Holocene benthic foraminifera from Bahía Blanca estuary: a review and update of systematic and palaeoenvironmental aspects

• Published in: Holocene (Sevenoaks) Vol. 19; no. 8; pp. 1221 - 1231
• Main Authors: Cusminsky, Gabriela C., Bernasconi, Emiliana, Calvo-Marcilese, Lydia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.12.2009; Sage Publications; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Ammonia beccarii; Aquatic life; Brackish; Buccella; Campsis; Climate change; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Elphidium articulatum; Elphidium discoidale; Elphidium galvestonense; Elphidium gunteri; Environmental studies; Exact sciences and technology; Geological time; Marine; Methodology and general studies; Paleobotany; Paleoecology; Paleontology; Prehistory and protohistory; Sea level; South America; Argentina; America; ASW, Argentina, Buenos Aires, Blanca Bay; PSW, Argentina; Bahía Blanca estuary; Elphidium spp; sea-level changes; Brackish environments; tidal flats; Foraminiferae; Fauna; Bahia Blanca estuary; Environment; Palaeobotany; Sea level; Holocene; Paleoenvironment
• ISSN: 0959-6836; 1477-0911
• DOI: 10.1177/0959683609345085

Assemblages of benthic foraminifera in a Holocene core from the outer area of Bahía Blanca estuary in Argentina were studied. The systematic of the group was updated, and provided 28 genera distributed among 59 species, six species with nomenclature aperta. The main species recorded were Buccella peruviana f. campsi (Boltovskoy), Ammonia beccarii (Linné), Elphidium gunteri Cole, Elphidium galvestonense Kornfeld, Elphidium articulatum d’Orbigny and Elphidium discoidale (d’Orbigny). These species allowed an estuarine environment to be determined. Qualitative and quantitative studies conducted on the faunistic content in the core allowed identification of three subenvironments closely linked to sea-level fluctuations during the mid Holocene: a lower zone (6350 yr BP) corresponding to a high intertidal environment, an intermediate zone (2460 yr BP) representing a low intertidal environment related to a system of channels and variations in environmental energy, and an upper zone characterized by the development of a high-energy littoral environment affected by the action of waves, tides and tidal currents, which underwent progressive change until it attained present-day conditions.