Paralic Environments Past and Present - AnuÃ¡rio do Instituto de ...

Anuário do Instituto de Geociências - UFRJ 

ISSN 0101-9759 Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 

FORAMS 2006 

Paralic Environments Past and Present – Their Characterization 

With Benthic Foraminifera and Economic Importance 

Chaired by David B. Scott 

This session addresses some of the aspects of paralic (i.e. marshestuarine 

deposits) that characterize both modern and ancient shorelines, 

especially Mesozoic shorelines on the Atlantic margin in Europe, North America 

and South America. The benthic foraminiferal faunas that characterize these 

environments remain unchanged since the Mesozoic so the assemblages give 

true “modern analogues” for Mesozoic and even older rocks. Many of these 

marginal marine deposits turn out to be major source rocks for petroleum hence 

it is important to be able to characterize them accurately. Using close relatives 

of foraminifera, the thecamoebians, it is also possible to trace marine to 

freshwater transitions quite accurately and thecamoebians also do not change 

much since the Mesozoic. In addition to petroleum aspects these deposits 

provide the most accurate sea-level indicators in the fossil record and can 

calibrate sea-level records from Mesozoic to Recent. In modern settings paralic 

forams can be used for hurricane records, earthquake records and of course 

Holocene sea-level records. 

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FORAMS 2006 

Emendation of the genus Trochammina Parker and Jones 

for improvement of work in the paralic environments 

Cátia F. Barbosa 1 & David B. Scott 2 

1 Departamento de Geoquímica, Universidade Federal Fluminense. 

Outeiro de São João Batista, s/no., Centro, Niterói, RJ, 24020-007, Brazil 

catia@geoq.uff.br 

2 Centre for Environmental and Marine Geology, Dalhousie University, 

Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 3J5, Canada 

Taxonomists and stratigraphers have observed the family Trochamminidae 

Schwager as one of the most complex among agglutinated foraminifera, as the 

genus Trochammina, and some others under the family, present high similarity. 

Genera such as Trochammina Parker and Jones, 1859, Siphotrochammina 

Saunders 1957, and Paratrochammina Brönnimann 1979, are a good case in 

point. The objective is to do an emendation of the genus Trochammina and 

discuss the implications of its emendation. This is possible because the type 

species of Trochammina, T. inflata, has been observed to have changes in the 

aperture not reported in the original type description by Brady. This allows for 

more flexibility in what will fit into Trochammina. The result will be increased 

usability and decreased taxonomic chaos, caused by the current over splitting. 

A series of specimens of Trochammina inflata present different 

development sequences of the aperture (from siphons well developed to 

specimens with no siphon), which seem to correspond to phenotypic adaptation 

of some individuals. Based on this, an emendation on the description of the 

aperture in Trochammina is proposed to read: “…apertures interiomarginal, 

umbilical-extraumbilical arch that could present a siphon-like lobe with 

narrow bordering lip, those of earlier chambers completely covered by 

latter chambers or other apertural deviations”. The species 

Siphotrochammina lobata Sauders can be considered a junior synonym of 

Trochammina inflata, once we show different stages of development of a 

siphon like aperture. 

The genus Paratrochammina Brönnimann, 1979, was emerged as a 

new genus being differentiated from Trochammina in having an umbilicalextraumbilical 

aperture, rather than a basal aperture midway between the 

umbilicus and the periphery. The umbilical-extraumbilical aperture is present 

on the description of the genus Trochammina and this taxonomic criterion does 

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FORAMS 2006 

Emendation of the genus Trochammina Parker and Jones for improvement of work in the paralic environments 

Cátia F. Barbosa & David B. Scott 

not justify this new genus. The type species Paratrochammina madeirae 

Brönnimann was described from continental shelf facies, and once this is not a 

taxonomic criterion, we propose to accommodate this occurrence on Brazilian 

shelf to the new species Trochammina madeirae (Brönnimann). So, we also 

suggest that Paratrochammina Brönnimann, 1979 be considered a junior 

synonym of Trochammina madeirae (Brönnimann) n.sp. Several other genera 

that were first described as Trochammina species also fit into this category 

such as Tiphotrocha and Arenoparella. We suggest other kind of approaches 

such as genetic analysis on these different species to see if they really correspond 

to different genera. 

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FORAMS 2006 

Benthic foraminiferal assemblages and morphological 

abnormalities in the Subaé estuarine system, Bahia – Brazil 

Leticia Burone; Guilherme Lessa; Altair Machado & Juzenilda Figuêredo 

Departamento de Sedimentologia, Instituto de Geociências, 

Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), 

Campus Ondina, Salvador-BA, 40210-340, Brazil 

lburone@fcien.edu.uy 

Several strategies can be adopted to characterize, evaluate and monitor 

environmental quality. Historically, the determination of physical-chemical 

variables by analytic methods has been prioritized in polluted areas. Nevertheless, 

there are several organisms, called bioindicators, which can be used as 

environmental indicators, being that the success of evaluation plans or 

environmental monitoring depends mainly on the correct choice of the 

bioindicator. Among the benthic organisms used for assessing anthropogenic 

effects, benthic foraminifera are one of the preferred groups because they are 

very sensitive to environmental stress. Studies dealing with benthic foraminifera 

as bioindicators of pollution have been increasing over the last decades. These 

studies have shown that the distribution of benthic foraminifers is affected by 

several anthropogenic stressors, like organic enrichment of the sediments, heavy 

metal load and petroleum hydrocarbons. Foraminiferal responses to these 

conditions can include shifts in abundance patterns, species composition and 

the presence of test’s abnormalities. This study aims: 

1) to record the benthic foraminiferal assemblages in the Subaé Estuary 

(an impacted area); 

2) to study the mineralogical test composition of those species that show 

high number of abnormal tests; 

3) to relate this aspects to environmental conditions. 

The Subaé estuarine system is situated in the northwest of Todos os 

Santos Bay, Brazil between 12 o 15´27”-12 o 32´30”S and 38 o 36´00”-38 o 42´30”W. 

It drains a 3,170,000 km 2 basin with a maximum high tide of 2.60 m in Gonçalo 

dos Campos. The mean annual river flow is 4.5 m 3 s -1 . The area is affected by 

different pollutants, which derive from different sources such as domestic 

sewage, industrial effluents and solid residues coming from Santo Amaro da 

Purificação and São Francisco do Conde municipalities. Chemical analyzes of 

sediments showed concentrations of Pb 363.4 (mg/kg) and Cr 113.1 (mg/kg). 

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FORAMS 2006 

Benthic foraminiferal assemblages and morphological 

abnormalities in the Subaé estuarine system, Bahia – Brazil 

Leticia Burone; Guilherme Lessa; Altair Machado & Juzenilda Figuêredo 

A total of 52 stations were sampled using a Petersen grab. Preparation and 

analysis of biological samples followed a conventional methodology and 

identification. To estimate heavy metal concentrations within the foraminiferal 

tests, analyzes were made on living normal and aberrant tests using an Energy 

Dispersive Spectrometer. Biological data were analyzed with uni and multivariate 

techniques. Specific diversity (H´, log e ) was determined using the Shannon- 

Wiener index. Evenness (J´) was calculated according to Pielou index and 

species richness (S) was defined as the total number of species recorded at 

each station. The absolute density for each station was used for the construction 

of biological similarity matrixes to cluster analysis (Q Mode and R Mode). A 

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was carried out for the ordination of the 

sample locations based on abiotic factors. Benthic species observed in the 

study area are all shallow-water forms and most of them have been recorded 

before in the Brazilian coastal region. A total of 58 species and 8762 individuals 

were found belonging to the suborders Rotaliina (76.18%), Textulariina 

(22.59%) and Miliolina (1.11%). The H´ ranged between 0.325 and 2.203 and 

the J´ between 0.392 and 0.887. Two stations located near the sewage discharge 

zone were azoic. Through the Ammonia tepida / Elphidium excavatum 

assemblage and the Ammotium salsum assemblage was possible to distinguish 

2 principal sub-environments, which reflected the behavior of both, natural and 

anthropogenic induced environmental tensors, on foraminiferal communities. 

Abnormal tests were specially related to A. tepida, E. excavatum and E. 

discoidale species. The high percentages of abnormal tests and their 

geochemical composition seem to be related to heavy metal contamination 

within the study area. 

Pos-doctoral Fellowship FAPESB N o 19.571.216.3383. 


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FORAMS 2006 

Mangrove foraminifera from western Ilha do Cardoso, 

south São Paulo State, Brazil 

Renata Dalmora & Dimas Dias-Brito 

Laboratório de Análises Microbióticas, Micropaleontológicas e de Ambientes (LAMBdA), 

DGA/IGCE/UNESP, Avenida 24A, 1515, C.P. 178, CEP 13506-900, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil 

rdalmora@yahoo.com.br 

Mangrove muddy sediments sampled from 15 sites along the margins of 

estuarine channels of western Cardoso Island were analyzed regarding the 

foraminifera content (total fauna). The assemblages, composed of 26 

arenaceous foraminifera species, were studied in terms of abundance, diversity 

(Shannon-Wiener) and equitability. Along all investigated channels it was 

observed a decreasing of diversity and equitability towards the upstream. 

Arenoparrela mexicana, Haplophragmoides wilberti and Trochammina 

inflata are dominant in the Capivaru river, whereas A. mexicana, T. inflata 

and Miliammina fusca dominate in the Tapera river. In this channel, in sites 

where the time of exposition is short and/or middle (deep and mid intertidal 

subzones), M. fusca indicates a stronger freshwater input. However, this species 

is poorly represented in the estuarine upstream site of the Moupava River, 

which is also an oligohaline environment. It may be associated with the fact 

that the sample of this site was collected in the very shallow intertidal subzone 

(long exposition time), where H. wilberti typically dominates, as observed in a 

site of the Capivaru river. Along this channel, towards the estuarine upstream, 

it was verified a progressive augment in H. wilberti tests. Then, H. wilberti 

seems to be very well adapted to sites with long exposition time and may be 

used as an indicator of ancient very shallow intertidal areas (close to the transition 

intertidal-supratidal zones). It would not be the salinity the main factor controlling 

the distribution of this species. Among all species, A. mexicana is here considered 

the most resilient species found in the area. It appeared as a dominant species 

in the majority of sites: along the channels (downstream to upstream) and in 

different positions in the margins (deep, mid and shallow intertidal subzones). 

Textularia earlandi, Monotalea salsa, Warrenita palustris, Ammotium 

directum, Ammodiscus sp., Acostata mariae, A. angulatum and Tiphotrocha 

comprimata represent a “discreet” group of estuarine species, always with a 

relatively low frequency of specimens. They showed a clear preference to 

more “marine” waters, exhibiting a progressive augment of individuals towards 

the downstream. The foraminifera distribution pattern observed in this estuarine 

wetland provides key elements to understand the hydrohaline dynamic in the 

area within a multi-seasonal context, supporting environmental diagnosis and 

the ecosystem management. It can be also used in paleoenvironmental studies. 

407

Benthic foraminifers and thecamoebians from Guaratuba Bay 

(Paraná, Brazil): Spatial distribution and trophic 

interactions with carbon sources 

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FORAMS 2006 

Sibelle Trevisan Disaró 1 ; Fernanda Neves Daichtman Roda 2 

& Hedda Elisabeth Kolm 3 

1 Laboratório de Micropaleontologia, Centro de Estudos do Mar/SCT, UFPR, 

Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil 

stdisaro@ufpr.br 

2 Curso de Graduação em Biologia/CCBS, PUC-PR, Pontifícia Universidade 

Católica do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil 

3 Laboratório de Microbiologia, Centro de Estudos do Mar/SCT, UFPR, 


Guaratuba Bay is located in the coastal plain of Paraná State. It is a 

small estuarine system with 50 km 2 of water surface area, maximum depth of 

27 m at the mouth, and extensive mangrove and salt marsh ecosystems 

bordering its northern edge. Foraminiferal and thecamoebian assemblages were 

studied from eighteen surface sediment samples collected with a van Veen 

grab, in seven sampling stations located along the east-west axis and two located 

in the meandering zone of northern edge of the bay in July 2002. Samples (50 

cm 3 ) for foraminiferal and thecamoebian analysis were preserved in 4% buffered 

formaldehyde solution and stained with Bengal Rose. Routine water column 

oceanographic measurements (temperature, salinity, Secchi disk depth, pH, 

seston weight, dissolved oxygen), sediment analysis (grain size, total organic 

carbon, total carbonate content and Chlorophyll a concentration) and 

microbiological analysis of sediment (total heterotrophic bacteria, bacterial 

biomass, total coliform bacteria and Escherichia coli) were performed. The 

results allowed the identification of three distinct zones: 

o marine biofacies characterized by the presence of calcareous species 

common in the adjacent inner shelf; 

o estuarine biofacies characterized by the presence of euryhaline 

calcareous foraminifers and dominance of agglutinated foraminifers 

and thecamoebians, and; 

o riverine biofacies characterized by the absence of both groups, higher 

coliform (E. coli) densities and sandy sediments with low organic content.

FORAMS 2006 

Benthic foraminifers and thecamoebians from Guaratuba Bay (Paraná, Brazil): Spatial distribution 

and trophic interactions with carbon sources 

Sibelle Trevisan Disaró; Fernanda Neves Daichtman Roda & Hedda Elisabeth Kolm 

These three different biofacies characterize distinct environments within 

the bay and can be applied in regional studies of paleoenvironmental 

reconstruction. Simple correlation analysis of living foraminifers and 

thecamoebians versus potential sources of particulate organic carbon was 

performed. Significant correlation was obtained. The result suggest that 

bacteriobentos and total organic carbon are the main carbon source for these 

organisms. Some species are less selective (e.g. Centropyxis constricta, 

Miliammina fusca and Polysaccammina ipohalina) presenting significant 

positive correlation with organic matter, chlorophyll a and bacterial biomass, 

whereas others seem to be extremely selective (e. g. Miliammina earlandi) 

presenting positive significant correlation with bacterial biomass. The role of 

bacteria and organic matter is still underestimated as nutritional sources in 

marine marginal environments, especially in those with high turbidity and 

eutrofication. Both are important nutritional items for many agglutinated 

foraminifers and thecamoebian species. Foraminiferal and thecamoebian 

standing stock did not show significant correlation with total coliform bacteria 

and Escherichia coli in Guaratuba Bay. 


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FORAMS 2006 

Holocenic evolution of Guadiana River estuary (South of 

Portugal) based on benthic foraminiferal assemblages 

Sarita Camacho da Encarnação 

Marine and Environment Investigation Centre (CIMA), Algarve University, Portugal 

scamacho@ualg.pt 

The analysis of variation in benthonic foraminifera content throughout 

five boreholes drilled in Guadiana River Estuary enabled the identification of 

five paleoenvironments that occurred during the Holocene, each one with a 

different Marine Influence Degree (MID). The MID 1 was determined by 

samples without forams, which could indicate a terrestrial environment with no 

marine influence or a depositional environment not ideal to the tests post-mortem 

preservation. The environment exposed to a MID 2 was delineated as high 

intertidal and is exclusively colonized by agglutinated forms (Trochammina 

macrescens, Trochammina inflata, Trochammina spp., Ammobaculites sp.) 

and inner linings, indicating high exposure times that can be found in high to 

middle marsh zones. The environment exposed to a MID 3 was characterized 

as middle intertidal by being predominantly colonized by agglutinated forms 

and/or inner linings and, carbonate tests showing high dissolution, characterizing 

confinement typical of middle to low marsh zones. The environment exposed 

to a MID 4 was characterized as low intertidal and is dominated (more than 

65% of the individuals) by the estuarine species association of Ammonia beccarii 

and Haynesina germanica associated with Elphidium spp. and to the miliolids, 

characterizing a moderate confined environment, that includes the low marsh 

and all the mud flats zones. The environment exposed to a MID 5 is suggested 

to be open intertidal and is defined by the estuarine species A. beccarii and H. 

germanica associated with forms preferring greater marine influence, namely, 

the species Cibicides lobatulus, Planorbulina mediterranensis, 

Asterigerinata mamilla, Brizalina sp. and Discorbis sp., occurring as well an 

increase in diversity index and in the number of small and indeterminate tests. 

According to the paleoenvironmental sequences in all boreholes except 

CM2 it was possible to identify a transitional fluvio-marine phase immediately 

before a transgressive episode. The perseverance of middle intertidal 

environment in the CM2 sequence may be explained by its inward localization 

which affords it protection against the major changes felt in the Guadiana main 

channel. In the most complete borehole (CM5) with 82 samples which reach

FORAMS 2006 

Holocenic evolution of Guadiana River estuary (South of Portugal) 

based on benthic foraminiferal assemblages 

Sarita Camacho da Encarnação 

the 51 meters of depth, it was possible to identify a pre-marine invasion 

paleoenvironmental sequence accompanied by a dominance substitution of 

marsh species to low marsh and estuary species between a pre-Holocene 

episode and the transgression maximum. 

In all boreholes it was determined that there was a reduction of marine 

influence immediately after the transgressive maximum. The marsh environment 

occurrence in CM3 and CM5 boreholes in surficial bio-horizons suggests a 

recent equilibrium between the accretion rates and the current rising rates of 

Mean Sea Level. 


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FORAMS 2006 

Palynofacies and foraminifera as hidrodynamic indicators 

of Araguari estuary, Amazon coast, Amapá-Brazil 

Danielle Esteves S. Ferreira 1 ; L. L. M. Laut 2 ; M. A. Carvalho 1 ; 

V. F. Santos 2 & A. G. Figueiredo Jr. 2 

1 Departamento de Geologia e Paleontologia, Museu Nacional/UFRJ, 

Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil 

danielle_esteves@yahoo.com.br 

2 Departamento de Geologia, LAGEMAR/UFF, Universidade Federal Fluminense, 

Niterói, RJ, Brazil 

The Araguari estuary is located in northern Brazil at the Amazon mouth 

and subjected to macrotidal regime. The larger tide amplitude of 5m promotes 

the development of tidal bore waves, locally known as “pororoca”. The tidal 

bore entering the estuary causes strong upriver currents that can reach up to 

45 km inland. Because of the macrotidal regime this estuary has a different 

dynamic than those proposed for traditional estuary models. The distribution of 

particulate organic matter (POM) is useful method to characterize the 

environments and distribution pattern of foraminifera and thecamoebians as 

bioindicators of ecological, sedimentological, and physical-chemical parameters. 

In April 2005, samples were collected in 16 stations along the Araguari 

River with 7 km spacing between them. Sample preparation was based on 

non-oxidative palynological procedures (Tyson, 1995). The foraminifera sample 

preparation was carried out according to Boltovskoy (1965). Cluster analyses 

by R- and Q-mode based on relative abundance and composition of POM and 

foraminifera and thecamoebians were employed. Fourteen types of POM and 

28 species of foraminifera and thecamoebians were identified. No Devonian 

rocks were recorded near the Araguari River, but 4 genera and one species of 

Devonian acritarchs were recorded. 

Four assemblages of POM were revealed by R-mode analysis: 

I. fresh-water algae, pollen and spores, 

II. opaque and translucent phytoclasts; 

III. spores and hyphae of fungi, foraminiferal linings and dinoflagellates and; 

IV. cuticle, translucent phytoclast membrane and amorphous organic matters.

FORAMS 2006 

Palynofacies and foraminifera as hidrodynamic indicators 

of Araguari estuary, Amazon coast, Amapá-Brazil 

Danielle Esteves S. Ferreira; L. L. M. Laut; M. A. Carvalho; V. F. Santos & A. G. Figueiredo Jr. 

In addition, four assemblages were also revealed by the foraminifera 

and thecamoebians: 

1) only thecamoebian; 

2) thecamoebian and M. fusca; 

3) Difflugia spp and foraminifera species of brackish water: H. wilberti 

and A. mexicana; 

4) foraminifera species of salt and brackish waters: Bolivina spp. Q. 

Lamarkiana, P. hipoalina and S. sphaerica. 

By mode-Q five groups were revealed: 

A. stations 11, 13, 15 and 16, 

B. 07 and 05; 

C. 06 and 12; 

D. 02, 04, 08, 09 and 14 and 

E. 01, 03 and 10. 

The integration of the both mode suggests that the Group A (stations 11, 

13, 15 and 16) has high abundance of assemblages IV and 3, the Assemblage 

4 occurs only in these samples. The Group B (stations 07 and 05) shows a high 

abundance of assemblages II and 3. The Group C (stations 06 and 12) shows 

high abundance of Assemblage I and no foraminifera recorded. Group D 

(stations 02, 04, 08, 09 and 14) shows the same characteristics as Group C. 

Finally, the Group E (stations 01, 03 and 10) shows high abundance of 

assemblages I, II, III, 2 and 1. We conclude that Group A indicates a zone near 

the river mouth where there is a significant deposition of components of salt 

and brackish waters, suggested by the punctual presence of dinocysts and 

foraminifers species of salt and brackish waters. Groups B, C and D indicate a 

zone characterized by the discontinuous presence of foraminifers and 

thecamoebians, and the innermost boundary of acritarchs deposition. This 

revealed a mixed zone of fresh and brackish waters and the acritarchs show 

the influence of sediments from Amazon River. The third zone represented by 

Group E, is only influenced by fluvial deposition as suggested by the presence 

of thecamoebians, pollen and spores. 


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413

Characterization of paralic paleoenvironments using benthic 

foraminifera from early Cretaceous deposits (Scotian Shelf) 

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FORAMS 2006 

Flavia Fiorini 1 ; David B. Scott 2 & Grant D. Wach 2 

1 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, CTPA, Ancon, Panama 

FioriniF@si.edu 

2 Department of Earth Sciences, Dalhousie University, Halifax, 

Nova Scotia B3H 4J1, Canada 

The foraminifera from an early Cretaceous cored interval of Cohasset 

A-52 well (located on the Scotian Shelf- North Atlantic), were used to interpret 

the depositional environments of these rocks. 

Paleoenvironmental interpretation was based on the analysis on samples 

from four cored intervals of the well corresponding to 25 m of interbedded 

gray-black shale, mudstone and sandstone belonging to the Cree Member of 

the Logan Canyon Formation (Aptian–Albian). 

The foraminiferal association recorded in the samples is comprised mainly 

of agglutinated specimens of Trochammina, Haplophragmoides, 

Ammobaculites and Verneulinoides and is comparable at the generic level 

with the microfauna that live in present marshes. The species are also almost 

identical to Cretaceous faunas recovered in the Rocky Mountain sections of 

Alberta and Utah. 

A scattered occurrence of calcareous benthic foraminifera and 

thecamoebians is also recorded. The comparison of this microfauna with modern 

and fossil foraminiferal associations from paralic environment suggests that 

the studied sediments were deposited in a marsh-estuarine environment. 

A 10 cm thick sandstone containing rare fragments and shells of 

calcareous marine foraminifera has been recorded in one of the studied cores. 

The sandstone is deposited on a mudstone and overlain by another one. Marsh 

foraminifera (mainly belonging to the genus Trochammina) are recorded either 

in the mudstone deposited before and after. On the basis of paleontological and 

sedimentological investigation the sandstone is interpreted as a hurricane event 

deposit preserved within marsh sediments, perhaps the earliest hurricane trace 

ever found. This hurricane trace is comparable with modern ones.


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FORAMS 2006 

Foraminifera and bacterial activity in oil spill 

impacted mangrove, Guanabara Bay, Brazil 

Luiz F. Fontana 1 ; Lázaro L. M. Laut 1 ; A. G. Figueiredo Jr. 1 ; 

M. A. C. Crapez 2 & T. D. L. Rosa 2 

1 Departamento de Geologia, LAGEMAR/UFF, Universidade Federal Fluminense, 

Niterói, RJ, Brazil - lffontana@igeo.uff.br 

2 Departamento de Biologia, BIOMAR/UFF, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, RJ, Brazil 

Studies on the selectivity of foraminiferal feeding have shown that 

bacteria are an essential food, but can also successful to survive in the absence 

of these. Absence of bacteria apparently affects foraminiferal reproduction. 

Foraminifers are known to live in symbiosis with bacteria but some species 

have been seen surviving in areas of reduced. Despite many studies on the 

foraminifers-bacteria relationship, the bacteria role on foraminiferal life cycle 

is still partially unknown. 

The present work has the objective of evaluating foraminiferal distribution 

and bacterial enzymatic activity as environmental bioindicators. The study area 

is located in Suruí River mangrove in the Guanabara Bay, impacted by PAHs. 

Twenty-three samples were collected for bacterial analyses, including ETSA 

(electron transport activity system) EST (Sterases), bacterial carbon, bacterial 

biomass, PAHs (policyclic aromatic hydrcabon), organic matter and foraminifers. 

Results of enzymatic activity shows high values of ETSA and EST 

represents activity of free enzymes acting in larger molecules (600 Da) and 

thus, facilitating the absorption of these by the bacteria. The analyses of EST 

had demonstrated higher activity than ETASA thus evidencing the presence of 

larger molecules. PAHs have high values distributed in all samples; the largest 

values were of phenantrene ranging from 0.2 – 0.4 g/g (grams per grams) of 

sediment. The lowest values were of benzo(a)pyrene varying from 0 to 0.000005 

g/g of sediment. Organic matter varied from 0.02 to 0.59 g/g of sediment and 

the bacterial carbon from 0.3 to 2.3 g C.cm -3 . Twenty-four foraminifera species 

were identified in Surui’s mangrove with dominance of A. mexicana and H. 

wilberti in all samples and T. inflata and T. macrescens only in the interior regions. 

A multivariate analysis in CCA was applied to know how PAHs influence 

foraminiferal species and enzymatic bacteria activity distribution in the mangrove. 

It was found that benzo(a)pyrene and the phenantrene are the most influencing 

compounds. The foraminifers’ species Ammotium cassis and Ammobaculites 

415

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FORAMS 2006 

Foraminifera and bacterial activity in oil spill impacted mangrove, Guanabara Bay, Brazil 

Luiz F. Fontana; Lázaro L. M. Laut; A. G. Figueiredo Jr.; M. A. C. Crapez & T. D. L. Rosa 

exiguus, as well as EST and bacterial carbon had responded positively to these 

substances. Species Quinqueloculina laevigata and Saccammina sp. had responded 

negatively. Trochammina macrescens was the species most neutral to the PAHs. 

Enzymatic bacterial activity of EST is directly related the larger molecules, 

thus our results demonstrate that autochthones bacteria are consuming oil and 

consequently increasing its biomass. This bacterial activity creates favorable 

conditions for development of foraminifers in oil spill impacted mangrove. 


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FORAMS 2006 

Foraminifera from a mangrove transect at the 

Cardoso Island (Cananéia-Iguape System/SP), Brazil 

R. H. F. Funo; Décio Luis Semensatto Jr.; Dimas Dias Brito & C.Coelho Jr. 

Laboratório de Análises Micropaleontológicas, Microbióticas e de Ambientes 

(LAMBdA), DGA, IGCE, 

Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Avenida 24A, 1515, C.P. 178, 13506-900, Rio 

Claro, SP, Brazil - semensattojr@terra.com.br 

Two foraminiferal associations composed only of arenaceous species 

define, landward, two distinct segments along a transect, 340 m long, in a 

mangrove at the Cardoso Island, facing towards Trapandé Bay (Cananéia- 

Iguape estuarine system). The “muddy plain” (low plain), 120 m long, is situated 

between 0.15 and 0.34 m above the mean tide level (mtl), presents higher 

diversity and evenness (D = 0.54 ± 0.21; E = 0.68 ± 0.25) and is dominated by 

Arenoparrella mexicana and Trochammina inflata, which are associated 

with Ammotium directum and Textularia earlandi and other 17 less abundant 

species. The associated mangrove is a Rhizophoretum with height of 8.4 ± 1.2 

m. This segment remains flooded during 51.5% to 34.4% of time, and is also 

characterized by higher concentration of organic matter (93.5 ± 32.3 g dm -3 ) 

and heavy metals (V = 53.4 ± 21.8 ppm and Zn = 46.4 ± 21.3 ppm). The “sandy 

plain” (high plain), 180 m long, is situated between 0.39 and 1.00 m above the 

mtl and is characterized by an association with lower diversity and lower 

evenness (D = 0.33 ± 0.17; E = 0.49 ± 0.20), dominated by T. inflata and 

Miliammina fusca, which are associated with other 9 less abundant species. 

The associated mangrove, also a Rhizophoretum, presents lower height 

(3.6 ± 0.6 m). This segment remains flooded during 30.3% to 1.5% of time and 

presents lower concentration of organic matter (39.25 ± 15.0 g dm -3 ) and heavy 

metals (V = 13.0 ± 6.8 ppm and Zn = 6.9 ± 3.7 ppm). Whereas “elongate” 

forms (uniserial, biserial and planispiral followed by uniserial portion) are 

restricted to the low plain, the high plain is mainly composed of trochospiral 

and planispiral species. These foraminiferal distribution patterns are found in 

other areas and can be applied to studies which investigate discrete relative 

sea- level fluctuations during the Quaternary. 

417

418 


ISSN 0101-9759 Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 p. 418-419 

FORAMS 2006 

Estuarine-type foraminifera from Australia’s 

Permian to Cretaceous interior seas 

David W. Haig 

The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia 

dhaig@segs.uwa.edu.au 

Mid-latitude estuarine environments are variable in terms of diurnal and 

seasonal changes in temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and nutrient levels. 

The foraminifera from these environments are characterized by organiccemented 

agglutinated species with simple morphologies; absence of calcitecemented 

agglutinated foraminifera; low-diversity calcareous hyaline 

morphotypes; and usually rare or absent porcelaneous foraminifera. Ancient 

interior seas located at mid to high latitudes and in a humid climate with significant 

freshwater inflow, have similar estuarine-type assemblages. This presentation 

traces the development of interior-sea assemblages through the Australian 

Permian to the Cretaceous. Many of the Permian-Cretaceous sedimentary 

successions remain relatively undeformed in mainland Australia and have a 

stratigraphic architecture and facies association indicative of shallow-water 

depositional environments. The estuarine-type assemblages are present in 

mudstone facies in siliciclastic-dominated successions. 

The organic-cemented agglutinated foraminifera are very conservative 

in their development from the Permian to the Cretaceous. Early Permian genera 

such as Aaptotoichus, Ammobaculites, Ammodiscus, Ammovertella, 

Glomospirella, Haplophragmoides, Hyperammina, Kechenotiske, 

Lagenammina, Palustrella, Placentammina, Psammosphaera, Reophax, 

Sansabaina, Spiroplectammina, Thuramminoides, Trochammina, and 

Trochamminopsis range through to the Cretaceous with very similar species. 

In the Triassic, the first high trochospiral and triserial organic-cemented 

agglutinated species appear, and are followed by other genera which show 

serial changes in chamber arrangement and/or modifications in apertural 

position. In general, Permian and Cretaceous morphotypes show a similar 

paleobathymetric distribution in the shallow-water interior seas. 

The hyaline calcareous foraminifera are represented in the Permian 

estuarine-type assemblages by syzraniid and ichthyolariid precursors of later 

nodosariids and lenticulines of the Order Lagenida. Morphotypes that developed 

during the Triassic generally show little difference to those in the Cretaceous.

FORAMS 2006 

Estuarine-type foraminifera from Australia’s Permian to Cretaceous interior seas 

David W. Haig 

Polymorphinids became conspicuous for the first time during the latest Triassic, 

and the abundance of Permian-like Ichthyolaria-Cryptoseptida and 

Paralingulina decreased during the Jurassic. 

Aragonitic trochospiral hyaline foraminifera of the Duostominacea 

appeared abruptly during the Middle Triassic and genera such as Duostomina 

are associated with the estuarine-type assemblages of the Middle and Late 

Triassic. During the Jurassic and Cretaceous, similar aragonitic foraminifera 

are represented by Reinholdella and Epistomina. In Australian interior basins, 

the oldest members of calcitic Orders Buliminida and Rotaliida are present in 

Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) strata. The buliminid and rotaliid assemblages of 

the Aptian-Albian interior seas include a distinctive suite of species that differ 

from contemporaneous species of the open continental shelf. 


ISSN 0101-9759 - Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 p. 418-419 

419

Indian Ocean tsunami deposits along the West Coast of the 

Malay-Thai Peninsula: Foraminiferal and grain size analysis 

420 


ISSN 0101-9759 Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 p. 420-421 

FORAMS 2006 

Andrea D. Hawkes 1 ; Micheal Bird 2 ; Susan Cowie 2 ; Benjamin Horton 1 ; 

Jonathan Nott 3 ; Ruth Robinson 2 & Lee Wan Aik 4 

1 Sea Level Research Laboratory, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, 

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6316, U.S.A. 

hawkesa@sas.upenn.edu, bphorton@sas.upenn.edu 

2 School of Geography & Geosciences, Irvine Building, University of St Andrews, 

St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9AL, Scotland, U.K. 

3 School of Tropical Environmental Studies and Geography, James Cook University, 

PO Box 6811, Cairns, Qld 4870, Australia 

4 Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, 1 Arts Link, Singapore (117570) 

A suite of sites running north to south along the Malay-Thai Peninsula 

have a sedimentary record of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami: Khao Lak, 

coastal mainland western Thailand; Koh Phi Phi and Koh Lanta Islands, 

Thailand; and Penang and Langkawi Islands, Malaysia. Tsunami wave 

incursions delivered landward thinning sand sheets. 

Eyewitness accounts of tsunami approach and inundation recollect one 

to three waves coming ashore at each site. Waves came ashore as either 

distinct walls of water or as a combination of backwash from a prior wave 

along with reflected and refracted waves creating turbulence similar to that of 

a ‘washing machine’. We quantified inland penetration, run-up and flow depth 

through physical evidence and eyewitness accounts. The extent of inland 

inundation varied from 52m to 2000m within our five study sites. Low coastal 

geomorphology enabled Khao Lak (2000m) and Penang (1500m) to have the 

most extensive inundations. Wave run-up height and tsunami flow depth 

decrease from north to south along the Malay-Thai Peninsula from ~ 8.7 to 

2.4m above MSL and from 2.80 to 0.80m, respectively. Grain size analyses of 

the tsunami-lain sediments contained up to three fining upward sequences and 

up to two massive units of medium to coarse sand with shell fragments within 

the five tsunami deposits. The fining upward sequences likely reflect lower 

energy conditions between higher energy massive forewash deposits. All 

tsunami deposits had a sharp or erosional lower contact with the underlying 

pre-tsunami sediment. Grain size and foraminiferal assemblage analyses 

revealed that three of the five sites have a systematic relationship between the

FORAMS 2006 

Indian Ocean tsunami deposits along the West Coast of the Malay-Thai Peninsula: 

Foraminiferal and grain size analysis 

Andrea D. Hawkes; Micheal Bird; Susan Cowie; Benjamin Horton; Jonathan Nott; Ruth Robinson & Lee Wan Aik 

number of waves that came ashore and those preserved as stratigraphic units 

in the sediment record. At three sites, grain size between the pre-tsunami and 

tsunami deposited sediment showed a modal change in dominant grain size. 

Foraminiferal analysis showed between one and three assemblage zones at 

each site. These assemblage zones were often single species dominant. At 

three sites, the foraminiferal assemblages in the pre-tsunami sediment differed 

from that within the tsunami-lain sediment. This was particularly important at 

two of the sites, Phi Phi and Koh Lanta Island, where no lithologic or grain size 

distinction was apparent and thus tsunami deposit recognition at these sites 

may have been overlooked. 


ISSN 0101-9759 - Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 p. 420-421 

421

422 


ISSN 0101-9759 Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 p. 422 

FORAMS 2006 

A 3-stage pollution identification system with an 

example of final stage decimation 

Lee-Ann C. Hayek 1 & Martin A. Buzas 2 

1 Chief Mathematical Statistician, National Museum of Natural History, 

Washington, DC, U.S.A. 

2 Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, U.S.A. 

buzasm@si.edu 

St. Lucie, the southernmost inlet of the Indian River Lagoon, is affected 

by a variety of natural and artificial stresses including dumping from Lake 

Okeechobee, the second-largest freshwater lake in the U.S.A, through a system 

of canals. Just as pollutants, spills and organic enrichment are obvious sublethal 

effects of estuarine health, so too is the disappearance of organisms constituting 

essential links in the food chain. A baseline study established foraminiferal 

density, species richness, evenness and community structure in 1975/1976. 

Thirty years later in 2005, the same area again was sampled. In 1975/1976 the 

mean density was 280 per 20 ml of sediment. In 2005, we observed a mean of 

46 per 20 ml, a decline of 83%. In 1975/1976, we observed 62 species while in 

2005 we found only 13, a decline of 79%. The most abundant species, Ammonia 

tepida, constituted 42% of the fauna in 1975/1976; in 2005 it had risen to 76%, 

a dramatic increase in dominance. Based upon our newly-developed enrichment 

evaluation system for ecosystem decline over time, we find that the St. Lucie 

area is nearing, if not at the beginning of Stage 3 local extinction.


ISSN 0101-9759 Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 p. 423-424 

FORAMS 2006 

Annual variation of foraminifera from a sublitoral zone near 

Cachoeira River mouth, Paranaguá Bay (Paraná, Brazil) 

Isabela Itice 1 & Sibelle Trevisan Disaró 2 

1 Curso de Graduação em Oceanografia , Centro de Estudos do Mar/UFPR, 


isabela.itice@ufpr.br 

2 Laboratório de Micropaleontologia, Centro de Estudos do Mar/UFPR, 


The Cachoeira River flows into Antonina’s Bay, located in the upper 

sector of Paranaguá estuarine system. With the conclusion of Governador Pedro 

Viriato Parigot de Souza Hydroelectric Power Plant constructed in 1971, the 

hydrographic basin of Cachoeira River was connected with another 

hydrographic basin. Annual discharge of Cachoeira River before the 

transposition was 21.13 m 3 /s but after the transposition it increases 33%, with 

an annual average discharge of 31.45 m 3 /s. This contributes to changes on the 

Antonina Bay. From March 2003 to February 2004 foraminiferal assemblages 

were studied at the Cachoeira River mouth. Samples were collected monthly 

in the sublitoral zone with a Petit Ponar grab; three replicates with 50 cm 3 of 

surface sediment were preserved in 4% buffered formaldehyde solution for 

foraminiferal and thecamoebian analysis. In the water column temperature, 

salinity, Secchi disk, depth and dissolved oxygen were measured. In the sediment 

grain size, total organic carbon, total carbonate and Chlorophyll a concentration 

were measured. Depth varied from 0.6 m to 2 m in the study area and water 

transparency varied from 0.34 m to 1.15 m. At the bottom, water temperature 

ranged from 19°C to 29°C, salinity from 0 to 19 and dissolved oxygen (% 

saturation) from 60.8% to 96.4%. Very fine to medium sand prevails in the 

area, but coarse to medium silt was also present. Chlorophyll a concentration 

varied from 0.2 to 8.3 µg.g sed -1 and phaeopigments varied from 2.5 to 10.2 

µg.g sed -1 . Total organic matter ranged from 2.6% to 18.6% and total carbonates 

from 1.9% to 12.9%. Preliminary results of faunal analysis show low species 

richness agreeing with the results of other studies in similar environment. 

Seventeen foraminiferal species (Ammoastuta inepta, Ammobaculites sp., 

Ammonia parkinsoniana, Ammotium sp., Arenoparrella mexicana, 

Asterotrochammina sp.,Cribroelphidium excavatum, Haplophragmoides 

manilensis, Haplophragmoides wilberti, Miliammina earlandi, Miliammina 

423

424 

FORAMS 2006 

Annual variation of foraminifera from a sublitoral zone near 

Cachoeira River mouth, Paranaguá Bay (Paraná, Brazil) 

Isabela Itice & Sibelle Trevisan Disaró 

fusca, Paratrocammina (L.) guaratibaensis, Siphotrochammina lobata, 

Triloculina sp., Trochammina inflata, Trochamminita salsa, Trochammina 

sp.) and 7 thecamoebian species (Centropyxis constricta, Centropyxis 

acuelata, Cyclopyxis impressa, Difflugia capreolata, Difflugia urceolata, 

Lagenodifflugia vas, Trigonopyxis arcula) were registered. Agglutinated 

foraminifers dominate, with A. mexicana and H. wilberti being the dominant 

ones. Only three calcareous foraminiferal species were registered; these 

euryhaline species are abundant and commonly found in the estuary, but at the 

studied area they were registered in low frequencies, in the winter months and 

when runoff decreased. Low standing stock was frequent during the year, 

contrasting with standing stock values of other adjacent sublitoral and intertidal 

zones within the estuary. This was attributed to strong bottom currents present. 

Empty thecamoebians occurred at the studied area indicating probable 

downstream transport from the river. 


ISSN 0101-9759 - Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 p. 423-424


ISSN 0101-9759 Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 p. 425-426 

FORAMS 2006 

Foraminifera as sea-level change indicators, 

Guaratiba Mangrove, Rio de Janeiro – Brazil 

Lázaro L. M. Laut 1 ; Eduardo A. M. Koutsoukos 2 & Maria Antonieta C. Rodrigues 3 

1 Departamento de Geologia, LAGEMAR, UFF, Universidade Federal Fluminense, 

Niterói, RJ, Brazil - laut@igeo.uff.br 

2 PETROBRAS-CENPES, Cidade Universitária, Ilha do Fundão, 

21941-598 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil 

3 Faculdade de Geologia, UERJ, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, 

Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil 

Relative sea-level changes (RSL) are complex and heterogeneous and 

can be recognized not only regionally but also locally. Because of its nature the 

Brazilian coast has many features identifying RSL variations. In general, the 

majority of the coastline has been inundated until 5,150 years BP, followed by 

a sea-level fall and lowstand that prevails until now. 

RSL decrease has lead to the formation of marine terraces starting at 

the original barrier island, resulting in coastline progradation. Such an example 

of this emersion system is the Guaratiba-Sepetiba bay-barrier island complex, 

located SW of Rio de Janeiro State. The eastern portion of the barrier has a 

tidal inlet and a flood tidal delta dominated by a mangrove forest. Four evolution 

models were proposed for the formation of the barrier island. Lamego (1945), 

proposed that the longshore current was the responsible for the formation of 

this system; Roncarati & Barrocas (1978) added to Lamego’s model the 

Flandriana Transgression; Ponçano et al. (1979) related the formation of the 

barrier island to the fluvial processes that occurred before the transgression 

and finally Pereira (1998) proposed that the formation was related to three 

transgressive events and to three regressive events. Since evolutionary models 

are quite different and none of them has used foraminifera, the aim of this 

work is to contribute to the understanding of the Guaratiba-Sepetiba Bay-barrier 

island complex using foraminiferal assemblages. 

In 1996, seven vibracores were collected along a transect in the tidal 

plain at the edge of the mangrove. Core E, 5,3 m long, was sub-sampled at 20 

cm intervals for foraminiferal analysis and every 10 cm for grain-size, carbonate 

and organic matter content. Two radiocarbon dates were done in core D located 

100 m from core E and one in core B located 700 m from core E. 

425

426 

FORAMS 2006 

Foraminifera as sea-level change indicators, Guaratiba Mangrove, Rio de Janeiro – Brazil 

Lázaro L. M. Laut; Eduardo A. M. Koutsoukos & Maria Antonieta C. Rodrigues 

Core E was mainly composed of muddy sand at the base and alternating 

fine, medium and coarse silt towards the top. Carbonate contents were around 

5%, having largest values (20%) between 100-200 cm from top. Organic matter 

was higher between 0-60 cm, decreasing to around 5% towards the base of 

the core. Sixty-nine Foraminiferal species were identified in the cores and the 

most predominant ones were the agglutinated species. The calcareous species, 

except the Q. lamarkiana were restricted to the base of the core and depth of 

1.6 m. Cluster analysis based upon the species percentage by a hierachy 

dendrogran, indicated the existence of 8 assemblages. The ecological features 

of these assemblages correspond to 8 distintc paleoenvironments. These 

environments correspond to three regressive events marked by assemblages I, II, 

III and IV and 3 transgressions marked by assemblages IV, VI, VII and VIII. 

Foraminiferal assemblage analysis was used to establish a model to 

understand how Guaratiba Mangrove evolved since 5.100 BP as a regressive 

system. The area around 5,100 years BP used to be a bay (Assemblage VIII 

and VII) that was gradually transformed into an estuary (Assemblage III) 

around 4,900 BP. A transgressive event around 3,500 years BP probably 

established a lagoon (Assemblage V) that was followed by a regression that 

transformed it into an estuary system (Assemblage IV) once more. A more 

extensive transgression drowned this region until 2,400 years BP (Assemblage 

V) where the mangrove could have started to develop in this system 

(Assemblage III, I and II). Foraminiferal assemblage analysis was an efficient 

methodology that made possible the diagnosis of small magnitude RSL changes 

during the Holocene at the Guaratiba-Sepetiba complex, despite not being 

possible to establish precisely the height of these oscillation in the region. These 

results have good agreement with Pereira’s evolutionary models and could 

also be applied to other areas of Brazilian coastline. 


ISSN 0101-9759 - Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 p. 425-426


ISSN 0101-9759 Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 p. 427-428 

FORAMS 2006 

Review of mangrove foraminifera from the 

Guaratiba tidal plain, Rio de Janeiro, 

SE Brazil, collected in the early 70’s 

Lázaro L. M. Laut 1 ; Eduardo A. M. Koutsoukos 2 & Maria Antonieta C. Rodrigues 3 

1 Departamento de Geologia, LAGEMAR, UFF, Universidade Federal Fluminense, 


2 PETROBRAS-CENPES, Cidade Universitária, Ilha do Fundão, 21941-598 


3 Faculdade de Geologia, UERJ, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, 


Guaratiba’s mangrove is located in Sepetiba’s Bay, south of Rio de Janeiro, 

Brazil. The Bay has great economical importance, not only for the location of 

one of the Brazilian major harbors, but also for its industrial and fishing activities. 

The ecosystem is ecologically important for its high productivity, retention of 

fine sediment, preventing channels silting and trapping of heavy metals. 

Therefore it’s important to monitor the mangrove environment. The use of 

benthic foraminiferal assemblages has been enhanced lately as an important 

tool for these enviroments’ characterization and monitoring, due to the sensitivity 

of these organisms to environmental alterations. The aim of this paper is a 

qualitative and quantitative analysis of benthic foraminiferal assemblages of 

Guaratiba’s mangrove tidal channels sampled before the harbors 

construction, to obtain a background reference for future studies of 

environment monitoring. 

Guaratiba’s mangrove sediments were collected by PETROBRAS in 

1977 and 1978. Seventeen sampling points distributed along the main tidal 

channels (Piracão River, Portinho River and Bacalhau Channel) were selected 

for foraminiferal analysis. The physical-chemical parameters salinity, pH, 

temperature and suspending matter were measured in each station during high 

and low tide. The ecological parameters frequency, dominance, constancy and 

clustrer analysis in hierarchy dendogram, were used to characterize 

quantitatively Guaratiba’s mangrove. 

Physical-chemical parameters showed small oscillations between high 

and low tide with values close to marine’s conditions. Bacalhau Channel showed 

pH 8.0-8.5, salinity 30.6-35.5‰ and 4-22mg/l of suspended matter. Forty one 

species of foraminifera were identified with an average of 14 species per station, 

where the dominance was Textularidae followed by Rotalidae Allogromiidae 

427

428 

FORAMS 2006 

Review of mangrove foraminifera from the Guaratiba tidal plain, Rio de Janeiro, 

SE Brazil, collected in the early 70’s 

Lázaro L. M. Laut; Eduardo A. M. Koutsoukos & Maria Antonieta C. Rodrigues 

and Miliolidae. Others were represented with few species and specimens. The 

most constant species were A. mexicana, H. wiberti ad T. inflata present in 

all stations. Dominance was of A.mexicana with a frequency of 37-92%. Both 

the Piracão and Portinho rivers showed the largest values of species richness 

and frequency in upstream and downstream direction. But along the Bacalhau 

Channel there was a uniform distribution. Cluster analysis indicates existence 

of four foraminiferal assemblages along the channels: 

o Assemblage I – related to high salinity and low pH, located in the 

stations upstream of Portinho and Piracão rivers; 

o Assemblage II – related to high salinity located along Piracão River; 

o Assemblage III – related to mangrove’s unstable environment, located 

along Portinho River; 

o Assembly IV - related to the marine environment in the mangrove, 

where salinity is higher and suspended matter was lower located close 

to the waterway that comunicates with the ocean. 

Guaratiba’s mangrove tidal channels are physio-chemically stable 

showing a great diversity of typical paralic environments species. The dominance 

of A. mexicana was greater where the physical-chemical parameter oscilations 

were small. The species richness in Bacalhau Channel might be explained by 

the contact with ocean. The inverse occurs with Piracão River that showed 

the lowest values of salinity and the highest diversity of Allogromidae. The 

cluster was satisfactory, allowing us to establish a model of assemblages 

distribution along the channels. Additionally, this distribution seemed to be 

regulated by salinity and suspending matter. The results of these samples 

collected in the end of 70’s, may be used as a background reference to 

ecosystem monitoring studies specially considering present conditions imposed 

by industry and harbor activities. 


ISSN 0101-9759 - Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 p. 427-428


ISSN 0101-9759 Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 p. 429-430 

FORAMS 2006 

Relationship between foraminifera and bacteria in 

estuarine sediments from Santa Catarina Island, Brazil 

Lázaro L. M. Laut 1 ; F. S. Silva 1 ; C. Bonetti 2 ; A. G. Figueiredo Jr. 1 & M. A. C. Crapez 3 

1 Departamento de Geologia, LAGEMAR – UFF, Univeersidade Federal Fluminense, 


2 Departamento de Biologia, BIOMAR – UFF, Universidade Federal Fluminense, 

Niterói, RJ, Brazil 

3 Departamento de Geociências, LOC – UFSC, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, 

Florianópolis, SC, Brazil 

Bacteria represent the largest portion of biomass of any other benthic 

microorganisms as organic or inorganic substrates, because the biofilms 

increases their volume/surface ratio. Micro organisms develop microhabitats 

depending on biological and physical-chemical parameters that could interact 

positively or negatively with organisms that intensively colonize mangrove 

sediments. Protozoa are an important link between the microbial loop and the 

food web, because they assimilate 80% of energy produced by autotrophic and 

transferring 28% to the next level. Therefore understanding the relationship 

between tropical foraminifera and bacteria is important. To investigate this 

relationship, sediment samples were taken along six stations in Itacorubi River 

located inside of Florianópolis urban perimeter, where the southernmost 

mangrove vegetation occurs in Brazil. The aim of this research is to analyze 

the relationship between foraminifera population/distribution and bacterial 

respiratory activity (BRA) in sediment, and its ecological significance. Inside 

the mangrove area, the stations were distributed from the external region (stations 

01, 02 and 06), to the internal region of the estuary (stations 03, 04 and 05). 

Station 05 was located next to an older landfill. Sediment samples were collected 

to perform foraminifera analysis, BRA (fermentation, nitrification and sulphate 

reduction), grain-size analysis, organic matter (OM) and bacterial carbon (BC). 

Water samples were taken for inorganic ions analysis (N-NH 4 , N-NO 3 , N- 

NO 2 , DIN, PO 4 and SiO 3 ). 

Estuary temperature varied between 17.9 and 18.4 0 C, while bottom 

salinity varied from 31.9 to 34.7%. The pH didn’t vary much, with values 

between 7.75 and 7.86. Dissolved oxygen varied from 3.35 to 4.05 ml.L -1 . The 

turbidity expressed a variation from 16.9 to 27.4 NTU. The prevailing textural 

class was muddy silt in upstream and sandy silt downstream. OM varied from 

429

430 

FORAMS 2006 

Relationship between foraminifera and bacteria in 

estuarine sediments from Santa Catarina Island, Brazil 

Lázaro L. M. Laut; F. S. Silva; C. Bonetti; A. G. Figueiredo Jr. & M. A. C. Crapez 

3.58 to 4.54%. N-NH 4 was detected only at station 05. Station 01 was the set 

which N-NO 3 not detected, in other stations it varied between 0.12–0.28 mg.L -1 , 

with station 05 showing the biggest value (0.40 mg.L -1 ). N-NO 2 was similar to 

N-NO 3 , not present in station 01 but varying from 0.01 to 0,02 mg.L -1 in the 

inner mangrove stations. DIN varied between 0.13 to 0.98 mg.L -1 ; with hight 

value at station 05. PO 4 varied between 0.09 and 0.23 mg.L -1 and SiO 3 varied 

between 0.87 and 1.77 mg.L -1 , with station 05 having the highest value. 

BRA showed similar values in all stations with aerobiosis, fermentation 

and denitrification. Sulphate reduction is present at stations 02, 03, 04 and 05. 

BC varied between 0,009 and 0,031 µg C. cm -3 with the largest value at station 

05. For foraminifera, 28 species were identified, with dominance of A. beccarii 

at stations 01 and 02; A. mexicana at stations 03, 04 and 05. 

Correlation analyses using Spearman technique was performed to 

understand how the environment variables and the organisms can be correlated 

in Itacorubi estuary. The relative frequency of A. mexicana was related 

positively with organic enrichment, hypoxia and the presence of sulphate 

reduction bacteria. The opposite occurred with calcareous species, mainly A. 

beccariii. The correlation matrix was performed followed by MDS analysis 

(Multidimensional Scaling), had differential three station groups in Itacorubi 

estuary, probably indicating confinement gradient and environment stress: 

o Group A - marine biotic and abiotic conditions; 

o Group B - abundance of species with no dominancy in the outer estuary; 

o Group C - exhibited environment features of an inner estuary. 

These results suggest natural estuary conditions, despite station 05 being 

next to a so eutrophicated landfill area, indicating a recovering gradient 

downstream into the Itacorubi estuary. The integrated techniques of foraminifera 

analysis, bacterial respiratory activity with environment parameters can be an 

efficient environmental tool to diagnose changes in transitional environments. 


ISSN 0101-9759 - Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 p. 429-430


ISSN 0101-9759 Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 p. 431-432 

FORAMS 2006 

San Francisco Bay foraminifera: What have natural 

and human changes wrought on them? 

Amy Lesen 1 ; Doris Sloan 2 & Jere H. Lipps 3 

1 Department of Math and Science, Pratt Institute, 200 Willoughby Avenue, 

Brooklyn, NY 11205, U.S.A. - alesen@pratt.edu 

2 Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, U.S.A. 

3 Museum of Paleontology and Department of Integrative Biology, 

University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, U.S.A. 

jlipps@berkeley.edu 

To use modern foraminifera for reliable interpretations of ancient paralic 

environments (Tertiary and older), the fauna must be representative of general 

ecologic conditions and not of natural or human changes imposed on it. The 

site of modern San Francisco Bay (SFB), over the past million years, has chiefly 

been a fresh-water river valley up to 70 m below the modern bay and 42 km 

from the ocean. At least four major but short-lived incursions of sea water to 

levels close to modern sea stands created different bays in time. The last of 

these ancient bays was 125 kyr ago. Since then the major natural changes 

have been the lowering and subsequent rise in sea level by ~120 m by glacioeustasy, 

the fluctuating cooler and warmer temperature regimes, and significant 

changes in precipitation and outflow. In the last 13 kyr, ancient and modern 

humans have lived along the edges of the modern SFB as it formed from 

beyond and through the Golden Gate to the present shoreline configuation. 

These people induced biotic changes by harvesting of organisms for food, 

increasing the sediment and pollutant loads, introducing exotic species, and 

destroying habitats especially the marginal marshes. The modern SFB is 

relatively young, perhaps only 4000 years old. Humans have been actively 

impacting the Bay’s biota for about 11,000 years, and Europeans began changing 

the bay with new impacts only in the last 200 or fewer years. What has this complex 

of impacts, both natural and human, had on the fauna of the modern SFB? 

To answer this question, we compare the modern foraminiferal 

assemblages from SFB with fossils from an older bay represented by the ~125 

kyr Yerba Buena mud to provide guidelines for using them for interpreting the 

deeper past. The Yerba Buena mud is up to ~35m thick and extends over much 

of the southern bay; hence it may represent several environments, not all of 

which are directly comparable to the modern one in the south bay. All the 

common foraminiferal species (Ammonia beccarii (Linne), Buliminella 

431

432 

FORAMS 2006 

San Francisco Bay foraminifera: What have natural and human changes wrought on them? 

Amy Lesen; Doris Sloan & Jere H. Lipps 

elegantissima (d’Orbigny), Bolivina striatula Cushman, B. vaughani Natland, 

Elphidium excavatum (Terquem), E. gunteri Cole, Elphidiella hannai 

(Cushman and Grant), T. inflata (Montagu), and T. hadai Uchio) found in 

this study are estuarine and/or shallow-water species that now occur 

commonly in SFB. 

The biodiversity and species composition of the two assemblages are 

nearly identical, suggesting that overall physical changes have not had significant 

affects. The dynamic nature of estuaries on a spatial and temporal scale may 

limit species that can inhabit them and not be conducive to changes in species 

diversity over either geologic or shorter time scales. Human pollution and 

sediment loading likewise have had little or no observable effects. However, 

population changes within species are significant between the ~125 kyr and 

modern bays. In particular, T. hadai, introduced from Japan about 1983 and 

absent from the older bay, now dominates the modern assemblage (56% of all 

foraminifera in South SFB). This introduction changed the species proportions 

in the modern assemblages. A large number of dead E. gunteri and E. hannai 

occur in the modern SFB, but live populations are largely absent, making 

interpretations of their presence in similar abundances in the Pleistocene and 

modern assemblages difficult. The introduction of T. hadai decreased the former 

Pleistocene dominance of E. excavatum. 

These data show that comparisons between modern and fossil 

foraminiferal assemblages are powerful tools in interpreting paleoenvironments 

as most of the ecologic characters are maintained through significant changes. 

Because introductions of non-native foraminifera may change species 

proportions significantly, they must be identified before comparisons are made, and 

they and species proportions must be excluded from paleoecologic interpretations. 


ISSN 0101-9759 - Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 p. 431-432


ISSN 0101-9759 Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 p. 432 

FORAMS 2006 

Foraminiferal assemblage from estuarine deposits 

of the Iguape Bay, Bahia Brazil 

Altair De Jesus Machado 1 ; Edilma De Jesus Andrade 1 & José Bites De Carvalho 2 

1 UFBA, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Curso de Pós-Graduação em Geologia, 

Salvador, BA, Brazil - altair@cpgg.ufba.br - edilma@phoenix.org.br 

2 UNEB, Universidade do Estado da Bahia, Senhor do Bonfim, BA, Brazil 

The Iguape Bay is an indentation of Todos os Santos Bay, state of Bahia, 

delimited by fault scarps that suggest significant tectonic control of the 

geomorphology. The Paraguaçu River drains to the central part of the bay, 

which is separated in north and south part. Shallow vibra-cores used for 

identification of facies analyses allowed the study of the benthonic foraminifera 

fauna of six cores (02, 06, 07, 09, 10 and 11) from central and south part of the 

Iguape Bay. The samples were taken at 20 cm intervals. A total of 9,104 

specimens were identified from 160 samples. The sediment samples with 

foraminifera are constituted predominantly by mud (> 70%) and contain quartz 

grains, plants remains, sponge spicules, echinoids spicules, and shells of mollusks 

and ostracod carapaces. The studied samples come from two sedimentary 

facies: lower intertidal (samples of cores 06 and 11) and subtidal (samples of 

cores 02, 06, 07, 09 and 11) mud. The foraminifera fauna of the Iguape Bay is 

characterized by 32 species: Amoastuta inepta, A. inflata, Ammobaculites 

americanus, Ammonia beccarii, Ammotium salsum, Bolivina sp., Cancris 

sagra, Cibicides pseudoungerianus, Elphidium discoidale, E. poeyanum, 

E. galvestonense, E. sagrum, Gypsina vesicularis, Hanzawaia bertheloti, 

Lagena perlucida, L. striatula, Nonion grateloupi, Nonionela atlantica, 

Poroeponides lateralis, Pyrgo nasuta, P. subsphaerica, Quinqueloculina 

sp., Rolshausenia rolshauseni, Siphogenerina raphanus, Siphonina 

reticulata, Textularia agglutinans, T. candeiana, Triloculina trigonula, 

Trochammina advena, T. nana, T. inflata and Uvigerina peregrina. 

Elphidium poeyanum and Ammonia beccarii are the more frequent species. 

E. poeyanum is most abundant species in the cores 6 and 7. However, 

Trochamina advena is more abundant than E. poeyanum in the core 11. 

Foraminifera tests filled with pyrite and pyritized molds were found in samples 

from four cores (02, 07, 09 and 11). Two types of pyrite were found: the gold 

and the black iridescent, in thirteen species, being that specimens of E. 

poeyanum were most abundant. 

433

Characterization of Guaraguaçú River (Paraná, Brazil) 

based on the distribution of foraminiferal and thecamoebian 

assemblages and sedimentological analysis 

434 


ISSN 0101-9759 Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 p. 434-435 

FORAMS 2006 

Daniel Vicente Pupo 1 & Sibelle Trevisan Disaró 

1 Curso de Graduação em Oceanografia/UFPR, Universidade Federal do Paraná, 

Curitiba, PR, Brazil - danielvpupo@ufpr.br 

2 Centro de Estudos do Mar/UFPR, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil 

The aim of this study is to characterize Guaraguaçú River (Paraná, Brazil) 

based on sediment analysis and on the distribution of foraminifers and 

thecamoebians. In November 2005 thirty-three surface sediment samples were 

collected from the river bottom with a van Veen grab to perform sediment 

analysis. Fauna analysis was performed in twenty-three of those samples. 

Preliminary results are presented here. The river belongs to the estuarine system 

of Paranaguá Bay (Paraná, Brazil); it is a meandering river with saline intrusions 

influencing up to 14 km upstream. Close to river mouth salinity varies from 27 

to 13; at the middle river varies from 15 to 3 and at the upper river the values 

range from 3 to 0 (zero). Sand fractions dominate the sediments all over the 

studied area. Close to river mouth very fine to medium sand prevail with a 

small percentage of silt and clay. At the middle river fine and very fine sand 

prevail; silt and clay were find only near the river edges. At the upper river 

sand grains represent almost 100% of the sediment; fine sand prevails. Along 

the river total carbonate lies around 1% and 5%, but near the edges of lower 

and middle river it is higher than 5% (up to 13%). Total organic carbon shows 

similar trends, remaining bellow 2.5% in most parts; in the lower part it can 

reach up to 6.6%. Near the edges of middle part it lies between 2.5% and 

5.5%. Samples with 50 cm 3 for foraminiferal and thecamoebian analysis were 

preserved in 4% buffered formaldehyde solution and stained with Bengal Rose. 

Close to river mouth the following foraminifers occur Bolivina striatula, 

Cibicides sp., Rosalina globularis, Quinqueloculina laevigata, 

Cribroelphidium poeyanum, Ammonia tepida, Caronia exilis, 

Ammobaculites exiguus, Acupeina triperforata, Miliamminina fusca, 

Paratrochammina stoeni, Portatrochammina sp., Arenoparrella mexicana, 

Haplophragmoides wilberti, Trochammina inflata, Siphotrochammina 

lobata and Paratrochammina (L.) guaratibaensis) and the thecamoebians 

Difflugia oblonga and Difflugia corona. At the middle river occur

FORAMS 2006 

Characterization of Guaraguaçú River (Paraná, Brazil) based on the distribution of foraminiferal 

and thecamoebian assemblages and sedimentological analysis 

Daniel Vicente Pupo & Sibelle Trevisan Disaró 

Miliammina earlandi, M. fusca, H. wilberti, Siphotrochammina elegans, 

S. lobata, P. stoeni, T. inflata, P. (L.) guaratibaensis, C. exilis, A. mexicana, 

Ammoastuta inepta, Ammotium directum, Ammonia parkinsoniana, A. 

tepida, Cribroelphidium excavatum and C. poeyanum. The thecamoebians 

Pontigulasia compressa, D. oblonga and Cyclopyxis sp. are also present. 

At the upper river M. fusca is the only species in some samples, but also 

occurs together with H. wilberti and T. inflata and the thecamoebian D. 

oblonga in others. Species composition differs between samples from low, 

middle and upper parts of the river. Thecamoebians occur all over the area 

reflecting freshwater influence from river discharge and adjacent drainage 

system. Calcareous marine species occur together with agglutinated foraminifers 

at the lower part, but are absent in the middle where only euryhaline calcareous 

species are present with agglutinated foraminifers. At the upper river only 

agglutinated foraminifers are present. Species richness does not change too 

much between middle and lower river, but it decreases abruptly at the upper 

river. The results show expected trends for such environment. 


ISSN 0101-9759 - Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 p. 434-435 

435

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FORAMS 2006 

Foraminifera from surface sediments of a 

Brazilian mangrove affected by oil spill 20 years ago 

Joana Santa-Cruz & Dimas Dias Brito 

Laboratório de Análises Microbióticas, Micropaleontológicas e de Ambientes 


Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Avenida 24A, 1515, C.P. 178, 13506-900, Rio 

Claro, SP, Brazil - j.santacruz@uol.com.br; dimasdb@rc.unesp.br 

An abundant foraminifera fauna, composed by 22 species of the 

suborders Trochaminnina, Textulariina and Allogromiina, was found in muddy 

sediments (first two centimeters) of three sectors of the Iriri - Tia Maria 

mangrove, Bertioga Channel, São Paulo State, SE Brazil. The total fauna, 

exhibiting low values of diversity, equitability and species richness, and high 

values of species dominance, is a result of a permanent and strong physical 

and chemical instability in the mangrove floor, in which the interstitial waters 

are mesohaline to polyhaline, acid and poorly oxygenated. Among the three 

recognized biofacies [Miliammina fusca – BF 1 (inner mangrove); 

Trochammina inflata/Arenoparrella mexicana/Miliammina fusca – BF 2 

(sub-external mangrove fringe); and Arenoparrella mexicana/ 

“Haplophragmoides” wilberti – BF 3 (external mangrove fringe)], the BF 1 

is inserted in an area where there is an oil horizon ~12 cm below the surface. 

The heavy oil was spilled from a Petrobras oil pipeline in 1983 and is now in 

different degrees of biodegradation. The structure and composition of the BF 1 

microfauna, as well the morphological normality of the foraminifera tests (mainly 

on respect to M. fusca, which was found significantly deformed in sediments 

contaminated by oil in Canadian salt marshes), indicate that the surface muddy 

sediments are beyond the “contamination window”, probably since 10 years 

ago. Nevertheless, the substitution of a Rhizophoretum – destroyed in function 

of the oil spill – by an “atypical” Laguncularia racemosa forest, which is 

now re-colonizing the muddy floor, is an evidence that the plant roots are in 

contact with the oil. From now it is necessary to establish a program to core 

the contaminated area in several points, and try to characterize the pre and 

post oil spill foraminifera succession to know how these organisms reacted to 

the noxious event.


ISSN 0101-9759 Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 p. 437 

FORAMS 2006 

Paralic foraminifera through time - How they have been used 

David B. Scott & F. S. Medioli 

Centre for Environmental and Marine Geology, Dalhousie University, 

Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H3J5, Canada 

David.Scott@dal.ca 

The geologic record of paralic foraminifera, especially marsh “type” 

foraminifera, extends into the Cambrian as the earliest multichambered 

foraminifera. From these early beginnings it is difficult to say if they occupied 

the same intertidal niche however later occurrences in the Carboniferous and 

Mesozoic helped to prove, with sedimentologic evidence, that many previously 

described freshwater environments were actually paralic, marine based systems. 

It is probable that there vertical ranges were similar in the late Paleozoic through 

to the present were similar, making them the best available sea-level indicator 

in the geologic record. Because they are so useful to relocate former sea 

levels they are also useful to delimit other natural phenomena that require sealevel 

determinations for verification-such as earthquake displacements, 

hurricane traces, inlet morphological changes and many others. 

And because so many pollution accidents occur in paralic environments 

the response of certain marsh foraminifera means that we can track remediation 

both in real time and from previous events. In one case the foraminifera showed 

a massive increase in deformities within three days of a spill and this was 

duplicated in a lab experiment. 

It is also possible to use marsh/estuarine species to reconstruct pollution 

histories and former non-polluted environments in the absence of baseline data. 

Foraminifera are the only reliably present microfossils in these environments 

since ostracods are seldom there in abundance and their shells often dissolve. 

In the older records, some of which will be in other presentations, we see 

that marsh zones delineated using foraminifera, are often petroleum source rocks. 

437

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FORAMS 2006 

Foraminifera and thecamoebians from São Francisco 

River Delta, NE Brazil: Environmental applications 

Décio Luis Semensatto-Jr & Dimas Dias Brito 

Laboratório de Análises Microbióticas, Micropaleontológicas e de Ambientes 


Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Avenida 24A, 1515, C.P. 178, 13506-900, 

Rio Claro, SP, Brazil - semensattojr@terra.com.br 

The São Francisco river delta estuarine system, in Sergipe State, 

northeastern Brazil, has undergone severe changes in recent years. Thed system 

includes - mangroves, fluvial and tidal channels, a narrow lagoon and a barrier 

island segmented by an inlet. Foraminifera and thecamoebians of this ecosystem 

were studied from 104 samples collected in March 1996 (48 samples) and in 

March 2004 (56 samples), the majority of them precisely repeated in the same 

point in both years. The composition and the structure of communities of the 

two periods were compared among themselves and to the respective abiotic 

data (salinity, pH, mud, heavy metals, nutrients and organic matter). An 

ecofaciological mosaic was recognized, in which ecofacies have changed and 

have shifted their boundaries as a response to hydrodynamic and hydrohalinic 

changes that have occurred in the system, mainly caused by the expressive 

inlet shift: 

a) Centropyxis-Miliammina fusca (CM) ecofacies (1996) and 

Centropyxis-Difflugia-Miliammina fusca (CDM) ecofacies (2004), 

typically under influence of oligohaline waters strongly affected by 

fluvial discharges, with high diversity and equitability (H’ = 1.77 ± 0.49 

and J’ = 0.66 ± 0.16 for CM; H’ = 2.03 ± 0.32 and J’ = 0.74 ± 0.07 

for CDM); 

b) Miliammina fusca-Arenoparrella mexicana (MA) ecofacies (1996 

and 2004), occupying oligohaline realms under minor fluvial influence, 

with the lowest diversity and equitability found in the system 

(H’ = 1.03 ± 0.58 and J’ = 0.40 ± 0.17 for 1996; H’ = 1.21 ± 0.20 and 

J’ = 0.54 ± 0.07 for 2004); 

c) Ammotium-Arenoparrella mexicana-Trochammina-Miliammina 

fusca-Ammonia (AATMA) ecofacies (1996) and Ammotium- 

Ammobaculites (AA) ecofacies (2004), typical from meso-polihaline 

environments, with the highest diversity and equitability found in the

FORAMS 2006 

Foraminifera and thecamoebians from São Francisco River Delta, NE Brazil: 

Environmental applications 

Décio Luis Semensatto-Jr & Dimas Dias Brito 

system (H’ = 2.00 ± 0.23 and J’ = 0.71 ± 0.06 for AATMA; 

H’ = 2.22 ± 0.28 and J’ = 0.81 ± 0.05 for AA); and 

d) Quinqueloculina-Ammonia-Elphidium (QAE) ecofacies (1996) and 

Quinqueloculina-Elphidium-Ammonia (QEA) ecofacies (2004), 

associated to the poli-euhaline lagoonal channel, absent of 

thecamoebians, with diversity and equitability respectively higher than 

the CM and CDM, but lower than AATMA and AA (H’ = 1.85 ± 0.50 

and J’ = 0.64 ± 0.14 for 1996; H’ = 2.26 ± 0.42 and J’ = 0.79 ± 0.08 

for 2004). 

The recognized microfaunistic distribution pattern allowed delineating 

the hydrodynamic model operating in the system, which is a strategic tool to 

plan actions in the case of eventual oil spills in the region. These ecofacies 

indicate that the system became fresher in 2004. Additionally, they represent 

structural and distribution microfaunistic models in a non-polluted estuary, as 

revealed by geochemical data, especially considering biologically available tracemetal 

concentrations (e.g. from 0.4 to 23.2 ppm for Cu and from 1.5 to 49.7 ppm 

for Zn); thus, they can be used as a reference to indicate to what level a similar 

ecosystem have already been impacted by anthropogenic pressure. They can 

also be applied to the diagnosis and monitoring of impacts caused by oil spills 

that eventually may reach this Brazilian coastal area in the future. This study is 

also useful to paleoecological analysis dealing with ancient depositional systems 

and to investigate relative sea level changes. 


ISSN 0101-9759 - Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 p. 438-439 

439

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FORAMS 2006 

Agglutinated foraminifera from inner neritic sand 

and mud facies of the Papuan Lagoon, New Guinea 

Luke C. Strotz 1 & David W. Haig 2 

1 Centre for Ecostratigraphy & Palaeobiology, Dept. of Earth & Planetary Sciences, 

Macquarie University, Sidney, Australia - lukestrotz@gmail.com 

2 School of Earth and Geographical Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia 

Fifty eight species of agglutinated foraminifera are recorded from 125 

samples collected from the Papuan Lagoon, on southeast coast of New Guinea. 

The samples come from five different physiographic settings: 

o back-reef flat of Motupore Island (medium-coarse sand;


ISSN 0101-9759 Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 p. 441-442 

FORAMS 2006 

Foraminiferal evidence for land movements associated 

with interplate earthquakes in eastern Hokkaido, Japan 

Katie H. Thomson 1 ; Benjamin P. Horton 2 ; Antony J. Long 1 & Yuki Sawai 3 

1 Department of Geography, University of Durham, Science Laboratories, 

Durham, DH1 3LE, U.K. k.h.thomson@durham.ac.uk 

2 Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania, 

240 South 33 rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6316, U.S.A. 

3 Fault Research Center, Geological Survey of Japan, AIST, Tsukuba 305-8567, Japan 

Characterising patterns of earth motion (uplift and subsidence) associated 

with great earthquakes is an important first step for assessing seismic hazard. 

Research in the Pacific Northwest has recently used paleoecological and 

lithostratigraphical evidence derived from estuarine sediments to reconstruct 

rapid sea-level changes and associated land motions linked to major plateboundary 

earthquakes. Our research uses foraminifera to reconstruct past 

earthquakes from Hokkaido, Japan. Intertidal sediments from this area provide 

evidence for repeated emergence events over the mid to late Holocene, which 

have recently been attributed to land movements associated with interplate 

earthquakes at the Kuril subduction zone. The overarching aim of our research 

is to use foraminiferal and chronostratigraphical techniques to quantify land 

movements along the coast of eastern Hokkaido to improve our understanding 

of past earthquakes in Hokkaido. The novelty of our research centres on the 

application of quantitative estimates of land-level changes derived from 

statistical modeling to directly test and constrain a recently developed elastic 

dislocation model for eastern Hokkaido. Therefore, quantitative land movements 

predicted by foraminiferal transfer functions offer the potential to develop an 

understanding of the processes culminating in an earthquake, which may help 

modellers better assess rupture length and origin. 

A critical first step of using such quantitative predictions (e.g. transfer 

functions), is to assess the extent to which a high-resolution fossil core may 

reveal decadal changes in sea-level as shown in a tidal gauge record. Two long 

tidal gauge records spanning 100 years are available on the eastern Hokkaido 

coastline, at Hanasaki and Kushiro which record interseismic 

subsidence. Biostratigraphical analysis was undertaken on three transects at 

Mochiruppu to investigate intrasite differences in microfossil assemblage 

composition and transfer function development. The transfer functions were 

then applied to a short fossil core at Mochiruppu, and the tide-gauge record 

441

442 

FORAMS 2006 

Foraminiferal evidence for land movements associated 

with interplate earthquakes in eastern Hokkaido, Japan 

Katie H. Thomson; Benjamin P. Horton; Antony J. Long & Yuki Sawai 

used to validate the reconstructions. This research builds on previous studies 

of modern marsh agglutinated foraminifera in Hokkaido by incorporating 

information on temporal and spatial variability. We rigorously evaluate the 

foraminiferal zonation to improve transfer function predictions and the use of 

foraminifera in paleoseismic research. 

Understanding the frequency and size of earthquakes is important for 

seismic hazard awareness. At present, our knowledge is only partial given the 

short-term observational data which is available. Recognising land movements 

within the pattern of relative sea-level change recorded in estuarine sediments 

provide an important method of extending the record into the mid to late Holocene. 


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FORAMS 2006 

The effects of heavy metal contamination on the 

foraminifera of a San Francisco Bay salt marsh 

Michele Weber & Lorraine R. Casazza 

Museum of Paleontology and Department of Integrative Biology, 

University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, U.S.A. 

mxweber@berkeley.edu 

San Francisco Bay is the largest estuary system on the west coast of 

the Americas and it is ringed with salt marshes. As the human population has 

expanded and infringed on coastal areas, the marshes in the east bay were 

developed into housing projects, freeways and industrial buildings. At various 

times over the course of the last fifty years, the Richmond marsh was used as 

a waste area for a munitions factory and a sulfuric acid plant. The University 

of California, Berkeley, now owns the land. In early 2002 the marsh was tested 

for contamination resulting from previous industrial activity. The site was found 

to be very polluted. Lead, copper, arsenic, mercury, and selenium were elevated 

above the levels deemed acceptable by the standards of the Environmental 

Resources Management of the State of California. A remediation project was 

scheduled immediately that removed the top 4-6 feet of vegetation and mud 

and replaced it with clean sediment. 

In the fall of 2002, prior to the start of the remediation project, we sampled 

the surface sediments on the marsh. We found the most polluted portion of the 

marsh to be acidic (pH = 1 or so), discolored by the precipitation of Fe and 

devoid of foraminifera. The less polluted areas supported assemblages including 

Miliammina fusca, Trochammina inflata, Trochammina macrescens, 

Haplophragmoides wilberti and Haplophragmoides manilaensis. The 

distribution of foraminifera was patchy across the marsh and adjacent sample 

sites varied immensely. The percentage of deformed tests was around 5% for 

most species. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed significant correlation 

between deformed foraminifera tests and heavy metal concentration. These 

data support the use of foraminifera as a potential indicator for metal pollution 

in estuarine environments. However in our samples, deformed tests were a 

small percentage of the total assemblage despite extremely elevated pollution 

levels; therefore, we advocate that these data be interpreted conservatively. 

The remediation project commenced in 2003 and involved the destruction 

and removal of the contaminated surface sediments and associated vegetation. 

New mud was collected from a relatively clean site, spread over the remains 

443

FORAMS 2006 

The effects of heavy metal contamination on the foraminifera of a San Francisco Bay salt marsh 

Michele Weber & Lorraine R. Casazza 

of the marsh, and graded to approximate the elevation of the original site. We 

have been collecting surface sediment samples every one to two months since 

the start of the remediation project. Recolonization by local marsh foraminifera 

(predominantly M. fusca) was first observed in Fall 2005, three years after the 

remediation project began. The other foraminifera species present have been 

found near the tidal channels. As they are benthic, subtidal species, we presume 

they were lifted from the bay sediments and washed in by the tides. According 

to our observations, recolonization of the reconstituted marsh takes more than 

three years, but this is likely dependent on the development of the marsh flora 

that is normally utilized by the foraminifera. The plants have developed in 

patches separated by expanses of mud, which are subject to scour, currents, 

solar radiation and less cover than a natural, older marsh. As the plant and 

associated foraminiferal populations establish stable populations in the remediated 

marsh, a decrease in the percentage of deformed individuals could strengthen 

the case for using foraminifera as bioindicators for heavy metal contamination. 

444 


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ISSN 0101-9759 Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 p. 445-446 

FORAMS 2006 

Calcareous foraminifera from tropical north Queensland, 

Australia: Their usefulness as proxy sea-level indicators in 

the absence of fossil agglutinated foraminifera 

Sarah Woodroffe 1 & Ben Horton 2 

1 Environmental Research Centre, Department of Geography, University of Durham Science 

Laboratories, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE. U.K. 

s.a.woodroffe@durham.ac.uk 

2 Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania, 

Philadelphia, PA, 19104-6316, U.S.A. 

Using foraminifera as sea-level indicators rests on the assumption that 

their distribution is related to sea level in a quantifiable manner and by 

establishing this vertical relationship with a specified tide level, former positions 

of relative sea-level may be determined. In temperate areas agglutinated upper 

intertidal foraminifera are well preserved in fossil sediments. Therefore relatively 

precise quantitative sea-level reconstructions are possible using modern training 

sets which cover short elevation gradients excluding calcareous assemblages 

from low intertidal and subtidal environments (e.g. Gehrels, 2000. The 

Holocene, 10(3): 367-376; Gehrels et al., 2005. Quaternary Science Reviews, 

24: 2083-2100; Horton & Edwards, 2005. The Holocene, 15(2): 216-228). 

However sediment cores taken from Cleveland Bay in north Queensland, 

Australia to quantitatively reconstruct mid/late Holocene sea-level changes 

contain calcareous foraminifera in minerogenic horizons but no foraminifera in 

organic horizons (Woodroffe et al., 2005. Journal of Foraminiferal Research, 

35(3): 259-270). The reason for this is unknown, but may to be due to a series 

of interrelated factors including burrowing by fiddler crabs and molluscs, 

increased air and water temperature, biological turnover and predation in tropical 

intertidal environments. 

Calcareous foraminiferal assemblages are assumed to be poor proxy 

indicators for Holocene sea-level reconstructions, largely because tidal current 

and wave transport of tests occurring in unvegetated intertidal and shallow 

subtidal environments gives each assemblage broader elevational zonation than 

in vegetated upper intertidal environments (Hayward et al., 2004. Holocene, 

14(2): 218-232), and foraminifera respond to other environmental variables 

445

FORAMS 2006 

Calcareous foraminifera from tropical north Queensland, Australia: Their usefulness as proxy 

sea-level indicators in the absence of fossil agglutinated foraminifera 

Sarah Woodroffe & Ben Horton 

such as availability of light, nutrient status and temperature (Sen Gupta, 1999. 

In: Modern Foraminifera. Kluwer, Dordtrecht: 140-159). 

I collected modern foraminiferal samples and environmental information 

from equally spaced elevation intervals between Mean Tide Level (MTL) and 

5.3 m below Lowest Astronomical Tide level (LAT) in Cleveland Bay, north 

Queensland, Australia to investigate the usefulness of calcareous assemblages 

from low intertidal/shallow subtidal environments as fossil sea-level indicators. 

Although the dominant calcareous species (including Ammonia aoteana, 

Pararotalia venusta and Parrellina hispidula) are present to some degree 

in all samples, foraminiferal assemblages from MTL to 5.3 m below LAT show 

good vertical zonation, with elevation explaining 17 % of variance in foraminiferal 

assemblages. This compares poorly to the influence of elevation on agglutinated 

foraminifera on U.K. salt marshes, but elevation is still an important 

environmental variable governing foraminiferal distributions. 

A transfer function developed solely using calcareous foraminifera from 

MTL to 5.3 m below LAT has good predictive ability, with an r 2 of 0.96 and 

RMSEP of 0.43 m. The error term is large compared to studies using agglutinated 

foraminifera and a short environmental gradient (e.g. Gehrels et al., 2005), but 

the error term compares favourably to the errors associated with other indicators 

such as coral, mangrove sediments and fossil oyster beds, also used as paleo 

sea-level indicators along this coastline. 

446 


ISSN 0101-9759 - Vol. 29 - 1 / 2006 p. 445-446

Paralic Environments Past and Present - AnuÃ¡rio do Instituto de ...

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