Holocene Planktonic Foraminifera from the Shelf Sediments Off Kerala Coast

Twenty-two planktonic foraminifers were identified from a few samples collected by the author aboard INS KISTNA at 9°N and 76°E, at 89 metres depth from the bottom sediment-water interface. A few of the more characteristic features of each are described. Some of the species have a geologic range from Miocene to late Pleistocene and Recent also. Globigerina hexagon a and Globoquadrina conglomerata which disappeared from the Atlantic earlier (50,000 to one million years ago) are seen to be living today in the Indian Ocean. A few species are rare and restricted forms.