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Benthic Foraminifera as Bioindicators of Heavy Metal Pollution

A Case Study from the Goro Lagoon (Italy)

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Environmental Micropaleontology

Part of the book series: Topics in Geobiology ((TGBI,volume 15))

Abstract

Foraminifera are extensively used in different fields of earth and environmental sciences by virtue of several factors such as (1) a hard exoskeleton, which records fundamental environmental changes and evolutionary processes of earth history, (2) small size and, consequently, high abundance in small samples, (3) wide distribution over all marine environments, (4) high taxonomic diversity, and (5) very short reproductive cycles (month to year), which make them excellent recorders of environmental changes covering a short time span.

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  1. Istituto di Geologia dell’ Università, Campus Scientifico, Località Crocicchia, Urbino, I-61029, Italy

    Rodolfo Coccioni

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  1. Rodolfo Coccioni
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  1. University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA

    Ronald E. Martin

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Coccioni, R. (2000). Benthic Foraminifera as Bioindicators of Heavy Metal Pollution. In: Martin, R.E. (eds) Environmental Micropaleontology. Topics in Geobiology, vol 15. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4167-7_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4167-7_4

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