Microfossils

Foraminiferal facts: from Cretaceous palaeoclimates to Caribbean tephrochronology

Dr. Jodie Fisher, School of Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Plymouth University

Foraminifera are one of the most diverse and abundant marine organisms. Ranging from the Cambrian to the modern day, their abundance and complexity in test structure makes them invaluable in biostratigraphy and palaeoenvironmental analysis. They are also increasingly used in the modern environment as indicators of global change, pollution, and in recolonisation studies.
This talk will introduce foraminifera, how these amazing micro-organisms have lived through geological time to the modern day, and look at how they can be utilised to answer some of the biggest geological questions. Firstly, we shall look at the Cretaceous, and the oceanic anoxic events that led to extinction and global change in the world's oceans. We will then explore how foraminifera can be used as indicators of ocean chemistry, correlators of the event across the globe, and as indicators of both extinction and recolonisation. The talk will show how these same techniques can be used in a more modern environment; specifically in dating volcanic events in the Caribbean, and in looking at the effect of these volcanic events on what is living in the oceans.
Although small, foraminifera are a key component of life in the oceans and through their study we can utilise them as ocean recorders, both today and in the geological past.

Sign up if you can come, google doc 'Geog and Geol lecture sign up'

I appreciate that this may be a bad time for some of you as you have lots of exam preparation to do, but it is an A2 fossil topic and I will be going so the offer is there!