Recent and fossil benthic foraminifera in the Adriatic Sea : distribution patterns in relation to organic carbon flux and oxygen concentration at the seabed

The results of the present study indicate that benthic foraminiferal abundance in Recent and fossil sediments. provides a basis for estimation of present and past organic carbon flux at the seabed. Whereas the production of infaunal foraminifera may be enhanced by lateral supply of organic carbon, the abundance of epifaunal foraminifera may be a more reliable measure of the vertical supply of organic carbon. Oxygen deficiency in the bottom water may result in replacement of the normal epifaunal community by a community dominated by low-oxygen tolerant infaunal foraminifera. Under such conditions reliable estimation of the vertical organic flux seems not possible