Abstract
Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to study the variations in organic matters of benthic foraminifera (Ammonia beccarii) from four samples collected from beach environments from brackish environments along Tupilipalem coast (South east coast of India). Common absorption bands were observed as peaks in the range of 3600–3400cm−1, 3000–2850cm−1, 1750–1740cm−1, 1640–1600cm−1, 1450–1350cm−1, 885–870cm−1 and 725–675cm−1 in all the shells of Ammonia beccarii. The FTIR spectrum of station-1 represents the presence of alkanes (CH3) and alkyl halide (CF stretching) with absorptions at the range 1385–1255 and 1350–1150cm−1 were observed and ether (CO stretching) absorption band was observed at stations 1 and 3 with wavenumber of 1115cm−1 and 1117cm−1 respectively. Alkynes CH bend was observed at station-1 with the wavenumber of 667.43cm−1. The shifting of peak positions in all the samples is could be due to presence of organic matter in the samples. Satellite remote sensing and field observation data revealed that the river mouth at Tupilipalem coast was closed by a sand bar. Consequentially, this waterbody may affect the species diversity.•Positions of the sampling locations were identified using a hand-held Garmin Global Positioning System (GPS).•Foraminifera from the sediment were obtained using a mixture of Bromoform and Acetone.•The functional groups present in the benthic foraminifera shells were recorded in the spectral range of 4000–400cm−1 using an FT-IR Spectrophotometer.
Highlights
Foraminifera are single-celled organisms with a long-lasting geological record that span the Earth's entire Phanerozoic history ($570 My) [1]
Two shells were obtained from beach environments and remaining two from brackish environments of Tupilipalem coast where the river mouth was closed with a sand bar (Fig. 2)
The beaches are sites, with human inhabitation and the beach ecosystems have often shown a high sensitivity to environmental change. These zones may be affected by a large series of anthropogenic-derived pressures, such as unbalanced inorganic nutrient input, that may cause anomalous development of primary production altering the structure of the trophic webs [16]
Summary
Foraminifera are single-celled organisms (protists) with a long-lasting geological record that span the Earth's entire Phanerozoic history ($570 My) [1]. They are widely distributed in all marine environments. Many foraminiferal taxa secrete a carbonate indicating and evidence of environmental stresses through time. They are commonly small and abundant compared to other hard-shelled taxa and are easy to collect, providing a highly reliable database for statistical analysis, even when only small sample volumes are available [7]. Test of the foraminiferal fauna has organic components (linings and cement) of a muco-polysaccharide, or glycoprotein nature in which the basic bio-molecular structure has a proteinaceous part linked to an amino sugar/glycogen unit
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