DIVERSITY AND ABUNDANCE TRENDS OF BENTHIC FORAMINIFERA FROM THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE IRAKLION BASIN, CENTRAL CRETE

PDF
Published: Jul 23, 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/bgsg.16809
H. Drinia
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Dept. of Geology, Section of Hist. Geology- Paleontology
A. Antonarakou
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Dept. of Geology, Section of Hist. Geology- Paleontology
N. Tsaparas
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Dept. of Geology, Section of Hist. Geology- Paleontology
Abstract

Benthic foraminiferai fossil assemblages of the Roufas Section, southern Iraklion Basin, central Crete, were analyzed for the first time. Taxonomic and quantitative analyses were made in order to obtain paleoenvironmental (physical as well biological) information. A data set has been subjected to R- and Q-mode cluster analyses in order to demonstrate the linkage between taxa distribution and paleoenvironmental gradients. Our results suggest that oxygenation and trophic conditions of the near-surface sediments are the most important factors that control the community structure of the benthic foraminiferai fauna. The application of the oxygen transfer function - based on the use of benthic foraminiferai taxa from oxyphilic habitats - to the benthic faunas of the Roufas Section, allows the reconstruction of the oxygen contents of the bottom waters. Apart from the middle part of the section, no severe disturbances are recorded, pointing to the fact that we are dealing with an overall rather well ventilated water column during most of the part of the sequence.

Article Details
  • Section
  • Paleontology
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g. post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (preferably in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.

Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Barmawidjaja, D.M., Jorissen, F.J., Puskaric, S. and Van derZwaan, G.J., 1992. Microhabitat selection of benthic foaraminifera in the northern Adriatic Sea. J. Foram. Res., 22, 297-317.
Berger, W.H. and Diester-Haass, L, 1988. Paleoproductivity: the benthic/planktonic ratio in foraminifera as productivity index. Marine Geology, 81,15-25.
Boltovskoy, E.,1976. Distribution of Recent foraminifera of the South American region. In: Hedley, R. H. & Adams, C. G. (eds.), Foraminifera, 2:171-236, Academic Press, London.
Boltovskoy, E. and Lena, H., 1971. The Foraminifera (except family Allogromiidae) which dwell in fresh water. J. Foram. Res., 1(2), 71-76.
Brasier, M.D., 1981. Microfossil transport in the tidal Humber basin. In: Neale and Brasier (Editors), Microfossils from recent and fossil shelf seas. Ellis Horwood Limited, Chichester, England, pp. 314-322.
Bremer, M.L., Briskin, M. and Berggren, W.A., 1980. Quantitative paleobathymetry and paleoecology of the Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene foraminifera of Le Castella (Calabria, Italy). Journal of Foraminiferal Research, 10, 1-30.
Buzas, M.A. and Gibson, T.G., 1969. Species diversity: Benthonic foraminifera in western North Atlantic. Science, 163, 72-75.
Cita, Μ.Β., 1975. Planktonic foraminiferal biozonation of Mediterranean Pliocene deep sea record. A revision. Rivista Italiana de Paleontologia e Stratigrafia, 81, 527-544.
Corliss, Β.Η., 1985. Microhabitats of benthic foraminifera within deep-sea sediments. Nature, 314, 435-438.
Corliss, B.H. and Chen, C, 1988. Morphotype patterns of Norvegian Sea deep-sea benthic foraminifera and ecological implications. Geology, 16, 716-719.
De Rijk, S., Troelstra, SR. and Rohling, E.J., 1999. Benthic foraminiferal distribution in the Mediterranean Sea. Journal of Foraminifera Research, 29, 93-103.
Debenay, J.-P., Guillou, J.-J., Tsakiridis, E. and de Casamajor, M.-N., 2001a. Bioindicateurs d'impact dans les ports et les estuaires : les foraminiferes. Revue française de Genie Civil, 5, 1105-1122.
Debenay, J.-P., Tsakiridis, E., Soulard, R. and Grosse!, H., 2001b. Factors determining the distribution of foraminiferal assemblages in Port Joinville Harbor (Ile d'Yeu, France): the influence of pollution. Mar. Micropaleontol., 43,75-118.
Fisher, R.A., Corbet, A.S. and Williams C.B., 1943. The relationship between the number of species and the number of individuals in a random sample of an animal population. Journal of Animal Ecology, 12, 42-58.
Gooday, A.J.,1986. Meiofaunal foraminiferans from the bathyal Porcupine Seabight (northeast Atlantic): size structure, standing stock, taxonomic composition, species diversity and vertical distribution in the sediment. Deep Sea Res., 33, 1345-1373.
Grimsdale, T.F. and Van Morkhoven, F.P.C.M., 1955. The ratio between pelagic and benthonic foraminifera as a means of estimating depth of deposition of sedimentary rocks. Proceedings of World Petroleum Congress, 4th, Rome. Sect. 1/D4, 473-491.
Gupta, A.K., 1997. Paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic history of the Somali Basin during the Pliocene- Pleistocene: Multivariate analyses of benthic foraminifera from DSDP Site 241 (Leg 25). J. Foram. Res., 27, 196-208.
Hammer, O., Harper, DAT. and Ryan, P.D., 2001. PAST-PAIaeontological Statistics software package for education and data analysis. Palaeontologia Electronica.
Herguera, J.C., 1992. Deep-sea benthic foraminifera and biogenic opal: Glacial to postglacial productivity changes in the western equatorial Pacific. Marine Micropalontology, 19, 79-88.
Jonkers, H.A., 1984. Pliocene benthonic foraminifera from homogeneous and laminated marls on Crete, Utrecht Micropaleontological Bulletin, 31,179pp.
Jorissen, F.J., De Stigter, H.C. and Widmark, J.G.V., 1995. A conceptual model explaining benthic foraminiferal microhabitats. Mar. Micropaleontol., 26, 3-15.
Katz, M.E. and Thunnell, R.C., 1984. Benthic foraminiferal biofacies associated with Middle Miocene to Early Pliocene oxygen-deficient conditions in the eastern Mediterranean. Journal of Foraminiferal Research, 14,187-202.
Kawagata, S., 2001. Tasman Front shifts and associated palaeocenographic changes during the last 250,000 years: foraminiferal evidence from the Lord Howe Rise. Marine Micropalaeontology, 41,167-191.
Keller, G., 1988a. Biotic turnover in benthic foraminifera across the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary at El Kef, Tunisia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 66,153-171.
Kouwenhover, T.J., 2000. Survival under stress: benthic foraminiferal patterns and Cenozoic biotic crises. Geologica Ultraiectina 186 , 206 pp.,
Meulenkamp, J.E., Van Der Zwaan, G.J. and Van Wamel, W.A., 1994. On late Miocene to Recent vertical motions in the Cretan segment of the Hellenic arc. Tectonophysics, 234, 53-72.
Mullins, H.T., Thompson, J.B., McDougall, K. and Vercoutere, T.L., 1985. Oxygen minimum zone edge effects: evidence from the central California coastal upwelling system. Geology, 13, 491-494.
Murray, J.W. 1971. An Atlas of British Recent Foraminiferids. Heinemann Educational Books, London.
Murray, J. W., 1973. Distribution and Ecology of Living Benthic Foraminiferids. Cran, Russak and Co., New York, 274 pp.
Murray, J.W., 1976. Comparative studies of living and dead benthic foraminiferal distributions. In: Foraminifera, vol. 2, edited by R.H. Hedley and CG. Adams, 45-109, Academic Press, London, New York, San Francisco.
Murray, J.W., 1991. Ecology and paleoecology of Benthonic Foraminifera. Longman Scientific and Technical, London,274pp.
Phleger, F.B., 1951. Ecology of foraminifera, northwest Gulf of Mexico, part 1: foraminifera distribution. Geological Society of America, Memoir, 46, 1-88.
Phleger F.B. and. Soutar, Α., 1973. Production of benthic foraminifera in three east Pacific minima. Micropaleontol., 19, 110-115.
Poag, C.W., 1984. Distribution and ecology of deep-water benthic foraminifera in the Gulf of Mexico. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 48, 25-37.
Spaak, P., 1983. Accurency in correlation and ecological aspects of the planktonic foraminifera zonation of the Mediterranean Pliocene. Utrecht Micropaleontological Bulletin, 28, 160pp.
Speijer, R.P. and van der Zwaan, G.J., 1996. Extinction and survivorship of southern Tethyan benthic foraminifera across the Cretaceous/Palaeogene boundary. In: M.B. Hart (Ed.), Biotic Recovery from Mass Extinction Events. Geological Society Special Publication 102, 343-371
Van Der Zwaan, G.J., 1982. Paleoecology of late Miocene Mediterranean foraminifera. Utrecht Micropaleontogical Bulletin, 25, 1-205.
Van der Zwaan, G.J. and Gufjonsson, L., 1986. Middle Miocene-Pliocene stable isotope stratigraphy and paleoceanography of the Mediterranean. Mar. Micropaleontol., 10, 71-90.
Van Der Zwaan, G.J., F.J. Jorissen and De Stigter, H.C., 1990. The depth dependency of planktonic/benthic foraminiferal ratios: Constraints and applications. Marine Geology, 95, 1-16.
Van Der Zwaan, G.J., Almogi-Labin, Α., Jannink, N.T., Duijnstee, I.A.P. and Jorissen, F.J. (subm.). Apparent oxyphilic benthic foraminifera: a new proxy in paleoceanography for quantitative reconstruction of oxygen content.
Van Morkhoven, F.P.C.M., Berggren, W.A. and Edwards, A.S., 1986. Cenozoic cosmopolitan deep-water benthic foraminifera. Bull. Cent. Rech. Explor.-Prod. Elf-Aquitaine, Mem., 11,1-412.
Verhallen, P.J.J.M., 1991. Late Pleistocene to early Pleistocene Mediterranean mud-dwellind foraminifera; influence of a changing environment on community structure and evolution. Utrecht Micropaleontological Bulletin, 40: 219pp.
Most read articles by the same author(s)