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Lateglacial and Holocene environmental changes in Portuguese coastal lagoons 2: microfossil multiproxy reconstruction of the Santo André coastal area

Area de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad del Patís Vasco/EHU, Apartado 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spaingppcebia{at}lg.ehu.es

Mário Cachão

M. Cristina Cabral

Roberto Bao

Facultade de Ciencias, Universidade da Coruña, Campus da Zapateira s/n, 15071 A Coruñia, Spain

Maria de Jesus Ramalho

Centro de Geologia da Universidade de Lisboa, Bloco C2, 5o Piso Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal

Benthic foraminiferal, ostracod, calcareous nannoplankton and diatom assemblages have been analysed from the 25.45 sedimentary succession of a borehole drilled in the Santo André lagoon (southwestern Portugal). The zones and subzones recognized according to their microfossil content have been used to define six palaeoenvironmental stages extending from the Lateglacial to the present. Stage A and the lower part of stage B (14.2 to 10.0 ka) represent a postglacial terrestrial environment when sea level was below present. Following eustatic sea-level rise, a normal marine, open-bay environment established during the upper part of stage B (10.0 to 5.4 ka). Before 5.4 ka, a coastal lagoon developed as a consequence of a sandy barrier formation. Since then, natural variation in the permeability of the detrital barrier through time has been the primary control of the physical, chemical and biological features of the lagoonal environment: during stage C (5.4 to 3.6 ka) as a freshwater-dominated lagoon, stage D (3.6 to 1.6 ka) as a brackish lagoonal environment, and stage E (1.6 to 0.5 ka) as a return to a freshwater-dominated lagoon. Finally, in the last 400 years (stage F), human intervention on the sandy barrier (artificial open- and closed-inlet conditions) has provoked rapid and dramatic environmental changes in Santo André.

Key Words: Benthic foraminifera • ostracoda • calcareous nannoplankton • diatoms • coastal evolution • lagoon • sea-level rise • sandy barrier • human intervention • Portugal • Lateglacial • Holocene

The Holocene, Vol. 13, No. 3, 447-458 (2003)
DOI: 10.1191/0959683603hl637rp


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