Living benthic foraminifera of the western and southern Arabian Sea

Assemblages of Rose Bengal stained, living deep-sea benthic foraminifera, their densities, vertical distribution pattern, and diversity were analysed after the Northeast Monsoon and short-time changes were recorded.

In the western Arabian Sea, foraminiferal numbers increased steadily between March and the beginning of May, especially in the smaller size classes (30-63 µm, 63-125 µm). At the same time, the deepening of the foraminiferal living horizon, variable diversity and rapid variations between dominant foraminiferal communities were observed. We interpret these observations as the time-dependent response of benthic foraminifera to enhanced organic carbon fluxes during and after the Northeast Monsoon.