Foraminiferal studies in nearshore regions of western coast of India and Laccadives Islands: A review

Abstract

The literature published on foraminiferal investigations carried out till date on nearshore, shallow water regions up to a depth of 50 m, along western coast of India, including Laccadive Archipelago has been reviewed. The aim is to prepare a bibliography of the foraminiferal studies from the tropical Arabian Sea bordering west coast of India and to highlight the major contribution made towards various studies of foraminifera. The review shows that most of the studies discussed taxonomical and/or ecological aspects as evident by 53 publications, followed by 21 papers on paleoenvironment/climate/monsoons, etc., and only 3 papers on modern environmental implications. Besides other applied aspects of foraminifera, studies on a few new fields such as laboratory culture, molecular systematic analysis, isotopic studies, trace elements analysis, etc., have also been initiated on the foraminifera collected along western coast of India.