Foraminiferal characteristics in mud deposits of the southeastern margin of Korea

Abstract

Six surface sediments from two offshore transects off Ulsan and Gampo, on the southeastern margin of Korea were taken for sediment and foraminiferal analyses. Sedimentary processes are dominated by reworking and resedimentation from storms in the area off Ulsan and hemipelagic suspension settling in the area off Gampo. Eighty-four foraminiferal species were identified in total assemblages, including 33 species of living populations and 9 species of planktonic foraminifera. The characteristics of foraminifera showed differences of offshore environments between Ulsan and Gampo. The number of living species, species diversity and equitability in Gampo offshore area had higher values than those in Ulsan offshore area. However, planktonic/benthic(P/ B) ratio showed higher in the Ulsan offshore area. The species diversity indices and P/B ratio indicated that environmental stability and surface-ocean productivity in the Gampo offshore area were relatively higher than the Ulsan offshore area. The difference of species compositions is useful for interpreting the paleoenvironments in mud deposits of the southeastern margin of Korea.