OMPARISON OF FORAMINIFERAL TAPHOCOENOSE ASSEMBLAGES SEDIMENTS FROM SOUTHERN BOHAI SEA

84 surficial sediment samples obtained from the southern Bohai Sea were selected for revealing the distribution pattern of the benthic foraminifera and their relationships with the marine environmental parameters of the sediments. The data suggests that the study area was dominated by the foraminiferal species with high tolerances to low temperature and low salinity. Moreover, 38 species/genera with relatively higher abundances were chosen for Q-mode factor analysis, and then 4 varimax factors corresponding respectively to 4 foraminiferal assemblages were obtained. Comparison between the assemblages and environmental parameters leads to the following conclusions: first, the Protelphidium turberculatum-Buccella frigida assemblage dominates the cold bottom water mass in the central Bohai Sea; second, the Cribrononion subincertum - Buccella frigida assemblage is mainly controlled by both the remanent Yellow Sea warm current and the grain size of bottom sediment; third, the Ammonia becarii var.- Ammonia aomoriensis assemblage was dominated in the coastal water masses with low salinity; and forth, the Elphidium advenum - Textularia foliacea assemblage was mainly constrained by the grain size of sediment. In general, water depth and sea floor topographic fluctuation show little influence on the distribution pattern of foraminifera. Instead, temperature, salinity, and sediment grain size are the main factors which decide the distribution pattern of benthic foraminifera in the study area.