Samples from 121 stations in Tarut Bay, on the Arabian Gulf coastline of Saudi Arabiat were examined for their foraminiferal content. 109 of these contained Foraminifera. The environment is hypersaline (45ýwl up to 75%4) and sampling stations included bare sediment substrates as well as vegetated substrates. Depth of waterl temperature, salinity and substrate were recorded. 43 foraminiferal taxa. were recognizedp 14 of which constituted 9Wo of the dead population and 93% of the living. These 14 taxa are regarded as the common taxa and their distribution plotted on maps. Living and dead specimens of most of these taxa, have a similar distribution. The distribution is patchy because it is controlled by the type of substrate and to a less extent by water depth. 3 assemblage zones have been recognized: Intertidall Shallow Subtidal (0-3 m) and Deeper Subtidal (3-13 m). These are recognized by the relative abundance of the different common taxa. The fauna has a low diversity for both living (CV, = 1-4) and dead (cx-'= 1-5)9 and is dominated by Miliolina (c. 55%) of which the most abundant are Quinqueloculina spp. p Triloculina spp. 9 -SpirolocRlina spp. 9 Spirolina arietina and Peneroplis planatuS. The suborder Rotaliina (c. 39%) is next in abundance with iv Ammonia beccarii varieties and Elphidium spp. The Textulariina (c. 67o) are represented by Textularia spp. and Eggerella scabra. Living/Dead ratios have been examined and taken to indicate no relationship between this ratio and rate of sedimentation. The fauna of Tarut Bay is compared with that of other hypersaline environments in the Arabian Gulf and in the Red Sea. These faunas have certain characteristics which can be regarded as typifying the hypersaline environment: low diversity# dominance of Miliolinat and rarity of Textularina.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:377151 |
| Date | January 1981 |
| Creators | Ahmed, Mohammed Abou-Ouf Sayed |
| Publisher | University of Glasgow |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://theses.gla.ac.uk/3988/ |
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