Deep Sea Drilling Project cores collected at site 362/362A suggest the time of initiation of the Benguela upwelling system off northern Namibia. Studies of sediment accumulation rates, diatom abundances, microfossil temperature preferences (for planktic foraminifers, calcareous nannoplankton, and silicoflagellates), productivity (expressed as the organic carbon content), and phosphorus incorporation in calcareous skeletons all suggest that major, sustained upwelling began in the early late Miocene. Upwelling brought cold, nutrient-rich waters to the surface, and the modern Benguela system dates from this time (about 10 million years before the present).
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.