Articles | Volume 41, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-41-129-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-41-129-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
13 Sep 2022
Research article |
| 13 Sep 2022
| 13 Sep 2022
Meghalayan environmental evolution of the Thapsus coast (Tunisia) as inferred from sedimentological and micropaleontological proxies
Mohamed Kamoun
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
GEOGLOB Laboratory, Sfax University, Faculty of Sciences of Sfax, BP
1171, 3000 Sfax, Tunisia
Martin R. Langer
Institut für Geowissenschaften, Paläontologie, Universität
Bonn, Nussallee 8, 53115 Bonn, Germany
Chahira Zaibi
GEOGLOB Laboratory, Sfax University, Faculty of Sciences of Sfax, BP
1171, 3000 Sfax, Tunisia
Mohamed Ben Youssef
Water Researches and Technologies Center, Borj Cedria, Tunisia
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Skye Yunshu Tian, Martin Langer, Moriaki Yasuhara, and Chih-Lin Wei
Biogeosciences, 21, 3523–3536, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3523-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3523-2024, 2024
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Through the first large-scale study of meiobenthic ostracods from the diverse and productive reef ecosystem in the Zanzibar Archipelago, Tanzania, we found that the diversity and composition of ostracod assemblages as controlled by benthic habitats and human impacts were indicative of overall reef health, and we highlighted the usefulness of ostracods as a model proxy to monitor and understand the degradation of reef ecosystems from the coral-dominated phase to the algae-dominated phase.
Anna E. Weinmann, Olga Koukousioura, Maria V. Triantaphyllou, and Martin R. Langer
Web Ecol., 23, 71–86, https://doi.org/10.5194/we-23-71-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/we-23-71-2023, 2023
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This study analyzes the diversity of benthic foraminifera at the range expansion front of the invasive species Amphistegina lobifera in Corfu (central Mediterranean). The species has been suggested to impact local diversity and community structures, and our results confirm these effects as soon as A. lobifera exceeds a specific abundance threshold (> 20 %). Nevertheless, we found that the study area reveals an overall high biodiversity that can be attributed to its unique location.
Nisan Sariaslan and Martin R. Langer
Biogeosciences, 18, 4073–4090, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4073-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4073-2021, 2021
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Analyses of foraminiferal assemblages from the Mamanguape mangrove estuary (northern Brazil) revealed highly diverse, species-rich, and structurally complex biotas. The atypical fauna resembles shallow-water offshore assemblages and are interpreted to be the result of highly saline ocean waters penetrating deep into the estuary. The findings contrast with previous studies, have implications for the fossil record, and provide novel perspectives for reconstructing mangrove environments.
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Late Miocene to Early Pliocene benthic foraminifera from the Tasman Sea (International Ocean Discovery Program Site U1506)
Triassic and Jurassic possible planktonic foraminifera and the assemblages recovered from the Ogrodzieniec Glauconitic Marls Formation (uppermost Callovian and lowermost Oxfordian, Jurassic) of the Polish Basin
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Biometry and taxonomy of Adriatic Ammonia species from Bellaria–Igea Marina (Italy)
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Andrea Habura, Stephen P. Alexander, Steven D. Hanes, Andrew J. Gooday, Jan Pawlowski, and Samuel S. Bowser
J. Micropalaeontol., 43, 337–347, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-43-337-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-43-337-2024, 2024
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Two species of giant, single-celled "trees” inhabit the seafloor in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. These unicellular creatures are large enough to be seen and counted by scuba divers. We found that one of the tree species is widely spread, whereas the other inhabits only a small region on the western side of the sound. These types of unicellular trees have not been found elsewhere in the world ocean and are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
Ahmed M. BadrElDin and Pamela Hallock
J. Micropalaeontol., 43, 239–267, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-43-239-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-43-239-2024, 2024
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The Red Sea hosts exceptionally diverse marine environments despite elevated salinities. Distributions of benthic foraminifers were used to assess the ecological status of coral reef environments in the Ras Mohamed Nature Reserve, south Sinai. Sediment samples collected in mangrove, shallow-lagoon, and coral reef habitats yielded 95 foraminiferal species. Six species, five hosting algal symbionts, made up ~70 % of the specimens examined, indicating water quality suitable for reef accretion.
Maria Elena Gastaldello, Claudia Agnini, and Laia Alegret
J. Micropalaeontol., 43, 1–35, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-43-1-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-43-1-2024, 2024
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This paper examines benthic foraminifera, single-celled organisms, at Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Site U1506 in the Tasman Sea from the Late Miocene to the Early Pliocene (between 7.4 to 4.5 million years ago). We described and illustrated the 36 most common species; analysed the past ocean depth of the site; and investigated the environmental conditions at the seafloor during the Biogenic Bloom phenomenon, a global phase of high marine primary productivity.
Malcolm B. Hart, Holger Gebhardt, Eiichi Setoyama, Christopher W. Smart, and Jarosław Tyszka
J. Micropalaeontol., 42, 277–290, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-42-277-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-42-277-2023, 2023
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<p>In the 1960s-1970s some species of Triassic foraminifera were described as having a planktic mode of life. This was questioned and Malcolm Hart studied the material in Vienna, taking some to London for SEM imaging. Samples collected from Poland are compared to these images and the suggested planktic mode of life discussed. Foraminifera collected in Ogrodzieniec are glauconitic steinkerns with no test material present and none of the diagnostic features needed to determine "new" species.</p>
Joachim Schönfeld, Nicolaas Glock, Irina Polovodova Asteman, Alexandra-Sophie Roy, Marié Warren, Julia Weissenbach, and Julia Wukovits
J. Micropalaeontol., 42, 171–192, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-42-171-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-42-171-2023, 2023
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Benthic organisms show aggregated distributions due to the spatial heterogeneity of niches or food. We analysed the distribution of Globobulimina turgida in the Gullmar Fjord, Sweden, with a data–model approach. The population densities did not show any underlying spatial structure but a random log-normal distribution. A temporal data series from the same site depicted two cohorts of samples with high or low densities, which represent hypoxic or well-ventilated conditions in the fjord.
Richard M. Besen, Kathleen Schindler, Andrew S. Gale, and Ulrich Struck
J. Micropalaeontol., 42, 117–146, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-42-117-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-42-117-2023, 2023
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Turonian–Coniacian agglutinated foraminiferal assemblages from calcareous deposits from the temperate European shelf realm were studied. Acmes of agglutinated foraminifera correlate between different sections and can be used for paleoenvironmental analysis expressing inter-regional changes. Agglutinated foraminiferal morphogroups display a gradual shift from Turonian oligotrophic environments towards more mesotrophic conditions in the latest Turonian and Coniacian.
Joachim Schönfeld, Valentina Beccari, Sarina Schmidt, and Silvia Spezzaferri
J. Micropalaeontol., 40, 195–223, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-40-195-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-40-195-2021, 2021
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Ammonia beccarii was described from Rimini Beach in 1758. This taxon has often been mistaken with other species in the past. Recent studies assessed the biometry of Ammonia species and integrated it with genetic data but relied on a few large and dead specimens only. In a comprehensive approach, we assessed the whole living Ammonia assemblage near the type locality of A. beccarii and identified parameters which are robust and facilitate a secure species identification.
Julien Richirt, Magali Schweizer, Aurélia Mouret, Sophie Quinchard, Salha A. Saad, Vincent M. P. Bouchet, Christopher M. Wade, and Frans J. Jorissen
J. Micropalaeontol., 40, 61–74, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-40-61-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-40-61-2021, 2021
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The study presents (1) a validation of a method which was previously published allowing us to recognize different Ammonia phylotypes (T1, T2 and T6) based only on their morphology and (2) a refined biogeographical distribution presented here supporting the putatively invasive character of phylotype T6. Results suggest that phylotype T6 is currently spreading out and supplanting autochthonous phylotypes T1 and T2 along the coastlines of the British Isles and northern France.
Alix G. Cage, Anna J. Pieńkowski, Anne Jennings, Karen Luise Knudsen, and Marit-Solveig Seidenkrantz
J. Micropalaeontol., 40, 37–60, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-40-37-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-40-37-2021, 2021
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Morphologically similar benthic foraminifera taxa are difficult to separate, resulting in incorrect identifications, complications understanding species-specific ecological preferences, and flawed reconstructions of past environments. Here we provide descriptions and illustrated guidelines on how to separate some key Arctic–North Atlantic species to circumvent taxonomic confusion, improve understanding of ecological affinities, and work towards more accurate palaeoenvironmental reconstructions.
Matías Reolid
J. Micropalaeontol., 39, 233–258, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-39-233-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-39-233-2020, 2020
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During the early Toarcian (Jurassic, 180 Ma) a hyperthermal event, the Jenkyns Event, occurred, affecting the oxygenation of the sea bottom. The integrated study of foraminiferal and ostracod assemblages with geochemical proxies allows us to interpret the incidence of this event in the Western Tethys, more exactly in the South Iberian Palaeomargin. Diminution of diversity, changes in abundance, and opportunist vs. specialist are coincident with the event.
Michael D. Simmons, Vicent Vicedo, İsmail Ö. Yılmaz, İzzet Hoşgör, Oğuz Mülayim, and Bilal Sarı
J. Micropalaeontol., 39, 203–232, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-39-203-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-39-203-2020, 2020
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The microfossils from a Cretaceous outcrop in southern Turkey are described and used to interpret the age of the rocks and their depositional setting and how sea level has changed. These results are compared both locally and regionally, identifying broad correspondence with regional sea level events. A new species of microfossil is described, confirming that many microfossils of Arabia are localised in their distribution.
Dana Ridha, Ian Boomer, and Kirsty M. Edgar
J. Micropalaeontol., 38, 189–229, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-38-189-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-38-189-2019, 2019
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This paper records the spatial and temporal distribution of deep-sea benthic microfossils (Foraminifera, single-celled organisms) from the latest Oligocene to earliest Pliocene (about 28 to 4 million years ago) from Ocean Drilling Program cores in the southern Indian Ocean. Key taxa are illustrated and their stratigraphic distribution is presented as they respond to a period of marked global climatic changes, with a pronounced warm period in the mid-Miocene followed by subsequent cooling.
Sev Kender, Adeyinka Aturamu, Jan Zalasiewicz, Michael A. Kaminski, and Mark Williams
J. Micropalaeontol., 38, 177–187, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-38-177-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-38-177-2019, 2019
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The Mid-Brunhes Transition saw an enigmatic shift towards increased glacial temperature variations about 400 kyr ago. High-latitude Southern Ocean stratification may have been a causal factor, but little is known of the changes to the high-latitude Bering Sea. We generated benthic foraminiferal assemblage data and are the first to document a glacial decrease in episodic primary productivity since the Mid-Brunhes Transition, signifying possible reductions in sea ice summer stratification.
Malcolm B. Hart, Kevin N. Page, Gregory D. Price, and Christopher W. Smart
J. Micropalaeontol., 38, 133–142, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-38-133-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-38-133-2019, 2019
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The use of micropalaeontological samples from mudstone successions that have suffered de-watering and compaction means that subtle, lamina-thick, changes in assemblages may be lost when samples are processed that are 1–2 cm thick. As most micropalaeontological samples are often 2–5 cm thick, one must be then cautious of interpretations based on such short-duration changes. This work is part of an integrated study of the Christian Malford lagerstätten that has resulted in a number of papers.
Andrea Fischel, Marit-Solveig Seidenkrantz, and Bent Vad Odgaard
J. Micropalaeontol., 37, 499–518, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-37-499-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-37-499-2018, 2018
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Benthic foraminifera often colonize marine underwater vegetation in tropical regions. We studied these so-called epiphytic foraminifera in a shallow bay in the Bahamas. Here the foraminifera differed between types of vegetation, but sedimentological processes seem to be the main controller of the dead foraminifera in the sediment. This indicates that in carbonate platform regions, epiphytic foraminifera should only be used cautiously as direct indicators of past in situ marine vegetation.
Jeroen Groeneveld, Helena L. Filipsson, William E. N. Austin, Kate Darling, David McCarthy, Nadine B. Quintana Krupinski, Clare Bird, and Magali Schweizer
J. Micropalaeontol., 37, 403–429, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-37-403-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-37-403-2018, 2018
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Current climate and environmental changes strongly affect shallow marine and coastal areas like the Baltic Sea. The combination of foraminiferal geochemistry and environmental parameters demonstrates that in a highly variable setting like the Baltic Sea, it is possible to separate different environmental impacts on the foraminiferal assemblages and therefore use chemical factors to reconstruct how seawater temperature, salinity, and oxygen varied in the past and may vary in the future.
Lyndsey R. Fox, Stephen Stukins, Tom Hill, and Haydon W. Bailey
J. Micropalaeontol., 37, 395–401, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-37-395-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-37-395-2018, 2018
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This paper describes five new Mesozoic deep-water benthic foraminifera from the former British Petroleum microfossil reference collections at the Natural History Museum, London.
Joachim Schönfeld
J. Micropalaeontol., 37, 383–393, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-37-383-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-37-383-2018, 2018
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Benthic foraminifera from the Bottsand coastal lagoon, western Baltic Sea, have been monitored annually since 2003 and accompanied by hydrographic measurements since 2012. Elphidium incertum, a stenohaline species of the Baltic deep water fauna, colonised the lagoon in 2016, most likely during a period of salinities > 19 units and average temperatures of 18 °C in early autumn. The high salinities probably triggered their germination from a propagule bank in the lagoonal bottom sediment.
Ercan Özcan, Johannes Pignatti, Christer Pereira, Ali Osman Yücel, Katica Drobne, Filippo Barattolo, and Pratul Kumar Saraswati
J. Micropalaeontol., 37, 357–381, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-37-357-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-37-357-2018, 2018
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We carried out a morphometric study of late Paleocene orthophragminids from the Mawmluh Quarry section in the Shillong Plateau, India. We recorded the occurrence of two species of Orbitoclypeus, whereas the other typical Tethyan genera Discocyclina is absent. We also identified the associated benthic foraminifera and algae. Shallow benthic zones (SBZ) 3 and 4 have been recognized in the section. The timing of transition from shallow marine to continental deposition is commented on.
Laura J. Cotton, Wolfgang Eder, and James Floyd
J. Micropalaeontol., 37, 347–356, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-37-347-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-37-347-2018, 2018
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Shallow-water carbonate deposits rich in larger benthic foraminifera (LBF) are well-known from the Eocene of the Americas. However, there have been few recent LBF studies in this region. Here we present the LBF ranges from two previously unpublished sections from the Ocala limestone, Florida. The study indicates that the lower member of the Ocala limestone may be Bartonian rather than Priabonian in age, with implications for regional biostratigraphy.
Catherine Girard, Anne-Béatrice Dufour, Anne-Lise Charruault, and Sabrina Renaud
J. Micropalaeontol., 37, 87–95, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-37-87-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-37-87-2018, 2018
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This study constitutes an attempt to analyze the variations in foraminiferal assemblages using the morphogroup approach in the Late Devonian. Our results show that both methods of estimating morphotype percentages, the traditional counting and the cumulated area methods, provide similar results, are highly correlated with each other, and provide similar relationships with paleoenvironmental proxies.
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Short summary
Sedimentology and micropaleontology analyses provide the dynamic processes that shaped the environmental evolution of the Thapsus coastline (Tunisia) including its lagoon and Roman harbor. The highlights are paleoenvironmental change records from the coast of Thapsus for the last 4000 years, benthic foraminiferal biota recording the dynamic coastal processes, two transgressive events being recognized, and a presented model for the paleoenvironmental evolution.
Sedimentology and micropaleontology analyses provide the dynamic processes that shaped the...
