FORAMINIFERAL RESPONSE TO HABITAT DISRUPTION: ARROYO COLORADO, TEXAS

Abstract

Research Article| October 01, 2003 FORAMINIFERAL RESPONSE TO HABITAT DISRUPTION: ARROYO COLORADO, TEXAS Pamela Buzas-Stephens; Pamela Buzas-Stephens * 1Biology Program, Midwestern State University, 3410 Taft Blvd., Wichita Falls, Texas 76308, U.SA. *E-mail: pamela.stephens@mwsu.edu Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Emile A. Pessagno, Jr.; Emile A. Pessagno, Jr. 2Department of Geosciences, University of Texas at Dallas, P.O. Box 830688, Richardson, Texas 75083, U.S.A. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar C. Jerry Bowen C. Jerry Bowen 1Biology Program, Midwestern State University, 3410 Taft Blvd., Wichita Falls, Texas 76308, U.SA. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Journal of Foraminiferal Research (2003) 33 (4): 294–308. https://doi.org/10.2113/0330294 Article history received: 20 Feb 2002 accepted: 09 Aug 2002 first online: 03 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Pamela Buzas-Stephens, Emile A. Pessagno, C. Jerry Bowen; FORAMINIFERAL RESPONSE TO HABITAT DISRUPTION: ARROYO COLORADO, TEXAS. Journal of Foraminiferal Research 2003;; 33 (4): 294–308. doi: https://doi.org/10.2113/0330294 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyJournal of Foraminiferal Research Search Advanced Search Abstract In order to assess the possible effects of pollutants on foraminifera along the Texas Gulf Coast, sediment cores were taken in four areas considered to be at risk: southern Laguna Madre, Nueces Bay, the Arroyo Colorado, and Laguna Atascosa. Geochemical analyses indicate that the sediments are relatively uncontaminated. Foraminiferal analyses, however, reveal otherwise undetected inconsistencies and changes with time. First, though foraminiferal assemblages in the surface sediments of Laguna Madre, Nueces Bay, and Laguna Atascosa are typical, they are atypical in the Arroyo Colorado. In Texas estuarine environments, Ammonia often comprises a large proportion of the assemblage. But in the Arroyo Colorado, an estuarine river, the assemblage is almost all Elphidium to the exclusion of Ammonia. A second observation is that down-core in the Arroyo Colorado cores, Ammonia becomes abundant as numbers of El-phidium decrease. The assemblage at the base of the Arroyo Colorado cores is thus more typical for the Gulf Coast, while that in the surface sediments is not. This down-core change in the foraminiferal assemblage is coincident with a change in sediment grain size, both most likely due to the dredging of the Harlingen ship channel in the late 1940s. The reasons why Ammonia, an opportunistic genus that thrives in a wide range of environmental conditions, was unable to tolerate a habitat disturbance and is nearly absent in the surface sediments of the Arroyo Colorado are unclear. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.