The foraminiferal record in the Holocene evolution of the Mecklenburg Bay (south-western Baltic Sea)

Foraminiferal assemblages were analyzed in a 620-cm long core retrieved from the central part of the Mecklenburg Bay (MB, south-western Baltic Sea) to aid in the reconstruction of environmental changes occurring in the area during the Holocene and to complement a set of previously investigated palaeoenvironmental proxies. A total of five foraminifera-based stratigraphic units were identified, including an initial 80-cm thick layer devoid of foraminifera. The next two units featured an increasing abundance of the foraminiferal assemblage dominated by the calcareous Ammonia group species. Nearly all the calcareous foraminifera found in the core were decalcified. Following the maximum abundance within the 470–410 cm layer, the foraminiferal abundance declined sharply and the assemblage’s dominance structure changed to domination of the agglutinated foraminiferal species, Eggerelloides scaber, which continued up to the top of the core and marked a pronounced shift in environmental conditions (shallower depth, lower salinity, more dynamic sedimentation conditions). The foraminifera-based stratigraphy of the core proved to be complementary to that emerging from previous analyses of diatoms and sediment geochemistry.