"Micropaleontology: its
importance and its application"
introduction:
Micropaleontology: (American spelling; spelled
micropalaeontology in European usage) is the branch
of paleontology (paleontology) that studies
microfossils or fossils.
that require the use of a microscope to see the
organism, its morphology and its characteristic
details.
Microfossils The study of organic microfossils is
called palynology.
Organic microfossils include pollen, spores,
chitinozoans (thought to be the egg cases of marine
invertebrates), scolecodonts ("worm" jaws),
acritarchs, dinoflagellate cysts, and fungal remains.
micropaleontology is the division of paleontology that
reads microfossils or fossils that want the use of a
microscope to view the organism, its morphology,
and its characteristics details.
Microfossil of pritist
microfossils are fossils remains of microscopic
organisms or microscopic components of
microorganisms.
the principal collections acknowledged are protists,
foraminifera, ostracodes, conodonts, spores, and
pollen.
Importance of micropaleontology:
microfossils are very valuable biostratigraphic
pointers.
microfossils are very useful in
paleoenvironmental reconstruction.
their sensitivity to environmental conditions
makes them valuable in paleoenvironmental
reconstructions.
developing patterns of paleoceanographic
circulation can be distinguished using
microfossils.
microfossils are necessary for biostratigraphy
due to their abundance, global distribution, and
persistence.
the groups consider in protists, foraminifera,
ostracodes, conodonts, spores, and pollen.
protists are a group from micropaleontology that
is a branch from paleontology and the character
of Protists are single-celled eukaryotic
organisms. they can be divided into autotrophic
(self-nourishing, like plants) and heterotrophic
(consumers, like animals ) organisms.
multicelled, but small, organisms are
represented by ostracodes.
microscopic pieces of macro-organisms covered
are conodonts (tooth-like elements of
vertebrates ).
spores and pollen (the reproductive parts of
plants ).
micropaleontology can be roughly divided into
four areas of study based on microfossil
composition:
1-calcareous, as in coccoliths and
foraminifera.
2-phosphatic, as in the study of some
vertebrates.
3-siliceous, as in the diatoms and radiolaria.
4-organic, as in the pollen and spores
(studied in palynology).
this division reflects differences in the
mineralogical and chemical composition of
microfossil remains rather than any strict
taxonomic or ecological distinctions.
Methods:
Sediment or rock units are collected from both cores
or outcrops, and the microfossils they include are
removed by a type of physical and chemical
laboratory systems, including sieving, density division
by centrifuge or in Methods heavy liquids, and
chemical separation of the undesired part.
The resulting concentrated sample of microfossils is
then mounted on a slide for analysis, regularly by
light microscope.
Taxa are then recognized and counted.
The large numbers of microfossils that a small
sediment sample can often yield provides the
collection of statistically robust datasets which can
be subjected to multivariate analysis.
A typical microfossil study will include description of
a few hundred units from each specimen.
Application of micropaleontology:
Microfossils are specially noteworthy for their
importance in biostratigraphy.
Since microfossils are often extremely abundant,
widespread, and quick to appear and disappear from
the stratigraphic record, they constitute ideal index
fossils from a biostratigraphic perspective.
Also, the planktonic and nektonic habits of some
microfossils give them the bonus of appearing across
a wide range of facies or paleoenvironments, as well
as having near-global distribution, making
biostratigraphic correlation even more powerful and
effective.
Microfossils, particularly from deep-sea sediments,
also provide some of the most important records of
global environmental change on long, medium or
short timescales.
Across vast areas of the ocean floor, the shells of
planktonic micro-organisms sinking from surface
waters provide the dominant source of sediment, and
they continuously accumulate (typically at rates of
20–50 million per million years).
Study of changes in assemblages of microfossils and
changes in their shell chemistry (e.g., oxygen isotope
composition) are fundamental to research on climate
change in the geological past.
In addition to providing an excellent tool for
sedimentary rock dating and paleoenvironmental
reconstruction – heavily used in both petroleum
geology and paleoceanography – micropaleontology
has also found several less orthodox applications,
such as its growing role in forensic police
investigation or in determining the provenance of
archaeological artefacts.
Micropaleontology is also a tool of geoarchaeology
used in the archaeological reconstruction of human
habitation sites and environments.
Changes in the microfossil population abundance in
the stratigraphy of current and former water bodies
reflect changes in environmental conditions.
Naturally occurring ostracods in freshwater bodies
are impacted by changes in salinity and pH due to
human activities.
When correlated with other dating techniques,
prehistoric environments can be reconstructed.
Work on Lake Tanganyika provided a profile of
human-induced environmental changes of 4,000
years.
Similar work in the arid American Southwest has
provided information on irrigation canals used by
prehistoric peoples from 2100 B.C. to 500 B.C. Other
archaeological work in arid climates throughout the
Americas has incorporated Micropaleontological
analysis to build a more complete picture of
prehistoric climate and human activity.