Vertical distributions of living (stained) benthic foraminifera in sediments of southern Onslow Bay, North Carolina continental shelf / by Mark William Murosky.
| Author/creator | Murosky, Mark William author. |
| Other author | Snyder, Scott W., degree supervisor. |
| Other author | East Carolina University. Department of Geology. |
| Format | Theses and dissertations |
| Production | 1993. |
| Description | 103 leaves : illustrations ; 28 cm |
| Supplemental Content | Access via ScholarShip |
| Subjects |
| Summary | Twelve cores, each subdivided at one-cm intervals downward from the sediment-water interface to a maximum depth of eight cm, yielded 83 samples. The samples were preserved in a buffered formalin solution to which the biological stain. Rose Bengal, was added. Stained specimens from the greater-than-63-micron size fraction were identified and counted. Counts, normalized to a sample volume of 10 ml, range from 3 to 259 stained specimens per sample. Q-mode cluster analysis, principle components analysis, and two-way analysis of varianee were used to analyze species distributions and identify possible microhabitat preferences. Qualitative and statistical analyses provide no evidence for subbottom, depth-related microhabitat preferences. Taxa exhibit subsurface maxima at varying depth intervals within cores and typically occupy the entire length of cores. All taxa show some degree of infaunal life habit, and no exclusively epifaunal or infaunal species are found. Taxa representing diting distinct morphologic types behave similarly and exhibit no tendency to vertically partition the subbottom habitat. The lack of stratified microhabitat preferences reflects the absence of su bottom environmental gradients in the homogeneous surficial sediments of southern Onslow Bay. The only quantifiable subbottom faunal trend (less apparent in individual cores) is an overall decrease in abundance of stained fo- raminifera with increasing depth below the sediment-water interface. A decrease in the number of species accompanies this general trend. This pattern may result from the distribution of food within the substrate. A strong temporal component is evident in foraminiferal distribution patterns. Cores taken concurrently during a particular month and year show little between-core variation in species abundances regardless of the geographic distances separating them. This temporal component overprints lateral variational trends among living benthic foraminifera within the bay. Results of this study indicate that care should be taken to base conclusions on observational data, and not to overextend conclusions from any given benthic environment to studies in dissimilar environmental regimes. |
| General note | Submitted to the faculty of the Department of Geology. |
| General note | Advisor: Scott W. Snyder |
| Dissertation note | M.S. East Carolina University 1993 |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-77). |
| Genre/form | dissertations. |
| Genre/form | Academic theses. |
| Genre/form | Academic theses. |
| Genre/form | Thèses et écrits académiques. |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joyner | University Archives | ASK AT SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DESK | ✔ Available | Request Material |
| Electronic Resources | Access Content Online | ✔ Available |