Foraminifera as Environmental Condition Indicators in Todos os Santos Bay (Bahia, Brazil)

Patrícia P. B. Eichler^1,2*, André Rösch Rodrigues³, Evelyn da Rocha Mendes Pereira⁴, Beatriz Beck Eichler⁴, Alicia Kahn³, Helenice Vital¹

¹Programa de Pós Graduaçäo em Geofísica e Geodinamica (PPGG), Laboratório de Geologia e Geofísica Marinha e Monitoramento Ambiental, Centro de Ciências Exatas e da Terra da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (GGEMMA-CCET-UFRN) Campus Universitário, Natal, Brazil.
²Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina, UNISUL, Palhoca, Brazil.
³Chevron Energy Technology Company, Houston, USA.
⁴Instituto Oceanográfico da Universidade de Säo Paulo, Säo Paulo, Brazil.

DOI: 10.4236/oje.2015.57027                

Abstract

The environmental quality of the marine area close to the Landulpho Alves Oil Refinery situated in Todosos Santos Bay (Bahia, Brazil) was assessed by statistical methods on foraminiferal assemblages, with species tolerant to low continental influence such as Ammonia tepida, Elphidium excavatum, Pseudononion atlanticum and Quinqueloculina spp., and to high organic matter such as Buliminella elegantissima and Bulimina marginata. We have found that Bolivina pulchella, Pseudononion atlanticum, Fursenkoina pontoni, Buliminella elegantissima, Bolivina striatula, Bulimina marginata, Quinqueloculina spp., Ammonia tepida, and Elphidium excavatum are opportunistic and tolerant to high levels of accumulated organic matter, and are associated to stations 6, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25, located mainly in the southern, outermost part of the Bay.

Keywords

Foraminifera, Marine Environmental Quality, Organic Matter, Eutrophication, Continental Runoff, Opportunistic

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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