共查询到20条相似文献，搜索用时 46 毫秒
1.
Roy A. Schroeder 《Earth and Planetary Science Letters》1975,25(3):274-278
The amino acids β-alanine and γ-aminobutyric acid are known to compose only a very minor proportion of the total amino acid content in living matter. In deep-sea sediments, however, their abundance in high proportions is ubiquitous. The organic material within foraminiferal calcite tests that are recovered from marine sediments has been found to contain no β-alanine and γ-aminobutyric acid. This observation provides a chemical check that can be used to ensure that the tests have been thoroughly cleaned. Such checks are important because the amino acid composition of organic material contained within the test is currently being used to establish schemes for chronology and taxonomy of foraminifera. 相似文献
2.
Filtration and extraction indicate that the bulk of the combined amino acids in Pacific Ocean waters are a constituent of a dissolved component, and that they cannot be efficiently extracted from seawater by the macroreticular XAD-2 resin. In deep waters of the Pacific Ocean, alanine accounts for～60–70% of the combined amino acids, while in surface waters alanine makes up only～30% of the combined amino acid fraction. Serine is present in the combined fraction in surface waters, but is essentially absent in deep waters. These differences in the serine and alanine abundances between surface and deep waters are possibly the result of the dehydration of serine, which produces racemic alanine. Threonine can also undergo dehydration producing racemicα-amino-n-butyric acid, a non-biological amino acid which has been detected in deep waters of the Pacific Ocean. Estimates of the rate of serine and threonine dehydration in the oceans suggest that these reactions may have half-lives at 0°C of less than 100 years. As a consequence of dehydration, the dissolved organic material in which this diagenetic reaction has occurred may have reduced biological degradability. 相似文献
3.
The deep-sea environment is among the most stable on Earth, making it well suited for amino acid geochronology. Foraminifera with calcareous tests are distributed across the World Ocean and are often recovered in sufficient abundance from sediment cores to derive robust mean amino acid D/L values of multiple replicates from each stratigraphic level. The extent of racemization (D/L) can be compared with independent age control, which in most cases is based on correlation with global marine oxygen-isotope stages and radiocarbon ages from the same stratigraphic levels. In this study, we report the results of amino acid racemization analysis of multiple foraminifera species from well-dated sediment cores taken from the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans. The composite of results analyzed to date (179 samples, each composed of an average of 8.6 subsamples = 1531 analyses) show that D/L values generally increase systematically down core, and are similar for samples of comparable ages from different deep-sea sites. Previously published equations that relate D/L values of aspartic and glutamic acids to post-depositional temperature and sample age for Pulleniatina obliquiloculata generally conform to the D/L trends for species analyzed in this study. Laboratory heating experiments were used to quantify the difference in the rate of racemization between P. obliquiloculata and other taxa. For example, aspartic acid in P. obliquiloculata racemizes an average of 12–16% faster than in the common high-latitude species, Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (s). Apparently, the unexpectedly high D/L values previously reported for N. pachyderma (s) older than 35 ka from the Arctic Ocean cannot be attributed to taxonomic effects. 相似文献
4.
Douglas F. Williams Michael A. Sommer Michael L. Bender 《Earth and Planetary Science Letters》1977,36(3):391-403
Carbon and oxygen isotopic determinations have been made of 29 species of Recent Indian Ocean planktonic foraminifera. Fourteen core-top samples were used and as many as 18 species were chosen from a single core-top sample. The δ13C of the foraminifera was compared with that of total dissolved CO2 (ΣCO2) and of calcite precipitated in isotopic equilibrium with ΣCO2. The foraminiferal calcite is always at least 1.2‰ less than the value estimated for equilibrium calcite. This carbon isotopic disequilibrium suggests the partial utilization of13C-depleted metabolic CO2. The calcite tests of several species, however, have δ13C values which are similar to the δ13C of ΣCO2 in seawater. This relationship suggests that important paleohydrographic information may be obtained from carbon isotope records based on analyses of several foraminiferal species from single deep-sea sediment samples. 相似文献
5.
Amino acid racemization (AAR) is a geochronological method that uses the ratio of D- to L-configurations in optically active amino acids from carbonate fossils to determine the time elapsed since the death of an organism. Although AAR techniques have been widely applied to foraminiferal tests, there have been limited dedicated assessments of the potential of isolating a bleach-resistant, intra-crystalline fraction of proteins to improve the reliability of AAR in this biomineral system. In this study, we evaluate the effect of two oxidative pre-treatments (hydrogen peroxide and bleach) on amino acid concentrations and D/L values in sub-modern benthic foraminifers (Ammonia spp. and Haynesina germanica) and well-preserved mid Holocene and mid Pleistocene planktic foraminifers (Pulleniatina obliquiloculata, Globorotalia truncatulinoides, and Globorotalia tumida). The oxidative pre-treatments successfully reduced the amino acid content of the foraminiferal tests to a residual fraction, and with the exception of Ammonia spp., neither pre-treatment substantially affected the relative proportion of individual amino acids. The bleaching pre-treatment does not consistently alter D/L values when compared to peroxide pre-treatment, but it does tend to reduce the subsample variability in D/L values, albeit only to a small degree in an inconsistent fashion. Therefore, we recommend that a relatively weak oxidative pre-treatment with 3% hydrogen peroxide is sufficient for foraminifera-based AAR applications. 相似文献
6.
The composition of bound amino acids was studied in selected types of green and blue-green plankton algae by means of a new elaborated method, using paper chromatography at the triple development of the chromatogram in the set-up: butanol: acetic acid: water at the rate of 4 : 1 : 5. Algologically and bacterially pure cultures of the green algae Ankistrodesmus falcatus, Haematococcus pluvialis, Chlorella pyrenoidosa, Pediastrum boryanum, Scendesmus obliquus and of the blue-green algae Anacystis nidulans, Microcystis pulverea and Microcystis aeruginosa were cultivated in inorganic and in organic medium. The contents of amino acids in green algae were qualitatively and quantitatively evaluated in relation to their physiologic condition (phase of logarithmic growth, phase of stagnation) and to the method of nutrition. The results were compared with the contents of amino acids in blue-green algae obtained in monocultures from freshwater at blue-green algae water blooms. The composition of bound amino acids was studied in selected types of green and blue-green plankton algae by means of a new elaborated method, using paper chromatography at the triple development of the chromatogram in the set-up: butanol: acetic acid: water at the rate of 4 : 1 : 5. Algologically and bacterially pure cultures of the green algae Ankistrodesmus falcatus, Haematococcus pluvialis, Chlorella pyrenoidosa, Pediastrum boryanum, Scendesmus obliquus and of the blue-green algae Anacystis nidulans, Microcystis pulverea and Microcystis aeruginosa were cultivated in inorganic and in organic medium. The contents of amino acids in green algae were qualitatively and quantitatively evaluated in relation to their physiologic condition (phase of logarithmic growth, phase of stagnation) and to the method of nutrition. The results were compared with the contents of amino acids in blue-green algae obtained in monocultures from freshwater at blue-green algae water blooms. The following amino acids were found in the organismus of primary production: alanine, aspartic acid, arginine, cysteine, glutamic acid, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, proline, serine and glycine, threonine, tryptophane, tyrosine and valine. The following amino acids were predominant from the quantitative aspect: glutamic acid, threonine and serine and glycine. The composition of amino acids in green algae cultivated in an inorganic medium did not differ significantly from cultures cultivated in an organic medium. Differences in the quantitative composition of the individual amino acids were ascertained with green algae in relation to their physiologic condition. 相似文献
7.
Ritsuo Nomura 《Island Arc》2021,30(1):e12421
The lower part of the Josoji Formation, Shimane Peninsula, contains clues for figuring out changes in deep-water characteristics during the opening of the Japan Sea. The foraminiferal assemblage includes early to middle Miocene biostratigraphic index taxa such as planktonic foraminiferal Globorotalia zealandica and Globorotaloides suteri. The occurrence of these two species, together with the absence of praeorbulinids, suggests that the lower part of the Josoji Formation is assigned to the top of planktonic foraminiferal Zone N7/M4 (16.39 Ma). The benthic foraminiferal assemblage, which is characterized by Cyclammina cancellata and Martinottiella communis, clearly suggests that the lower Josoji Formation was deposited at bathyal depths, and that it developed in association with the abrupt appearance of deep-sea calcareous forms. Such bathyal taxa are the main constituents of the Spirosigmoilinella compressa–Globobulimina auriculata Zone of the Josoji Formation and also of the Gyrodina–Gyroidinoides Zone at Ocean Drilling Program Site 797 in the Japan Sea. The base of these benthic foraminiferal zones can be correlated with the base of the nannofossil Sphenolithus heteromorphus Base Zone (= CNM6/CN3); thus, its estimated age is 17.65 Ma. This biostratigraphic information suggests that the lower Josoji Formation was deposited from shortly before 17.65–16.39 Ma in upper limit age. Evidence that fresh to brackish and shallow-water basins formed in the rifting interval of 20–18 Ma in the Japan Sea borderland suggests that the abrupt appearance of deep-sea calcareous foraminifera occurred about 1 my earlier in this area than in other sedimentary basins and suggests that a significant paleoceanographic change occurred in the proto-Japan Sea at 17.65 Ma. 相似文献
8.
Abstract The northern tip of the Izu-Ogasawara Arc on the Philippine Sea plate collided with the central part of the Honshu Arc in the early Quaternary. The collision history is recorded in late Cenozoic strata that are distributed widely in central Japan. To reconstruct paleotopography during the collision process, paleogeographic maps of central Japan were drawn at six time slices during the late Cenozoic. These maps were made from paleodepth data that were inferred from benthic foraminiferal fossil assemblages. Sedimentological information was also added to the maps. The paleogeographic maps show several distinctive geological features. The paleodepth of the area between the Izu-Ogasawara Arc and the Honshu Arc changed quickly from deep-sea to shallow marine during the Quaternary by means of rapid deposition of large amounts of coarse-grained detritus. The conglomerate was first deposited in a trough as deep-sea fan deposits, and filled the trough until an alluvial fan was formed. Forearc basins of the Honshu Arc facing the collision area subsided from 3 to 1 Ma. Vertical movement of the basin was inferred from a strata thickness/paleodepth correlation graph. It is thought that the tectonic inversion seen in sedimentary basins in the Kanto and Tokai regions might be closely related to the change of motion of the Philippine Sea plate. However, a basin of the Ashigara area sunk continuously without interruption until 0.7 Ma. The collision event affected strongly distribution of deep-sea benthic foraminifera. Paleogeographic maps show that a deep trough appeared in the Ashigara area between 3 and 1.5 Ma. This trough may have served as a passage for the migration of deep-sea benthic foraminifera between the Pacific and the Philippine Sea. Cold water benthic foraminiferal species occur west of the Izu-Ogasawara ridge deposited in strata during the existence of the passage. 相似文献
9.
Rob Westaway 《Quaternary Geochronology》2009,4(3):241-259
The concentration ratio of the amino acids alanine and serine in calcite opercula of freshwater gastropods of genus Bithynia has been assessed as an age proxy for British Middle and Late Pleistocene sites. Due to decomposition of peptide-bound serine within intra-crystalline protein molecules, alanine/serine ratios increase with sample age, enabling resolution of the marine oxygen-isotope stage of almost all sites and substage resolution for some sites. However, slight overlaps are evident in alanine/serine ratios between some sites from late in one temperate stage and early in the next; this effect results from the low decomposition rates during cold stages, combined with an evident slight dependence of decomposition rates on site conditions. The technique, which can be extended to the Early Pleistocene without technical refinements, is amenable to quantitative calibration using a first-order rate equation, making it feasible in future to present results as numerical ages, subject to an assumed temperature history. Most Pleistocene sites investigated are shown using this technique to have the same ages as previously deduced using biostratigraphy. However, the serine–alanine ages obtained preclude glaciation of southeast England during MIS 16 or of central England during MIS 10. 相似文献
10.
Seven Miocene Pacific Ocean Deep Sea Drilling Project sites from four different water masses (planktonic foraminiferal biogeographic regions) have been correlated using 18 prominent carbon isotopic events defined in the benthic foraminiferal δ13C records in DSDP Site 289. The correlations are based on the assumption that there are global or at least Pacific-wide controls on the δ13C of deep-water HCO3?. Each of the individual δ13C records is correlated to Site 289 based on the shape of the curves in a manner analogous to that used to correlate sea-floor magnetic anomaly patterns.The results of this correlation experiment confirm that planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy and carbon isotopic stratigraphy are consistent within the tropical surface water mass and precise to ±100,000 years. Correlations between surface water masses suggest that the precision of foraminiferal biostratigraphy is on the average less than ±200,000 years due to the lack of cosmopolitan marker species and diachronism of species occurrences. Carbon isotope stratigraphy used in conjunction with biostratigraphy has the potential to provide an easily utilized, globally applicable, correlation tool (with an interregional precision of ±100,000 years or better) as more continuous and undisturbed deep-sea sections become available as a result of the Hydraulic Piston Coring Program. 相似文献
11.
The inter- and intra-crystalline fractions of Patella vulgata limpets recovered from archaeological sites in Northern Spain (covering Neolithic, Mesolithic, Magdalenian, Solutrean, and Aurignacian periods) were examined for amino acid composition and racemisation over time. The calcitic apex and rim areas of the shells were found to probably be composed of similar proteins, as the D/L values and amino acids were comparable and varied in the same way with increasing age; however, the mineral structures present in these areas differed. The aragonitic intermediate part of the shell showed a distinctly different amino acid composition and mineral structure. The main protein leaching from the inter-crystalline fraction occurred within the first 6000 yr after the death of the organism. In contrast, the intra-crystalline fraction — comprised of a different protein composition than the inter-crystalline fraction — appeared to behave as a closed system for at least 34 ka, as reflected by the lack of a significant decrease in the amino acid content; however, changes in the amino acid percentages occurred during this period. The concentration of aspartic acid remained almost constant with age both in inter- and intra-crystalline proteins, and its contribution to the total amino acid content increased with age at the expense of other amino acids such as glutamic acid, serine, glycine and alanine. Temperature is thought to play a key role in the amino acid racemisation of P. vulgata and could explain why in the localities belonging to the Gravettian and Solutrean period, which formed during relatively cold conditions, D/L values were similar to those detected in shells from sites formed during the Magdalenian. 相似文献
12.
A variety of mathematical expressions that describe changes over time (t) in the extent of amino acid racemisation (AAR, expressed as the ratio of d- to l-amino acid isomers or epimers) have been used in Quaternary geochronology. The integrated rate equation was first used to estimate fossil age from D/L but its geochronological utility is disadvantaged by uncertainties regarding the conformity of AAR in fossil protein to apparent reversible first-order kinetics for the entire reaction history. ‘Non-linear’ models have subsequently been used to relate D/L to t. The logarithmic equation successfully applied to Atlantic Coastal Plain research has not achieved widespread application, perhaps due to the regional calibration required if sensitivity to temperature is to be modelled, or the difficulties encountered when extending the model to include fossils with D/L<0.1. Success producing a linear correlation between D/L transformed with a power function and t has seen this approach emerge as one of the most commonly applied in AAR geochronology in recent years. Like parabola curve fitting, which has been applied to trends in D/L versus t in a variety of fossils and geographic settings, power transformations may not be suitable for geochronological modelling during the latter stages of amino acid diagenesis. Several studies have demonstrated the utility of simple and contingent linear equations for relating D/L to t. Future research should aim to reduce reliance on independent calibration and explore the geochronological benefits of AAR in pools other than the total hydrolysable amino acids. 相似文献
13.
Ostrich eggshell is a favoured substrate for amino acid geochronology, yielding consistent results and thought to approximate a closed system with respect to protein diagenesis. We found that the intra-crystalline fraction in ostrich eggshell is more challenging to isolate than that from mollusc shells, requiring 72 h oxidative treatment with NaOCl, resulting in a loss of up to half of the whole-shell protein. Through high temperature studies we have shown that under continuous leaching conditions approximately 99% of the intra-crystalline amino acids are resistant to leaching. Furthermore, high temperature experiments of the intra-crystalline proteins at pH 5, 7 and 9 have shown that this fraction is unaffected by pH changes over this range. This study confirms that the intra-crystalline protein fraction in OES may approximate a closed system. The intra-crystalline amino acids have been shown to follow predictable patterns of hydrolysis and racemization for all amino acids studied. Most amino acids showed some conformity to pseudo reversible first order reaction kinetics for racemization over limited D/L ranges, but hydrolysis was generally described poorly by first order kinetics. We therefore tried a new scaling method to determine relative reaction rates, estimated by applying scaling factors to overlap the observed rates of racemization (or hydrolysis) at the different temperatures, with the advantage of not forcing a linear relationship with respect to time. Using apparent first order kinetics, constrained power functions and scaling methods, we estimated the Arrhenius parameters (activation energy, EA and frequency factors, A) for both hydrolysis and racemization. The different methods for the estimation of reaction rates can give significantly different, but equally plausible, activation energies. This study reinforces previous work that indicates we need to understand the underlying mechanisms in order to estimate accurate kinetic parameters. 相似文献
14.
A study of foraminiferal assemblages was carried out in 24 sediment samples collected from the Montevideo coastal zone (south-eastern coastal region of South America) to assess the response of the benthic foraminifera to the polluted sediments. The area is affected by different pollutants such as sewage, hydrocarbons and heavy metals derived from different sources. Biological data were analyzed with multivariate techniques of cluster analysis and a principal component analysis (PCA) was performed for abiotic factors. The results allowed the recognition of different species assemblages corresponding to different sub-environments, which reflected the prevalent ecological conditions. The Montevideo Bay, particularly, its inner part showed an extremely poor foraminiferal fauna-including a totally azoic station-and high percentages of abnormal tests, when compared with the adjacent Punta Carretas and Punta Yeguas zones. Mean faunal density showed a strong relationship with organic matter, oxygen and heavy metal concentrations, as well as redox potential and pH values of each sub-environment. Although the adjacent zones presented a moderate pollution degree, it was noticed that a positive effect on the foraminiferal density specially on Ammonia tepida, caused by the sewage pipe located in Punta Carretas, a pure organic contamination. Differences among foraminiferal assemblages seemed to be related to the combined action of the several kinds of pollutants and the natural abiotic variables, like the rapid salinity changes that occurred in this area. 相似文献
15.
Artificial diagenesis of the intra-crystalline proteins isolated from Patella vulgata was induced by isothermal heating at 140 °C, 110 °C and 80 °C. Protein breakdown was quantified for multiple amino acids, measuring the extent of peptide bond hydrolysis, amino acid racemisation and decomposition. The patterns of diagenesis are complex; therefore the kinetic parameters of the main reactions were estimated by two different methods: 1) a well-established approach based on fitting mathematical expressions to the experimental data, e.g. first-order rate equations for hydrolysis and power-transformed first-order rate equations for racemisation; and 2) an alternative model-free approach, which was developed by estimating a “scaling” factor for the independent variable (time) which produces the best alignment of the experimental data. This method allows the calculation of the relative reaction rates for the different temperatures of isothermal heating.High-temperature data were compared with the extent of degradation detected in sub-fossil Patella specimens of known age, and we evaluated the ability of kinetic experiments to mimic diagenesis at burial temperature. The results highlighted a difference between patterns of degradation at low and high temperature and therefore we recommend caution for the extrapolation of protein breakdown rates to low burial temperatures for geochronological purposes when relying solely on kinetic data. 相似文献
16.
Abstract A new method for reconstructing depositional environments of larger foraminifera‐bearing limestones is proposed. First, depth and spatial distributions of empty tests of 10 foraminiferal taxa in a 1–2 mm size fraction were examined using 32 surface sediment samples collected from depths shallower than 200 m, located to the west of Miyako Island, Ryukyu Islands, northwest Pacific. Distributional ranges of empty tests in the 1–2 mm size fraction appear to be more limited than those including other size fractions in previous reports, partly because larger empty tests of each taxon are less easily transported than smaller ones. Multivariate analyses (Q‐mode cluster analysis and non‐metric multidimensional scaling ordination) based on binary (presence/absence) data of the 10 taxa delineate four sample groups, each of which corresponds to different depositional environments: nearshore zone/bay inlet; back‐reef to fore‐reef; outer shelf to shelf slope; and shelf slope distant from coral reefs. Next, these modern data were applied to reconstruct the depositional environment of a rock section distributed in the Shiratorizaki area (Irabu Island, Ryukyu Islands), which consists of larger foraminiferal limestone of the Pleistocene Ryukyu Group. Multivariate analyses were performed on the fossil plus the modern foraminiferal data to explore the possible relationship of the fossil associations with variations in modern associations, demonstrating that the fossil foraminiferal associations resemble the modern outer shelf associations. The modern analog technique was also applied to estimate paleobathymetry using fossil foraminiferal data. The results indicate that the section studied was deposited in outer shelf environments at depths between 53.5 and 98.6 m. These paleoenvironmental interpretations are consistent with previous studies based on sedimentary facies and the computer‐based expert system. The modern dataset and methods used in our work would be particularly useful for paleoenvironmental reconstructions of Quaternary reef and shelf carbonates along active margins of the northwest Pacific. 相似文献
17.
《Marine pollution bulletin》2010,60(8-12):281-296
To study the benthic foraminifers’ response to heavy metal pollution and analyse the geochemical parameters, samples of surface sediments were collected in 2005 and 2006 from a polluted coastal zone shorefront to the industrial complex of Portoscuso–Portovesme (Sulcis, South-Western Sardinia). The samples came from the upper 1–2 cm of the undisturbed sediments in water less than 2 m deep, along coastline (about 8.5 km in length) proximal to emerged alluvial plain. The entire examined marine area represents a shallow inner shelf, which is physiographically fairly protected and characterized by low turbulence, but subjected to southwards littoral drift.Geochemical analyses of seawater, sediments and foraminiferal tests correlated to biotic indexes (Dominance, Shannon–Weaver, Simpson, Eveness, Menhinick, Margalef, Equitability, Fisher-α, Berger-Parker and Q-mode Cluster Analyses – Ward Method) and provide data on environmental stress.A total of 38 benthic foraminiferal species were identified. Increasing pollution results in low species diversity, low population density and more frequent abnormal specimens.Results from ESEM images allow recognition of a strong infestation on the calcareous foraminiferal tests by microbial communities developed in the polluted environment. 相似文献
18.
S. H. Bowen 《洁净——土壤、空气、水》1984,12(1):55-59
It depends on the trophic position of a species whether its growth is limited by the quantity or quality of diet: predators are frequently limited by the quantity of diet, primary consumers frequently by the quality of diet. The protein deficiency is of decisive importance for the growth of primary consumers. The digestible protein/digestible energy ratio is most important: 4 mg/kJ are sufficient for maintenance, 20… 30 mg/kJ are necessary for maximum growth. These values can be confirmed by feeding tests with Carassius auratus. According to measurements by different methods, the organic nitrogen is present in the detritus in the form of amino acids as bonded to organis matter. Thus, Sarotherodon mossambicus assimilates 25.6 mg amino acids/kJ from detritus, whereas only 25% of these amino acids can be identified as protein. Due to the utilization of this source of diet, detrivorous fish occupy a special position in the chain of diet, thus gaining a great importance for the aquatic culture. 相似文献
19.
Discovery of agglutinated foraminifers from the Longzhaogou Group in eastern Heilongjiang Province 总被引：1，自引：1，他引：0
LI Gang & YU Shanmao. State Key Laboratory of Paleobiology Stratigraphy Nanjing Institute of Geology Paleontology Chinese Academy of Sciences Nanjing China .th Coal-prospecting Team of Geological Bureau NE China Inner Mongolia Coal Company Jixi China Correspondence should be addressed to Li Gang 《中国科学D辑(英文版)》2004,47(2):122-127
The low diversity agglutinated foraminifers are recovered from the Qihulin Formation of the Longzhaogou Group in eastern Heilongjiang, China. The foraminiferal fauna consists of 9 species of 5 genera. The common members are Cribrostomoides nonioninoides (Reuss), Haplophragmoides concavus (Chapman), H. gigas minor Nauss. Although the diagnostic zonal taxa are absent in the agglutinated fauna, according to the global stratigraphic distribution of the above-mentioned species, and the associated Pseudohaploceras ammonite fauna, the foraminiferal fauna may be of a Barremian-Aptian (Early Cretaceous) age. 相似文献
20.
We assess species composition, assemblage structure and distribution of the benthic foraminiferal assemblages from diverse substrates in Moreton Bay, South-East Queensland, Australia. Analysis of 47 surface sediment samples revealed 69 species, three distinct foraminiferal assemblages and six sub-assemblages. The assemblages from the western Bay are characterized by stress tolerant taxa and the lowest diversity, whereas the assemblages from the eastern Bay are characterized by symbiont-bearing taxa and high diversity. We found a correlation between foraminiferal assemblages and substrate conditions that was indicative of strong environmental gradients (substrate type, water quality and salinity), from an urban-impacted assemblage in the westernmost part of the Bay, to a hyposaline, estuarine-influenced assemblage in the western Bay to a nearly normal marine to hypersaline assemblage in the eastern Bay. The FORAM Index was consistent with the changes in water and sediment quality gradient, from the western shoreline to the eastern Bay. Thus the foraminiferal assemblages of Moreton Bay make excellent bio-indicators of environmental changes in a subtropical, estuarine setting in eastern Australia. 相似文献