La transformación ambiental reciente de la Ría de Bilbao: indicadores micropaleontológicos en el registro sedimentario estuarino

Laburpena

Benthonic foraminiferal content in surface sediments and short cores from the Bilbao Estuary have been analyzed in order to characterize the biological response to the recent anthropogenic impact in this estuary. The rare presence of small numbers of foraminifera transported from the bay into the estuary suggest a very intense and persistant environmental transformation of this coastal area due to industrial and urban effluents discharged during the last 150 years. Comparison of these data with micropalaeontological information obtained from Holocene boreholes has enabled the recognition of pre-industrial estuarine environmental conditions in the estuary and the establishment of a reference baseline to evaluate the effectiveness of the future environmental regeneration in the Bilbao Estuary.