Developing Testate amoebae analyses for improving precision in Holocene sea-level reconstruction

PROJECT DETAILS ONLY - NO DATA. A pilot study in the Taf estuary, South Wales (Carman et al., in press) has demonstrated the potential of Testate amoebae analyses in reconstructing high-resolution Holocene sea-level changes. Testate amobae faunas in surface samples from the saltmarsh were found to be not vey abundant and diverse, but also distinctly zoned with respect to elevation. This new finding is based on analyses of the sub-63 um size sediment fraction; previous saltmarsh studies only recorded larger testate amoebae in very low numbers and low diversity. We propose to test the replicability and applicability of Testate amoebae in sea-level studies by (i) sampling and analysing a new transect in the Brancaster marshes in the North Norfolk; and analysing fossil samples from the University of Durham core archive representing a wide range of coastal palaeo-environments.