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A seasonal survey of living benthic foraminifera was performed in 2013 in the Gulf of Trieste (N Adriatic Sea) to compare two marine coastal sites with different degrees of anthropogenic influence. An assessment of ecological quality statuses showed that the station located near the end of an urban pipeline (Ser station), has worse ecological conditions than the site located in a protected marine area (Res station) all year around.  Stressed conditions at Ser station were mainly related to high contents of total organic carbon (TOC) and Zn in the bioavailable fraction, which were a limiting factor for the studied foraminiferal communities. Ammonia tepida, Bolivina spp., and Bulimina spp., which characterised this station, were the most tolerant taxa of the studied assemblage. Conversely, Elphidium spp., H. depressula, N. iridea, Quiqueloculina spp., R. nana and Textularia spp., could be considered less tolerant species as they benefitted from the less stressful conditions recorded at Res station, despite slightly higher concentrations of some potentially toxic elements (PTEs), especially Pb, being recorded in this station in comparison to Ser station. Furthermore, foraminiferal assemblages were found to be quite resilient over an annual cycle, being able to recover from a seasonal unbalanced state to a mature one. The beginning of spring and latest summer would be the best period to assess the ecological quality status to avoid any under- or overestimation of the health of the environment.

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Three gravity cores collected during the austral summer 1990–91 in different areas of the Ross Sea continental shelf have been studied. Sedimentological, micropalaeontological and chronological data show evidence for the different evolution of the Drygalski Basin, the Joides Basin and the Cape Adare area, during the late Quaternary. The advance of glaciers during LGM is well documented in the Drygalski Basin, where a basal till testifies the presence of an ice sheet anchored on the seafloor. In contrast, a glacial marine diamicton with calcareous foraminifers in the basal part of the core collected in the Joides Basin indicates that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet was not completely grounded on the seafloor during LGM. The successive deglacial phase is more or less synchronous in both basins (about 17ka B.P.) and is documented in the overlaying units by the occurrence of well-sorted sands and foraminifer colonization. A very different sediment accumulation rate between the Drygalski and the Joides Basins is probably related to higher bioproductivity and mud accumulation in the latter during the Holocene. The Cape Adare area is a different example of environmental evolution, as shown by the presence of biogenic calcareous deposits. These deposits occur throughout the entire core, but they decrease in phase with increasing terrigenous inputs, probably during interglacial times. Within this evolution, foraminiferal and ostracod assemblages are sensitive to glacial/interglacial conditions. Their higher diversity is mainly recorded during glacial time

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