Quaternary Foraminifera and Ostracoda Response to Coastal Palaeoenvironments

Dear Colleagues,

Foraminifera and Ostracoda are classical microfossil groups with a rich publication record, already started in the late 18th century. Their high preservation potential, wide distribution and often high abundance in aquatic habitats, available taxonomic and ecological information and their small size make them excellent proxies of past environmental conditions and processes. Most applications of both microfossil groups are published for the Quaternary. During this period, biological information from extant species can be used for fossil associations, e.g., by relying on ecological preferences and tolerances, on transfer functions or environmentally-driven intraspecific morphological variability.

Marginal marine systems form the transitional areas between marine and continental environments thus linking marine and continental geosciences. In such marginal marine settings foraminifers and ostracods are complementing each other in their distribution along the salinity gradient. Foraminifers are clearly dominating in marine sediments, whereas they decrease in diversity and abundance with decreasing salinity and disappear in freshwater. Ostracods are present in all salinity realms but less abundant than foraminifers in marine waters. In contrast, ostracods often show very high abundances in brackish waters and are important microfossils in lakes and other continental water bodies. Both groups are versatile tools in coastal environments for a wide range of research fields, such as sedimentology, geomorphology, hydrology, palaeoecology, geoarchaeology or water quality assessment, sea level and geo-hazard studies.

This Special Issue of Geosciences will give an overview on recent developments in applying Quaternary foraminifers and ostracods in coastal geosciences by providing reviews, new methods and case studies for the fellow micropalaeontologist. Furthermore, we intend to promote their wider application to other geoscientists working in coastal environments.

We are looking forward to see your submissions for this Special Issue, bringing Foraminifera and Ostracoda forward in Quaternary geosciences.

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• Foraminifera
• Ostracoda
• Quaternary
• Marginal marine
• Estuarine
• Palaeoecology
• Coastal morphology
• Environmental Micropalaeontology
• Sea level
• Geo-hazards
• Geoarchaeology