Ecology and Applications of Benthic Foraminifera

About this book

In this volume John Murray investigates the ecological processes that control the distribution, abundance, and species diversity of benthic foraminifera in environments ranging from marsh to the deepest ocean. To interpret the fossil record it is necessary to have an understanding of the ecology of modern foraminifera and the processes operating after death leading to burial and fossilisation.

This book presents the ecological background required to explain how fossil forms are used in dating rocks and reconstructing past environmental features including changes of sea level. It demonstrates how living foraminifera can be used to monitor modern-day environmental change. Ecological Applications of Benthic Foraminifera presents a comprehensive and global coverage of the subject using all the available literature.

Contents

1. Introduction: 1.1. Objectives and strategy; 1.2. Taxonomic scope of foraminifera; 1.3. Historical development of ecological studies; 1.4. Major developments over the past decade; 1.5. The future; 2. Methods: 2.1. Planning general field surveys; 2.2. Planning surveys to address a specific question; 2.3. Types of sampler, taking and handling samples; 2.4. Collecting live individuals; 2.5. Distinguishing live from dead foraminifera; 2.6. Preservation and fixing; 2.7. Processing modern sediments for foraminifera; 2.8. Foraminiferal separation using trichloroethylene; 2.9. Splitting samples; 2.10. Census data, standing crop and biomass; 2.11. Analysis of field data; 2.12. Multivariate analysis; 2.13. Designing and running experiments in field and laboratory; 2.14. Essential data in publications; 2.15. Selection of data used in this book; 3. Aspects of Biology and Basic Ecology: 3.1. Introduction; 3.2. Biology; 3.3. Basic ecology; 4. Marginal Marine Environments: 4.1 Introduction; 4.2. Marsh and mangal/mangrove; 4.3. Intertidal-subtidal brackish lagoons and estuaries; 4.4. Deltas; 4.5. Fjords; 4.6. Isolation basins; 4.7. General attributes of faunas; 4.8. Summary of lagoons, estuaries, deltas and fjords; 5. Shelf Seas: 5.1. Introduction; 5.2 Europe and Africa; 5.3. Atlantic North America; 5.4. Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean; 5.5. S America; 5.6. Pacific Americas; 5.7 West Pacific; 5.8. Australia; 5.9. New Zealand; 5.10. Pacific Ocean; 5.11. Indian Ocean; 5.12. Southern Ocean; 5.13. Stable isotopes; 5.14. Summary; 6. Carbonate Environments: 6.1. Introduction; 6.2. Warm water carbonate environments; 6.3. Cool-temperature carbonates; 6.4. Distinction between warm and cool-temperature carbonate shelf faunas; 6.5. Summary; 7. Deep Sea: 7.1. Introduction; 7.2. Foraminifera; 7.3. Summary and conclusions; 8. Summary of Living Distributions: 8.1. Introduction; 8.2. Major new findings; 8.3. Response of foraminifera to environmental factors; 8.4. Micro distribution patterns; 8.5. Interdependent controls on micro distributions; 8.6. Time series datasets and environmental variability; 8.7. Large scale distribution patterns; 8.8. Species diversity; 8.9. Colonisation/recolonisation; 8.10. The species pool; 8.11. Biogeography; 8.12. Standing crop and biomass; 8.13. Role of benthic foraminifera in modern ecosystems; 8.14. Comments on other topics; 8.15. Final conclusions; 9. Taphonomic Processes: Formation of Dead and Fossil Assemblages: 9.1. Introduction; 9.2. Life processes influencing the contribution of tests to the sediment; 9.3. Postmortem processes affecting the preservation of foraminifera; 9.4. Summary; 10. Applications: 10.1. Introduction; 10.2. The present as a key to the past; 10.3. Sequence stratigraphy - biostratigraphy; 10.4. Palaeoecology; 10.5. Palaeoceanography; 10.6. Environmental monitoring; 10.7. Deformed tests; 10.8. Summary and conclusions; Glossary; Appendix 1. Ecological data; References; Web appendices; Web appendix 1. References discussing taxonomy, dead or total assemblages; Web appendix 2. Faunal reference list; Living/stained foraminiferal data tables.

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Biography

John Murray was awarded a DSc by the University of London. He has held honorary positions with the Palaeontological Association, the Micropalaeontological Society and the Geological Society of London.