BG Biogeosciences BG Biogeosciences 1726-4189 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/bg-9-4607-2012 Bioerosion by microbial euendoliths in benthic foraminifera from heavy metal-polluted coastal environments of Portovesme (south-western Sardinia, Italy) Cherchi A. 1 Buosi C. 1 Zuddas P. 2 De Giudici G. 1 Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Geologiche, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Via Trentino 51, 09127 Cagliari, Italy Institut des Sciences de la Terre de Paris, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris-Sorbonne, place Jussieu 4, 75252 Paris Cédex05, France 20 11 2012 9 11 4607 4620 Copyright: © 2012 A. Cherchi et al. 2012 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This article is available from https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/9/4607/2012/bg-9-4607-2012.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/9/4607/2012/bg-9-4607-2012.pdf

A monitoring survey of the coastal area facing the industrial area of Portoscuso-Portovesme (south-western Sardinia, Italy) revealed intense bioerosional processes. Benthic foraminifera collected at the same depth (about 2 m) but at different distances from the pollution source show extensive microbial infestation, anomalous Mg/Ca molar ratios and high levels of heavy metals in the shell associated with a decrease in foraminifera richness, population density and biodiversity with the presence of morphologically abnormal specimens. We found that carbonate dissolution induced by euendoliths is selective, depending on the Mg content and morpho-structural types of foraminiferal taxa. This study provides evidences for a connection between heavy metal dispersion, decrease in pH of the sea-water and bioerosional processes on foraminifera.

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