Benthic foraminiferal raw counts and manuscript data

Quantitative palaeobathymetric reconstructions based on foraminiferal
proxies have been used in a wide variety of geological studies on
tectonic, climatic and environmental changes in sedimentary basins.
However, palaeo-water depth estimates are frequently biased due to
taphonomic processes (dissolution, transport) as well as local conditions
(primary productivity, oxygen content, and organic matter fluxes). This
study evaluated the level of reliability of three commonly used transfer
equations based on planktic and benthic foraminiferal proxies that produce
different palaeobathymetric results. The most trustworthy method involves
removing abundant infaunal benthic foraminifera before applying the
paleo-water depth equation based on benthic foraminiferal water-depth
ranges and presence/absence of species. This new approach provides sound
palaeobathymetric results that improve estimations of long- and short-term
relative sea-level changes with negligible influence of taphonomic as well
as ecological factors. In case of using one equation based on
planktic/benthic ratios (P/B ratios), removing all infaunal benthic
foraminiferal species improves the accuracy of P/B ratios, which yields
more accurate palaeodepth reconstructions despite the low level of
trustworthiness of this equation for both long- and short-term relative
sea-level variations.