DISTRIBUTION OF FORAMINIFERA IN THE BARRIER REEF AND LAGOON OF BRITISH HONDURAS
Abstract
Eighty-nine sediment samples were collected from the barrier reef and lagoon of British Honduras. Forty-one bottom water samples were also collecte for determining temperature and salinity. Living and total (living and dead) foraminiferal populations were determined in each of the sediment samples. Analysis of the sediment samples indicates that the sediments on the barrier reef were calcarenites or calcilutites while in the lagoon they were silts and/or clays, often with admixtures of sand or shell material. The largest living and total foraminiferal populations were found to occur on the leeward side of mangrove and coralsand cays on the barrier reef and near the effluents of certain rivers in the lagoon. The smallest living and total populations on the barrier reef were found in areas geographically remote from mangrove or coralsand cays. In the lagoon the smallest living populations occurred close to the barrier reef while the smallest total populations, excluding those situated close to the effluents of certain rivers, were found close to the mainland. Two distinct foraminiferal faunas were recognized from the living populations, one characteristic of the barrier reef and the other of the lagoon. On the basis of scatter diagrams a fauna transitional between the barrier reef and lagoon faunas was delineated. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1961
- Accession Number
- AD0257192
Entities
People
- Donald E. Cebulski
Organizations
- Texas A&M University