Räumliche und zeitliche Verbreitung, Diversitätsentwicklung und Klimaabhängigkeit benthischer Foraminiferen in holozänen Lagunen, Belize, Zentralamerika
Final Report Abstract
Benthic (bottom-dwelling) foraminifera are small single-celled animals which exist since the Cambrian time period some 500 million years ago. They have characteristic calcareous tests that measure several hundred microns to a few millimeters in diameter. The tests of these foraminifera were used in this study in order to characterize the variation in environmental conditions in interior lagoons of three isolated carbonate platforms in Belize during the past ca. 9.000 years. Foraminiferal associations, diversity, and geochemical proxy data from the tests indicate that water temperature, salinity, water depth, and habitat changed during the past several thousand years. During sea-level rise, platform interiors were modified from restricted lagoons to open marine lagoons, however, with differences among the modern platforms. The foraminiferal faunas are still in the process of diversification because neither a maximum nor a decline in diversity can be observed. It was also shown that benthic foraminifera are good indicators of the environment, because variation in sedimentation-rates and time-averaging as well as redeposition have only minor effects. Geochemical investigations (stable isotopes of oxygen and carbon in calcareous tests) suggest local rather than regional climatic control of foraminiferal development during the Holocene.
Publications
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(2006): Entwicklung und Diversität benthischer Foraminiferen in holozänen Lagunen, Belize.- Jahrestagung Paläontologische Gesellschaft, Kiel
Schultz, S., Gischler, E. & Oschmann, W.
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(2007): Entwicklung von karibischen Foraminiferen-Faunen im Holozän, Belize.- Jahrestagung Paläontologische Gesellschaft, Graz
Schultz, S., Gischler, E. & Oschmann, W.
