Foraminifers as pollution bio-indicator at Al Hariqa oil harbour of Tobruk, Libya

Abstract

The main objective of this work is to use foraminifera as a pollution bio indicator at Al Hariqa Oil Harbour in Tobruk, northeast Libya. Ten beach sediments samples have been collected and analyzed to define and examine their foraminiferal contents. About ninety-six abnormal foraminiferal tests out of total 1220 picked foraminiferal tests have been encountered in this study. Selected specimens were analyzed and micro- photographed by Scanning Electron Microscope to highlight their morphological variations. The abnormalities in the encountered foraminiferal tests are largely in form of: i) corrosion, smoothing and polishing of test surfaces due to post-morten action which may attribute to water chemistry. ii) coil twisting, deformed chamber size, disturbed suture, dislocated aperture and twinned individuals, which are attributed to high concentration of heavy metals such as Cadmium and Lead in the studied samples. However, the dirty black or brown colors are also documented on some tests, which may attribute to the reducing conditions as a result of human and industry- related drained wastes respectively.