In the eastern Mediterranean Sea, early Holocene was characterized by major climatic and oceanographic changes that led to formation of last sapropel (S1) between 10.8 6.1 kyr cal. BP. These hydrographic might have altered water exchange western sub-basins through Strait Sicily, but existing evidences are inconclusive. present study we show new evidence from sediment core NDT-6-2016 located at ...

Stable isotopic measurements have been made on both planktonic foraminifera and coccolithic matrix of Middle Cretaceous (Late Albian–Cenomanian) age from two Pacific low latitude sites. The degree of alteration of the foraminifera has been assessed through the application of chemical analyses, cathodoluminescence and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The rotaliporid foraminifera display an in...

Abstract We analyze the spatial distributions of two groups of benthic foraminifera (Adelosina spp. + Quinqueloculina spp. and Elphidium spp.), along Sicilian coast, and their correlation with six different heavy metals, responsible for the pollution. Samples were collected inside the Gulf of Palermo, which has a high level of pollution due to heavy metals, and along the coast of Lampedusa isla...

Ocean acidification causes biodiversity loss, alters ecosystems, and may impact food security, as shells of small organisms dissolve easily in corrosive waters. There is a suggestion that photosynthetic organisms could mitigate ocean acidification on a local scale, through seagrass protection or seaweed cultivation, as net ecosystem organic production raises the saturation state of calcium carb...

Increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations lead to decreased pH and carbonate availability in the ocean (Ocean Acidification, OA). Carbon dioxide seeps serve as ‘windows into the future’ to study the ability of marine invertebrates to acclimatise to OA. We studied benthic foraminifera in sediments from shallow volcanic CO2 seeps in Papua NewGuinea. Conditions follow a gradient from present day pH...

Citation: Weiner AKM, Morard R, Weinkauf MFG, Darling KF, André A, Quillévéré F, Ujiie Y, Douady CJ, de Vargas C and Kucera M (2016) Methodology for Single-Cell Genetic Analysis of Planktonic Foraminifera for Studies of Protist Diversity and Evolution. Front. Mar. Sci. 3:255. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2016.00255 Methodology for Single-Cell Genetic Analysis of Planktonic Foraminifera for Studies of Pro...

The responses of Ammonia parkinsoniana (Foraminifera) exposed to different concentrations of lead (Pb) were evaluated at the cytological level. Foraminifera-bearing sediments were placed in mesocosms that were housed in aquaria each with seawater of a different lead concentration. On the basis of transmission electron microscopy and environmental scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy...

Foraminifera are single-celled organisms with internal calcerous shells, known as tests. The image above shows a shell with a planispiral chamber arrangement — during growth, chambers are added sequentially to form a coil in a flat spiral. Foraminiferan tests are quite diverse. The image shown here came from a study on the nature of the material in the calcerous test and how the foraminifera de...