LIVING (STAINED) BENTHIC FORAMINIFERA WITHIN SURFICIAL SEDIMENTS OF THE SKAGERRAK

An analysis of living (stained) benthic foraminifera within four box c ores raised from water depths of 74 to 621 m in the Skagerrak shows th at faunal patterns at different water depths are strikingly different within this relatively shallow, organic-rich marginal sea environment. Although some genera show vertical stratification within the sediment s, a number of taxa are found over wide intervals or have different pa tterns between cores. The vertical distributional data are compared wi th deep-sea data from the eastem margin of North America. Benthic fora minifera from a deep core at 530 m in the Skagerrak have similar fauna l patterns within the surficial sediments as found in the deep sea, bu t shallow cores at 74 and 212 m have more complex patterns. This diffe rence between shallow and deep cores within the Skagerrak and the Nort h Atlantic is attributed to higher biological activity in the shallow environments, which creates a greater amount of heterogeneity within t he shallow-water sediments than is found in deeper environments. The f aunal data suggest that the use of benthic foraminifera for paleoenvir onmental reconstructions in shallow, organic-rich regions will be comp licated in future studies. The ecology of individual species is diffic ult to assess because of the complex faunal patients observed within t he surficial sediments. Geochemical studies for estimating bottom wate r oxygen or organic carbon flux will also be difficult, since these st udies assume that taxa occupy particular microhabitats within the surf icial sediments.