THE INFLUENCE OF SEASONAL DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS, ECOLOGICAL PREFERENCES AND CALCIFICATION PROCESSES ON THE INCORPORATION OF STABLE OXYGEN AND CARBON ISOTOPES IN PLANKTIC FORAMINIFERAL CALCITE SHELLS

The presented thesis contributes to a better knowledge of planktic foraminiferal ecology as a prerequisite to understand the incorporation of stable carbon and oxygen isotopes into their calcite shells. This in turn provides the opportunity of improved proxy development and/or proxy calibration. The following manuscripts focus on different aspects of foraminiferal ecology and shell isotope-geochemistry in different hydrographic oceanic regions.