Image dataset of benthic foraminifera in multicorer and gravity corer sediments from north-western Scotland shelf (North Atlantic Ocean)

Abstract

Geological studies in the seas and oceans often give preference to the study of benthic foraminifera, which are a widespread and taxonomically diverse group of shell protozoa. In this paper, we present an extensive image dataset produced during the detailed micropaleontological analysis of 146 samples of bottom sediments collected by multicorer and gravity corer AMK-5656 from the Westray Basin on the north-western Scotland shelf (North Atlantic Ocean). In total, 106 taxa (at species and genera level) of benthic foraminifera were identified and photographed using the high-resolution microscope camera. This dataset can aid as a guide for identification of the benthic foraminiferal taxa at the paleoecological studies, stratigraphic works and interregional paleoceanographic correlation in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Keywords: North Atlantic Ocean; Quaternary sediments; Scotland shelf; benthic foraminifera; micropaleontology.