How to discriminate athalassic and marginal marine microfaunas? Foraminifera 
and other fossils from an early Holocene continental lake in northern Saudi 
Arabia

Pint, A.; Engel, M.; Melzer, S.; Frenzel, P.; Plessen, Birgit; Brückner, H.

doi:10.2113/gsjfr.47.2.175

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How to discriminate athalassic and marginal marine microfaunas? Foraminifera and other fossils from an early Holocene continental lake in northern Saudi Arabia

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Pint, A.
External Organizations (TEMPORARY!);

Engel, M.
External Organizations (TEMPORARY!);

Melzer, S.
External Organizations (TEMPORARY!);

Frenzel, P.
External Organizations (TEMPORARY!);

/persons/resource/birgit

Plessen, Birgit
5.2 Climate Dynamics and Landscape Evolution, 5.0 Geoarchives, Departments, GFZ Publication Database, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

Brückner, H.
External Organizations (TEMPORARY!);

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Citation

Pint, A., Engel, M., Melzer, S., Frenzel, P., Plessen, B., Brückner, H. (2017): How to discriminate athalassic and marginal marine microfaunas? Foraminifera and other fossils from an early Holocene continental lake in northern Saudi Arabia. - Journal of Foraminiferal Research, 47, 2, 175-187.
https://doi.org/10.2113/gsjfr.47.2.175

Cite as: https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_2435903

Abstract

The occurrence of athalassic foraminiferal species, along with the brackish-water ostracod Cyprideis torosa, the barnacle Amphibalanus amphitrite, and brackish-water gastropods, prove the existence of a saline lake at Tayma, northern Saudi Arabia, during the early to mid-Holocene. Outcrops at the former shoreline, as well as a single sediment core, allow a reconstruction of the history of the main lake phase. Whereas these outcrops contain masses of calcareous micro- and macrofossils, the core from the modern sabkha does not. Four foraminiferal species were identified: Ammonia tepida is dominant, Quinqueloculina seminula is common, Flintinoides labiosa and Discorinopsis aguayoi are rare. Sieve-pore analysis and shell chemistry of C. torosa, as well as varying but generally high proportions of test anomalies (up to 50%) in foraminifers, indicate fluctuating, mostly hypersaline lacustrine conditions. We suggest, based on these results and on a literature overview on the worldwide distribution of Quaternary athalassic foraminifer taxa, that a combination of low diversity, exclusively marginal marine taxa, combined with occurrences of test anomalies >10% can be used to recognize athalassic saline waters in the fossil record.