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Distribution of foraminifera in surface waters of a coastal upwelling area

Abstract

BIOCOENOSES of planktonic foraminifera are usually accepted to be good indicators of different sorts of oceanic water masses1, and it is assumed that their ecological requirements have not changed drastically during the Quaternary2. Their remains have, therefore, been used for approximately the past 40 yr (ref. 3) to study, qualitatively as well as quantitatively, the palaeoclimatic record4 preserved in young, calcareous, deep-sea sediments. Despite this, however, the mechanism of the formation of death assemblages and sediment assemblages is very poorly understood, mainly because the distribution pattern of planktonic foraminiferal biocoenoses and their output of shell material is only poorly known.

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THIEDE, J. Distribution of foraminifera in surface waters of a coastal upwelling area. Nature 253, 712–714 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/253712a0

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