Atlas Of Common Benthic Foraminiferal Species For Quaternary Shelf Environments Of Western Canada

Distribution of Quaternary foraminifera in the continental shelf off the British Columbia coast has been shown to be closely linked to local climatic and paleoceanographic changes. The purpose of this paper is to ease potential systematic difficulties for future researchers working with Quaternary foraminifera by inventorying dominant species of benthic foraminifera found on the British Columbia continental shelf. Taxonomic notes and scanning electron micrographs are provided for 103 of the more abundant and ecologically diagnostic species belonging to the dominant genera of the region.

An up-to-date atlas of an important fossil and living group, with the Natural History Museum. Deep-sea benthic foraminifera have played a central role in biostratigraphic, paleoecological, and paleoceanographical research for over a century. These single–celled marine protists are important because of their geographic ubiquity, distinction morphologies and rapid evolutionary rates, their abundance and diversity deep–sea sediments, and because of their utility as indicators of environmental conditions both at and below the sediment–water interface. In addition, stable isotopic data obtained from deep–sea benthic foraminiferal tests provide paleoceanographers with environmental information that is proving to be of major significance in studies of global climatic change. This work collects together, for the first time, new morphological descriptions, taxonomic placements, stratigraphic occurrence data, geographical distribution summaries, and palaeoecological information, along with state-of-the-art colour photomicrographs (most taken in reflected light, just as you would see them using light microscopy), of 300 common deep-sea benthic foraminifera species spanning the interval from Jurassic - Recent. This volume is intended as a reference and research resource for post-graduate students in micropalaeontology, geological professionals (stratigraphers, paleontologists, paleoecologists, palaeoceanographers), taxonomists, and evolutionary (paleo)biologists.

made from those parts of the Argentine zoogeographic Benthic foraminifera from the southwestern Atlantic have been studied since 1839. However, despite the appearance province whose benthic foraminiferal fauna was poorly known. To supplement the material housed in the Buenos of about 60 articles dealing with the benthic foraminiferal Aires collection, the senior author visited various insti fauna of this area, there is no single work which has at tutions to study the original material of investigators such tempted to synthesize the taxonomy, distribution, and ecology of the fauna. Many of the published papers deal as d'Orbigny, Williamson, Brady, Cushman, and Heron with portions of the area, and one is even a summary of the Allen and Earland. Due to space limitations we have figured and described only those species which are im zoogeography and ecology of South America (Boltovskoy, portant by virtue of their abundance, widespread lateral 1976). It is one purpose of this work to bring together in one place the descriptions and illustrations to accompany extent or restriction to a single subprovince or environ and amplify the zoogeographic and ecologic work done in ment. the past. The majority of the samples on which this study is The nomenclature of benthic foraminifera has un based were not preserved at the time of their collection.

This atlas gives a comprehensive account on the benthic foraminiferal fauna in the China Seas, especially on the Bohai and the Yellow Seas. Details of about 183 species, subjected to 5 orders, 52 families and 92 genera are included. For each species there is a brief description of the morphological characteristics, synonymised names, measurements and geographical distribution worldwide, as well as a top-level elegant plate illustrated the fossil and live specimens. It could be used as a reference book for researchers working at marine biology, marine geology, micropaleontology, paleoceanography, paleobiology and related fields.

This volume sheds new light on the marine fauna and geological setting of the Tjörnes Sequence, North Iceland, which is a classic site for the Pliocene and Pleistocene stratigraphy of the North Atlantic region. Readers will discover descriptions of new data collected by the editors over a period of over three decades on marine faunal assemblages and sedimentology available for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, as well as the tectonic and stratigraphical relationships on Tjörnes Peninsula. The book includes a comprehensive account of all the collections of marine fossil invertebrate macrofossils and foraminifera known to the editors from the Tjörnes Sequence. It is expected to elucidate sedimentological and faunal changes from relatively stable Pliocene conditions to highly variable and periodically harsh climatic conditions of recurring Quaternary glaciations. The distribution, recent or fossil, of various species is recorded and pertinent ecological and biological features are also discussed. The Tjörnes Sequence records the Neogene migration of Pacific species into the North Atlantic. Researchers in geology, climate science, environmental science and earth science will find this book particularly valuable.

This book discusses the taxonomy, distribution, and ecology of the bethic foraminifera of the southwesstern Atlantic. It attempts to bring together in one place the descriptions and illustrations to accompany and amplify the zoogeographic and ecologic work done in the past, and to revise and update the taxonomy given in past studies in the area.

This study investigates, for the first time, the distribution and taxonomy of modern benthic foraminifera from the western Sunda Shelf, southern South China Sea. The uppermost centimeter of 54 surface sediment samples ([greater than] 150 [mu]m) from nearshore (8 m) to inner shelf (60 m) water depths yielded 125 species. Five sample groups (CGT1–5) are recognized by cluster analysis of the total (live + dead) foraminiferal relative abundance data. Discriminant analysis and ANOVA both revealed that the five groups are statistically distinguishable at the 95% confidence level. The distribution of groups is related to variations in depth (as a proxy for several environmental factors) and substrate grain-size. This relationship is confirmed by canonical correspondence analysis. CGT1, located closest to shore (8–14 m water depth), has a high diversity assemblage (49 species) and is characterized by Amphistegina radiata and Amphistegina lessonii. CGT1 occurs in medium to coarse quartz sand substrates likely derived from the nearby Terengganu River with the exception of a single station (TR1-S2). This site is characterized by a mud substrate, the taxa Ammobaculites exiguus, Millettiana millettii, Planorbulina acervalis, and Rosulina globularis, and an unusually high relative abundance (3%) of planktonic foraminifera. CGT2 (21–22 m) has a lower diversity assemblage (33 species) and is strongly dominated by A. radiata and A. lessonii, often with tests infilled by the authigenic mineral berthierine. CGT2 occurs in gravelly quartz sand substrates. CGT3 (32–41 m) occurs in shelly muddy quartz sand substrates, has a high diversity assemblage (46 species), and is characterized by Assilina ammonoides, Discorbinella bertheloti, and Asterorotalia milletti. Like CGT2, berthierine-rich internal molds of Amphistegina tests are common. CGT4 (44–59 m) occurs in mud substrates and is characterized by Heterolepa dutemplei and A. milletti; the nearshore taxa A. radiata and A. lessonii do not occur in this group. CGT4 has the highest diversity assemblage (51 species) of all the sample groups and foraminiferal tests are well preserved. CGT5, located furthest from shore at 60 m water depth and in shelly sandy mud, has a high diversity assemblage (46 species) and is characterized by H. dutemplei and A. ammonoides, with rare A. milletti; live (rose Bengal-stained) specimens are rare in CGT5 compared to the other four groups. Comparison to foraminiferal assemblages in underlying Pleistocene core material suggests this assemblage occurs in a lag deposit possibly associated with modern bottom current activity. Combining the results of this study with previously published research, three generalized foraminifera-based subdivisions are recognized across the Sunda Shelf (8–200 m water depth). Nearshore areas ([less than] 40 m) are dominated by fine to coarse sand substrates and symbiont-bearing taxa (A. lessonii and A. radiata). Inner shelf areas (40–100 m) are associated with sandy mud substrates and high relative abundances of H. dutemplei. Outer shelf areas (100–200 m) are associated with muddy substrates and the presence of Uvigerina schwageri. These data can be used as the basis for paleoenviromental reconstruction of Quaternary core material from the Sunda Shelf.