Wonders of sand – rounded forams

Sand is full of wonders. There are lots of really nice and unusually large forams in a sand sample from Cyprus.

Forams (foraminifera) are amoeboid protists. They are benthic or planktonic sea creatures (they are not animals) who build calcareous (mostly) tests (or shells) which become biogenic sand grains after the owner of the test dies.

Tests of foraminifera are usually less than 1 mm in diameter but these are almost 2 mm. I am not sure about the genus. It could be Amphisorus but Sorites and Marginopora are possibilities as well.

Take a look at the star sand also. These are forams as well and look amazing.

Foraminifera from Cyprus
Forams picked from the sand sample collected in Paralimni, Cyprus. The width of the view is 20 mm.


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