Distribution of calcareous nannoplankton near the Subtropical Convergence, south of Tasmania, Australia

The floral composition of living calcareous nannoplankton collected from surface waters near the Subtropical Convergence (STC), offshore south-eastern Tasmania, in January 1994 is presented, Emiliania huxleyi represented more than 90% of all coccolithophorids, Scanning electron microscopy showed a substantial increase in intraspecific variation of E, huxleyi, and in variation in coccolith size of Calcidiscus leptoporus, E huxleyi type A and C. leptoporus (small), north of the STC, It is postulated that the percentage abundance of these taxa may be used to determine the position and/or shift of the STC zone through time, and therefore may be of use for palaeoceanographic studies.