Although the core recovered was 6.7m long, only the top 2.6m were studied as preliminary investigations had indicated that this section covered the last two glacial cycles.

Analysis of the sediment identified phytoliths in the core material. This is significant as this was the first known report of phytoliths in core material this south of Australia. Phytolith material was observed sporadically down-core at the following levels; 0, 130, 140, 220 and 230 cm (approximately falling within the Holocene, 100-110 ka, and 170 ka respectively). The phytolith casts most readily identifiable were those comprising the grasses, although larger plate-like casts of trees and shrubs were observed.