L'Albufereta d'Alacant: foraminifera and palaeoenvironmental evolution

Abstract

The aim of this work is the palaeoenvironmental study of the geographical setting of l’Albufereta d’Alacant, where Iberian rests have been located near the Cerro de las Balsas and a possible Roman mooring have been found close by the Cap de les Hortes. To achieve this goal, the micropalaeontological analysis, mainly based on benthic foraminifera, of samples from a series of local cores has been carried out. The results show the occurrence of lagunal facies strongly connected to the sea in earliest phases of Iberian settlements (5th-4th centuries b.C.) in which a mixed assemblage of stenohaline and euryhaline species can be observed. The main open marine species are mainly Ammonia beccarii beccarii (Linné), Elphidium crispum (Linné), Peneroplis pertusus (Forskäl), Amphysorus hemprichii Ehrenberg and Massilina secans (D’Orbigny), whereas those related to restricted environments are Ammonia beccarii tepida (Cushman), Trichohyalus aguayoi (Bermúdez) and Miliolinella eburnea (D’Orbigny). In the most internal places the agglutinated species Trochammina inflata (Montagu) occurs. Subsequently an alluvial episode is remarked, which coincides with a later Iberian epoch (4th-3th centuries b.C.).