Global Journal of Science Frontier Research, H: Environment & Earth Science, Volume 22 Issue 5

Table 2 show that more than 55% of the unconsolidated sediment samples, including some corals, had some evidence of oil in 2019 opposed to no evidence at all as previously studied 2013 and 2014. We have registered loss of 26 species including symbiotic species in 2019 if compared to 2013 and 2014. In according to Eichler et al (2019) and Eichler and Moura (2020) 44 foraminiferal species were recorded in 2013 and 2014, and in 2019 after the oil spill, only 20 species survived the effects of the accident, which includes loss of habitat and calcareous dissolution by the resulting acidic sediment contaminants. In addition, we observe that 59% of all species did not tolerate the new environment and have disappeared, whereas 50% of the symbiotic species were also extinct. This striking decrease in number of species after the oil spilling in 2019 shows that the scope of the contamination is much farther beyond what was previously assumed, since diversity decrease is very high among benthic species. It is important to notice that samples collected in the river mouth (20, 21, and 22) were barren, and were oil spotted. Samples 23, 24 and 25 also in the river realm presented very low numbers of individuals. For now, we have no estimate of the amount of oil that remains on marine sediments, estuaries or mangroves, or the amount that has infiltrated into the Brazilian sand beaches in this case. 1 Global Journal of Science Frontier Research Volume XXII Issue V Year 2022 53 ( H ) Version I © 2022 Global Journals Evidence of Sediment Sterility and Benthic Quality as Deleterious Consequences After the 2019 Oil Spill in Northeastern Brazil Table 2: Benthic Foraminifera´S Number of Species and Individuals. Stations P2, P3, P7, P8, P9, P12, P14, P18, P20, P21, P22 Presented Oil Spots in the Marine Sediment Collected for Foraminiferal Analysis. Table 3: Number of Species (S), Number of Individuals (N), Evenness (J’), Diversity (H’), Dominance (Lambda).