Abstract
Abstract Tests of benthic foraminifera were analyzed quantitatively in 43 surface sediment samples collected along E–W traverses across the modern isolated carbonate platforms of Glovers Reef (N=14), Lighthouse Reef (N=14), and Turneffe Islands (N=15), offshore Belize, Central America. Water depths of sample stations range from 0 m (beach) to 40 m (fore reef). Each sample was sieved in the size classes 2–1, 1–0.5, 0.5–0.25, and 0.25–0.125 mm (ϕ=1–0, 0–1, 1–2, and 2–3, respectively) and 300 foraminiferal identifications were attempted for each sieve fraction (i.e., 1,200 individuals per sample, totaling 46,003 specimens). Cluster analyses of samples characterized platform environments and distinguished four benthic foraminifera associations. Fore reef samples were characterized by abundant Amphistegina gibbosa and the occurrence of Asterigerina carinata, both rotaliids. In high-energy, marginal-reef areas the encrusting rotaliid Homotrema rubrum predominated. Platform-interior environments were marked by a...
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