“Surfers of Bottom Water Masses as Narrators”: Water Masses and Geo Properties Interaction as Benthic Habitats for Foraminiferal Bio Indicators

Abstract

Our “surfers” of bottom water masses and geo properties interaction, the Forams indicators from the marine sediment-water interface dominate unique benthic habitats. In modern oceans, benthic foraminifera proxies are tolerance ranges for salinity, temperature and oxygenation and sedimentological properties and changes in benthic distribution patterns are interpreted as long term changes in bottom-water mass structure around the world. Case studies done in North and South America demonstrate that the “monster” estuarine plume of the Plata River, and the bays in Delaware and Rio de Janeiro are different settings with “subtle” or “abrupt” hydrographic and geological properties changes characteristic of coastal environments. It has also shown that even in these environments subject to seasonal and daily changes, with a tidal movement of the periodic saline water intrusion and freshwater runoff highly dynamic, it is possible to form habitats, all of them accurately occupied and distinguished by Forams as Bio indicators that reflect Freshwater, Cold, and Warm waters, Marine Fronts, Sediment fractions, and dynamics of Salinity and Temperature.