Les foraminifères benthiques sont largement utilisés en océanographie comme bio-indicateurs paléoclimatiques et paléoenvironnementaux du fait de leur présence dans tous les milieux marins, leur sensibilité aux changements environnementaux et leur grande capacité de fossilisation. Néanmoins, leur utilisation nécessite une connaissance approfondie de leur écologie et des paramètres contrôlant leur distribution. Si les connaissances sur l’écologie des foraminifères benthiques sont de plus en plus complètes, elles demeurent très sporadiques dans la zone arctique, système complexe caractérisé par des interactions multiples entre l'atmosphère, l'océan et la cryosphère, pourtant au coeur du changement climatique global. L'amplification polaire du changement climatique conduit les régions des hautes latitudes à se réchauffer près de deux fois plus vite que les régions tempérées. Dans ce contexte, cette thèse s'attache à mieux comprendre l'écologie des foraminifères benthiques vivants dans plusieurs régions arctiques et définir l'importance du contrôle des paramètres environnementaux sur les faunes tels que les propriétés des masses d'eau, la productivité primaire et le flux de matière organique ainsi que la dynamique de la glace de mer. Les foraminifères benthiques vivants ont été analysés dans les premiers centimètres de sédiment de 21 carottes d’interfaces prélevées dans trois régions arctiques durant les étés 2014 et 2015 : la mer de Barents, la baie de Baffin et la mer de Chukchi. Ces trois régions présentent des particularités en termes de couvert de banquise, de circulation des masses d’eau ou de dynamique de la production primaire. Nos résultats montrent que ces facteurs influencent la distribution des foraminifères benthiques. Le flux de matière organique qui résulte de la forte productivité primaire printanière aux abords des fronts polaires hydrographiques, des bordures de glace de mer (zones marginales de glace) et dans la polynie des eaux du nord (baie de Baffin) impacte la densité et la diversité des faunes et favorise le développement de certaines espèces. Nonionellina labradorica dans les eaux arctiques froides et Cassidulina neoteretis associée aux eaux atlantiques répondent aux apports de matière organique fraîche tandis que Melonis barleeanus s’accommode des milieux riches en matière organique plus dégradée. Dans les environnements oligotrophes plus profonds, Oridorsalis tenerus est une espèce ubiquiste. Cette espèce est associée à Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi sur la marge ouest de la mer de Barents et Ioanella tumidula dans le bassin plus profond au nord de la mer de Chukchi. Les propriétés physiques et chimiques des masses d’eau contraignent également la distribution faunistique. En baie de Baffin et sur le plateau de la mer de Chukchi, les eaux corrosives engendrent la dissolution des carbonates, favorisant la dominance des espèces agglutinées. Les études menées dans le cadre de cette thèse permettent de calibrer l'outil foraminifère benthique dans l'actuel et d'affiner leur utilisation en tant que proxy paléoclimatique et paléoenvironnemental en Arctique. Enfin, une étude préliminaire sur les foraminifères benthiques fossiles de trois carottes de la mer de Barents a permis de montrer les variations des conditions paléoenvironnementales au cours des deux derniers siècles. / Benthic foraminifera are widely used in oceanography as paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental bio-indicators due to their presence in all marine environments, their sensitivity to environmental changes and their great capacity to fossilize. However, the use of benthic foraminifera as paleoenvironmental proxies requires a good knowledge of the ecological conditions and the parameters controlling species distribution. Although knowledges about the ecology of benthic foraminifera are improving, they remain sporadic in Arctic area, a complex ecosystem characterized by multiple interactions between the atmosphere, the ocean and the cryosphere and particularly sensitive to change and vulnerable to global warming. Temperatures in the Arctic have risen twice as fast as the global average over the past decades, a phenomenon that has been dubbed the “polar amplification of global warming”. In this context, this thesis aims at better understanding the ecology of living benthic foraminifera in Arctic regions and at defining the importance of environmental controls on fauna such as water mass properties, primary productivity, organic matter flux as well as sea-ice dynamics. Living benthic foraminifera were identified in the first centimetres of 21 surface sediment cores collected in three Arctic areas during summer in 2014 and 2015: Baffin Bay and the Barents and Chukchi Seas. These three regions present specific characteristics in terms of sea-ice cover, water mass circulation or primary productivity. Our results suggest that these factors influence the distribution of benthic foraminifera. The flux of organic matter resulting from primary productivity intensified during spring and summer periods near hydrographic polar fronts, sea-ice edges (marginal ice zones) and in the north water polynya (Baffin Bay) increases the fauna’s densities and diversity and favours the development of specific species. Nonionellina labradorica in cold Arctic waters and Cassidulina neoteretis associated with Atlantic waters respond to fresh supply of organic matter while Melonis barleeanus is found in environment rich in degraded organic matter. In deeper oligotrophic environments, Oridorsalis tenerus is a ubiquitous species associated with Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi on the west continental margin of Barents Sea and Ioanella tumidula in the deeper basin in the north of the Chukchi Sea. Physical and chemical water mass properties also affect the distribution of living benthic foraminifera. In the Baffin Bay and the continental shelf of the Chukchi Sea, corrosive waters lead to carbonate dissolution, favouring the dominance of agglutinated species. This thesis hence contributes to calibrate the benthic foraminifera to their environment and to improve their application as paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental proxies in the Arctic. Finally, a preliminary study about fossil benthic foraminifera in three cores of Barents Sea allowed to show variations of environmental conditions during the last two centuries.

The subject of this study was to investigate the species composition and spatial distribution pastern of iving (Rose Bengal stained) benthic foraminifera in sediment surface samples (0-1 cm) off the Southwestern Taiwan and Dongsha Atoll. The main objectives of this study was to document the living benthic foraminiferal assemblages off the Southwestern Taiwan and Dongsha Atoll and to examine their distribution in relation to environmental parameters. Four benthic foraminiferal biofacies were recognized within the substrate type in Dongsha Atoll: A1 (Fine-grained) is represented by Pseudomassilina spp. - Quinqueloculina parkeri, A2 (Fine-grained) is represented by Hauerina spp. - Pseudomassilina spp., B1 (Coarse-grained) is characterised by Calcarina spp. - Quinqueloculina spp., B2 (Coarse-grained) is characterised by Amphistegina spp. - Quinqueloculina spp. Sediment surface samples off the Southwestern Taiwan during May 2009 led to the identification of four assemblages. Assemblage A is characterised by Ammonia spp. - Bolivina spp., Assemblage B between is characterized by Asterorotalia spp. - Globobulimina spp., Assemblage C is represented by Cibicides spp. - Nummulites spp., Assemblage D is represented by Ammonia spp. - Cibicides spp. Sediment surface samples off the Southwestern Taiwan during Nov. 2009 led to the identification of three assemblages. Assemblage A is dominated by Ammonia spp. - Cibicides spp., Assemblage B is characterised by Ammonia spp. - Bolivina spp., Assemblage C is characterised by Asterorotalia spp. - Bolivina spp. Stained benthic foraminifera form Dongsha Atoll correlated with current wave, collected site, coarse fraction and TOC contents. Living benthic foraminifera off the Southwestern Taiwan seems not to be related with TOC contents and coarse fraction, the assemblages were found to be more related to tidal energy and lateral transport.

The Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) plays an important role on controlling globally climatic change. Numbers of researchers attempted to discuss whether AAIW across the equator or notduring glacial- interglacial transitions. In this study, we analyzed Mg/Ca and £UREE/Ca on benthic foraminiferal species, Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi, from core MD052922C, which retrieved from western equatorial Pacific region, for revealing the long-term variations of Paleohydrology in intermediate water depths of tropical Pacific. Our evaluated results reveal that the Mg/Ca ratios ranging from 1.27 to 2.04 mmol/mol, and ranging between 2.2 and 3.2¢J when calculating into paleotemoeratures.Highest Mg/Ca can be observed in MIS 6. This finding implies that the present AAIW mean temperature is colder than glacials, and the present AAIW is well-ventilated than that in glacials.Higher £UREEs/Ca values are usually well correlated with old and poor ventilated water masses. In our record, higher £UREEs/Ca values are observed at MIS 5 impling that the intermediate depth water mass of the western tropical Pacific is poor ventilated when comparing to glacials.

Shallowing-upward meter-scale cycles (parasequences) consisting of megalodont-bearing limestones or clay levels at the bottom and fenestral limestones, breccias, stromatolites or vadose pisoids at the top constitute the basic working units of the Upper Triassic successions in the Central and Western Taurides. These cycles are mainly represented by subtidal through supratidal carbonate facies and known as Lofer cycles in the literature. The presence of breccias, mud cracks, dissolution vugs and vadose pisoids indicates subaerially exposed conditions at the top of the cycles. Shallowing-upward meter-scale cycles are interpreted as 4th and 5th order cycles in this study. Megalodont-bearing limestones of the subtidal zone are characterized by wackestones/packstones with abundant involutinids. However, involutinids are poorly represented in the intertidal-supratidal zone. To determine the relationship between cyclicity and foraminifers, the vertical variation of benthic foraminifer abundance has been analysed in the cycles. This analysis leads us to conclude that the foraminiferal abundance decreases from subtidal through supratidal zone. Furthermore, cluster analysis was performed in order to delineate the relation between the biofacies and foraminiferal associations. Micropaleontological analysis of the uppermost Triassic carbonates reveals the presence of restricted platform foraminiferal associations in the studied successions. Foraminiferal associations discovered in the samples belong to the Upper Norian (Sevatian)-Rhaetian Triasina hantkeni assemblage zone. Detailed examination of peritidal carbonates in the Central and Western Taurides against the studies, which claimed that the Dachstein-type platform carbonates are characterized by the transgressive models, should be explained by regressive models.

The aim of this study is to designate paleontologic, biostratigraphic and sequence stratigraphic characteristics of the Permian-Triassic Boundary beds of the Bolkar Dagi Unit in the Hadim region (Central Taurides). For this purpose a 48,06m thick stratigraphic section, composed of limestone, siltstone and sandstone, was measured and 116 samples were analyzed through the Permian Ta

Release of methane from large marine reservoirs has been linked to climate change, as a causal mechanism and a consequence of temperature changes, during the Holocene to Late Quaternary. These inferred linkages are based primary on variation in benthic foraminifer’s singnatures. This study examines and illustrates deep sea benthic foraminifera from Holocene to Late Quaternary sample from North Pacific Ocean IODP site 890B,Cascadia Margin. Deep sea benthic foraminifera has been quantatively analyzed in samples>125 μm size fractions. Factor and Cluster analysis of the 29 highest ranked species made it possible to identify six biofacies, characterizing distinct deep sea environmental setting. The environmental interpretation of each biofacies is based on the ecology of recent deep sea benthic foraminifera. The benthic faunal record indicates fluctuating deep se condition in environmental parameter including oxygenation, surface productivity and organic food supply. The benthic assemblage show a major shift at 2 to3 kyrs BP and 6 to10.5 BP marked by major turnover in the relative abundance of species coinciding with in increasing amplitude of interstadial cycles. There are strong possibilities of methane flux in this site. Dissociation of gas hydrates and release of methane to the atmosphere could be a cause of increase in the population abundance of highly reducing environmental species, which we interpreted in our data.

Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / Esta dissertação desenvolve-se a partir de análises da microfauna de foraminíferos bentônicos dos sedimentos holocênicos da Baía de Sepetiba e do Manguezal de Guaratiba. A Baía de Sepetiba é um corpo de água semi- confinado, que é parte integrante do complexo Costeiro Guaratiba-Sepetiba no sudoeste do Rio de Janeiro. Para a realização do trabalho foram utilizados seis testemunhos da área do manguezal de Guaratiba e cinco da parte interna da Baía de Sepetiba. Foram classificados 108 espécies de foraminíferos bentônicos, 70 da Ordem ROTALIIDA, 28 da Ordem TEXTULARIIDA e 10 da Ordem MILIOLIDA. A distribuição dos foraminíferos no testemunho BS-02 mostra um aumento quali-quantitativo em direção ao topo, enquanto que o BS-03 mostra uma diminuição. De acordo com o Índice de Diversidade de Fisher, os dois testemunhos evidenciam um domínio de ambiente de salinidade normal para a baía. A presença de espécies características de águas frias no testemunho BS-02 indicam existir entrada de correntes frias na baía, bem como uma fauna de transição, decorrente do fluxo de correntes oceânicas trazer espécies de diferentes províncias geográficas para dentro desta. O testemunho BS-03, possivelmente marca dois eventos, um transgressivo de menor magnitude e um regressivo, que segue até os dias atuais. / This work was developed from analysis of benthic foraminifera associations encountered in Sepetiba Bay and Guaratiba Mangrove holocenic sediments. Sepetiba Bay is a semi-confined body of water, that is a part of Sepetiba- Guaratiba Coastal complex at Rio de Janeiro southwest. It has been used six cores from Guaratiba Mangrove and five cores from Sepetiba Bay. It has been identified 108 species of benthic foraminifera, 70 of ROTALIIDA Order, 28 of TEXTULARIIDA Order and 10 of MILIOLIDA Order. The distribution of specimens in core BS-02 increases the number of species as well as number of individuals upwards, while in core BS-03 decreases. Agreed Fisher Index, the two cores display existence of a normal salinity environment for Sepetiba Bay during the Holocene. The occurrence of characteristics species from cold water in core BS-02 point out an influence of cold currents in bay as well as a transition fauna function of ocean currents that bring species from different geographical provinces. Core BS-03 possibly high-lights two sea-level events, a transgressive event of minor order and a regressive event that happens until today.

Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / Esta dissertação desenvolve-se a partir de análises da microfauna de foraminíferos bentônicos dos sedimentos holocênicos da Baía de Sepetiba e do Manguezal de Guaratiba. A Baía de Sepetiba é um corpo de água semi- confinado, que é parte integrante do complexo Costeiro Guaratiba-Sepetiba no sudoeste do Rio de Janeiro. Para a realização do trabalho foram utilizados seis testemunhos da área do manguezal de Guaratiba e cinco da parte interna da Baía de Sepetiba. Foram classificados 108 espécies de foraminíferos bentônicos, 70 da Ordem ROTALIIDA, 28 da Ordem TEXTULARIIDA e 10 da Ordem MILIOLIDA. A distribuição dos foraminíferos no testemunho BS-02 mostra um aumento quali-quantitativo em direção ao topo, enquanto que o BS-03 mostra uma diminuição. De acordo com o Índice de Diversidade de Fisher, os dois testemunhos evidenciam um domínio de ambiente de salinidade normal para a baía. A presença de espécies características de águas frias no testemunho BS-02 indicam existir entrada de correntes frias na baía, bem como uma fauna de transição, decorrente do fluxo de correntes oceânicas trazer espécies de diferentes províncias geográficas para dentro desta. O testemunho BS-03, possivelmente marca dois eventos, um transgressivo de menor magnitude e um regressivo, que segue até os dias atuais. / This work was developed from analysis of benthic foraminifera associations encountered in Sepetiba Bay and Guaratiba Mangrove holocenic sediments. Sepetiba Bay is a semi-confined body of water, that is a part of Sepetiba- Guaratiba Coastal complex at Rio de Janeiro southwest. It has been used six cores from Guaratiba Mangrove and five cores from Sepetiba Bay. It has been identified 108 species of benthic foraminifera, 70 of ROTALIIDA Order, 28 of TEXTULARIIDA Order and 10 of MILIOLIDA Order. The distribution of specimens in core BS-02 increases the number of species as well as number of individuals upwards, while in core BS-03 decreases. Agreed Fisher Index, the two cores display existence of a normal salinity environment for Sepetiba Bay during the Holocene. The occurrence of characteristics species from cold water in core BS-02 point out an influence of cold currents in bay as well as a transition fauna function of ocean currents that bring species from different geographical provinces. Core BS-03 possibly high-lights two sea-level events, a transgressive event of minor order and a regressive event that happens until today.

The Neogene history of Caribbean deep-sea benthic foraminifera was investigated by calculating changes in paleoproductivity, diversity and paleobiogeography ~26 to 2 Ma, which includes the progressive closure of the Central American Seaway. Three hypotheses were tested: (1) Paleoproductivity values prior to closure of the Central American Seaway are similar in both the Caribbean and equatorial Pacific and then diverge by the time of early shoaling events; (2) Diversity values of benthic foraminifera prior to the closure of the Central American Seaway were similar in the Caribbean and EEP, and had changed by the time of early shoaling; and (3) during the Miocene and into the Pleistocene, the progressive constriction of the CAS affected deep-sea benthic foraminiferal assemblages by increasing their dissimilarity between the Caribbean and equatorial Eastern Pacific. These hypotheses were tested with 104 samples from five Caribbean and EEP deep-sea cores by calculating paleoproductivity with multiple proxies, determining diversity indices and calculating biogeographic similarity coefficients. The data supported the first two hypotheses: The greatest change in paleoproductivity occurred at ~8 Ma during seaway constriction, when values diverged between the Caribbean and EEP. After complete seaway closure at ~4 Ma, the Caribbean became oligotrophic, noted by a decrease in high-organic flux species, and an increase in Nuttalides umbonifera, an indicator species. The largest changes in species-level diversity occurred with the barrier to deep-water flow at ~12 Ma, and Caribbean diversity increased at ~8 Ma with seaway constriction. However, the third hypothesis was rejected: Increases in assemblage similarity actually occurred during most major paleoceanographic events, with the only decrease in Caribbean-EEP similarity occurring at ~12 Ma, coincident with a drop in diversity and emplacement of the Panama isthmian sill. Thus, the barrier to deep-water flow at ~12 Ma affected the composition of tropical American benthic foraminifera more than the largest change in paleoproductivity at ~8 Ma, or closure of the Central American Seaway at ~4 Ma.

Efforts that are underway to rehabilitate the Florida Bay ecosystem to a more natural state are best guided by a comprehensive understanding of the natural versus human-induced variability that has existed within the ecosystem. Benthic foraminifera, which are well-known paleoenvironmental indicators, were identified in 203 sediment samples from six sediment cores taken from Florida Bay, and analyzed to understand the environmental variability through anthropogenically unaltered and altered periods. In this research, taxa serving as indicators of (1) seagrass abundance (which is correlated with water quality), (2) salinity, and (3) general habitat change, were studied in detail over the past 120 years, and more generally over the past ~4000 years. Historical seagrass abundance was reconstructed with the proportions of species that prefer living attached to seagrass blades over other substrates. Historical salinity trends were determined by analyzing brackish versus marine faunas, which were defined based on species’ salinity preferences. Statistical methods including cluster analysis, discriminant analysis, analysis of variance and Fisher’s α were used to analyze trends in the data. The changes in seagrass abundance and salinity over the last ~120 years are attributed to anthropogenic activities such as construction of the Flagler Railroad from the mainland to the Florida Keys, the Tamiami Trail that stretches from the east to west coast, and canals and levees in south Florida, as well as natural events such as droughts and increased rainfall from hurricanes. Longer term changes (over ~4000 years) in seagrass abundance and salinity are mostly related to sea level changes. Since seawater entered the Florida Bay area around ~4000 years ago, only one probable sea level drop occurring around ~3000 years was identified.