Monitoring of heavy metals contamination in near-shore marine environments using a novel bio-archive: Large benthic foraminifera Amphisorus hemprichii

The release of heavy metals (HMs) into the coastal environments due to increasing anthropogenic activities poses a severe threat to local marine ecosystems and food chains. In this PhD thesis, the incorporation of the heavy metals Pb, Mn, Ni, and Cd into the carbonate skeletons of the foraminifera Amphisorus hemprichii was examined under a range of environmental conditions. Partition coefficients obtained from culture experiments and their application to foraminifera extracted from a sediment core, now enable this naturally occurring bio-archive to be utilised as a quantitative monitor of anthropogenic HM pollution in present-day as well as past near-shore marine environments.