Micropaleontology, the study of microfossils, is a branch of paleontology. Microfossils are fossils generally smaller than 1 mm, whose study requires the use of light microscopy or scanning electron microscopy. Fossils which can be studied with the naked eye, or low-powered magnification are referred to as macrofossils. A paleontologist carefully chips rock from a column of dinosaur vertebrae. ... A fossil Ammonite Fossils are the mineralized remains of animals or plants or other traces such as footprints. ... A millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is an SI unit of length that is equal to one thousandth of a metre. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into microscope. ... Possible meanings: Scanning electron microscope Search Engine Marketing Security Event Manager Society for Experimental Mechanics Steam Engine Makers Strategic Enterprise Management Standard Error of Measurement Structural Equation Modeling Swedish Evangelical Mission SmartStream Encryptor/Modulator This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid...

Microfossils are a common feature of the geological record, from the Precambrian to the Quaternary, and are found in most marine and terrestrial sediments. While every Kingdom of life is represented in the microfossil record, the most abundant forms are protist skeletons or cysts from the phyla Chrysophyta, Pyrrhophyta, Sarcodina, acritarchs and chitinozoans together with pollen and spores from vascular plants. The geologic time scale is used by geologists and other scientists to describe the timing and relationships between events that have occurred during the history of the Earth. ... The Precambrian is an informal name for the eons of the geologic timescale that came before the current Phanerozoic eon. ... The Quaternary Period is the geologic time period from the end of the Pliocene Epoch roughly 1. ... [[Image:http://www. ... Sediment is any particulate matter that can be transported by fluid flow and which eventually is deposited as a layer of solid particles on the bed or bottom of a body of water or other liquid. ... Ernst Haeckels presentation of a three-kingdom system (Plantae, Protista, Animalia) in his 1866 Generelle Morphologie der Organismen. ... Typical phyla Rhodophyta (red algae) Chromista Heterokontophyta (heterokonts) Haptophyta Cryptophyta (cryptomonads) Alveolates Dinoflagellata Apicomplexa Ciliophora (ciliates) Excavates Euglenozoa Percolozoa Metamonada Rhizaria Radiolaria Foraminifera Cercozoa Amoebozoa Choanozoa Many others; classification varies Protists (IPA: ) are a heterogeneous group of living things, comprising those eukaryotes that are neither animals, plants, nor fungi. ... The golden algae or chrysophytes are a large group of heterokont algae, found mostly in freshwater. ... Classes Dinophyceae Noctiluciphyceae Syndiniophyceae The dinoflagellates are a large group of flagellate protists. ... Amoeba (Chaos diffluens) Foraminiferan shells Heliozoan (Actinophrys sol) Amoeboids are cells that move or feed by means of temporary projections, called pseudopods (false feet). ... Acritarchs are small organic structures found as fossils. ... Chitinozoa (English singular: chitinozoan, plural: chitinozoans) are a group of flask-shaped marine microfossils (50-2000 micrometres) which appear dark or almost opaque when viewed using a light microscope. ... SEM image of pollen grains from a variety of common plants: sunflower (Helianthus annuus), morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea), hollyhock (Sildalcea malviflora), lily (Lilium auratum), primrose (Oenothera fruticosa), and castor bean (Ricinus communis). ... The term spore has several different meanings in biology. ... Divisions Non-seed-bearing plants Equisetophyta Lycopodiophyta Psilotophyta Pteridophyta Superdivision Spermatophyta Pinophyta Cycadophyta Ginkgophyta Gnetophyta Magnoliophyta The vascular plants are plants in the Kingdom Plantae (also called Viridiplantae) that have specialized tissues for conducting water. ...

Micropaleontology is traditionally divided into three areas of study on the basis of microfossil composition, which can be calcereous, siliceous, or organic. This division reflects differences in the laboratory processing and preparation of sediment and rock samples rather than any taxanomic or ecological distinctions. Limey shale overlaid by limestone. ... In chemistry, a silicate is a compound consisting of silicon and oxygen (SixOy), one or more metals, and possibly hydrogen. ... Pollen under microscope Palynology is the science that studies contemporary and fossil palynomorphs, including pollen, spores, dinoflagellate cysts, acritarchs, chitinozoans and scolecodonts, together with particulate organic matter (POM) and kerogen found in sedimentary rocks and sediments. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms (as opposed to folk taxonomy). ... Ecology is the branch of science that studies the distribution and abundance of living organisms, and the interactions between organisms and their environment. ...

Calcareous microfossils

Calcareous microfossils include Coccoliths, Foraminifera,Shark teeth, Calcareous dinoflagellates, and Ostracods. Coccoliths are the individual plates formed by coccolithophores such as Emiliana huxleyi1, and arranged around them in a coccosphere. ... Orders Allogromiida Carterinida Fusulinida- extinct Globigerinida Involutinida- extinct Lagenida Miliolida Robertinida Rotaliida Silicoloculinida Spirillinida Textulariida incertae sedis    Xenophyophorea    Reticulomyxa The Foraminifera, or forams for short, are a large group of amoeboid protists with reticulating pseudopods, fine strands that branch and merge to form a dynamic net. ... Orders Archaeocopida (extinct) Leperditicopida (extinct) Palaeocopida (extinct) Podocopida Platycopida Myodocopida Introduction Ostracoda is a class of the Crustacea, sometimes known as the seed shrimp because of their appearance. ...

Phosphatic microfossils

Phosphatic microfossils include Conodonts, (miniscule fossils),[Shark spines]], and Fish remains. Conodonts are extinct worm-like forms with distinctive conical or multi-denticulate teeth made of apatite (calcium phosphate). ... Atlantic herring, Clupea harengus: one of the most abundant species of fish in the world. ...

Siliceous microfossils

Siliceous microfossils include Diatoms, Radiolaria, Silicoflagellates, and spicules. Diatoms are the most common of the eukaryotic algae. ... Possible classes Polycystinea Acantharea Taxopodea Radiolaria are amoeboid protozoa that produce intricate mineral skeletons, typically with a central capsule dividing the cell into inner and outer portions, called endoplasm and ectoplasm. ... The silicoflagellates are a small group of unicellular heterokont algae, found in marine environments. ... This article is about the skeletal structure. ...

Organic microfossils

The study of organic microfossils is called palynology. Organic microfossils include pollen, spores, Chitinozoans, Scolecodonts, Acritarchs, Dinoflagellate cysts, and fungal remains. Pollen under microscope Palynology is the science that studies contemporary and fossil palynomorphs, including pollen, spores, dinoflagellate cysts, acritarchs, chitinozoans and scolecodonts, together with particulate organic matter (POM) and kerogen found in sedimentary rocks and sediments. ... SEM image of pollen grains from a variety of common plants: sunflower (Helianthus annuus), morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea), hollyhock (Sildalcea malviflora), lily (Lilium auratum), primrose (Oenothera fruticosa), and castor bean (Ricinus communis). ... The term spore has several different meanings in biology. ... Chitinozoa (English singular: chitinozoan, plural: chitinozoans) are a group of flask-shaped marine microfossils (50-2000 micrometres) which appear dark or almost opaque when viewed using a light microscope. ... Scolecodonts are the jaws of polychaete annelids (worms). ... Acritarchs are small organic structures found as fossils. ... Classes Dinophyceae Noctiluciphyceae Syndiniophyceae The dinoflagellates are a large group of flagellate protists. ... Divisions Chytridiomycota Zygomycota Ascomycota Basidiomycota The Fungi (singular: fungus) are a large group of organisms ranked as a kingdom within the Domain Eukaryota. ...

Methods

Sediment or rock samples are collected from either cores or outcrops, and the microfossils they contain extracted by a variety of physical and chemical laboratory techniques, including sieving, density separation by centrifuge, and chemical digestion of the unwanted fraction. The resulting concentrated sample of microfossils is then mounted on a slide for analysis, usually by light microscope. Taxa are then identified and counted. The large numbers of microfossils that a small sediment sample can often yield allows the collection of statistically robust datasets which can be subjected to multivariate analysis. A laboratory centrifuge tabletop centrifuge A centrifuge is a piece of equipment that puts a substance in rotation around a fixed axis in order for the centrifugal force to separate a fluid from a fluid or from a solid substance. ... Multivariate statistics or multivariate statistical analysis in statistics describes a collection of procedures which involve observation and analysis of more than one statistical variable at a time. ...

Applications of Micropaleontology

Micropaleontology has proved an excellent tool for sedimentary rock-body dating and for paleoenvironmental reconstruction, heavily used by petroleum geology, it has also found a number of more non-orthodox applications, such as its growing role in forensic police investigation. Two types of sedimentary rock: limey shale overlaid by limestone. ... Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Sarnia, Ontario Petroleum (from Greek petra – rock and elaion – oil or Latin oleum – oil ) or crude oil, sometimes colloquially called black gold, is a thick, dark brown or greenish liquid. ... Geology (from Greek γη- (ge-, the earth) and λογος (logos, word, reason)) is the science and study of the Earth, its composition, structure, physical properties, history and the processes that shape it. ... Forensics or forensic science is the application of science to questions which are of interest to the legal system. ...

References

• Brasier, M.D. (1980), Microfossils. Chapman and Hall publishers. ISBN 0412445700
• Traverse, A. (1988), Paleopalynology. Unwin Hyman ISBN 0045610010

External links

• The Micropalaeontological Society
• Centre for Palynology, University of Sheffield, UK
• The American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists (AASP)
• Commission Internationale de Microflore du Paléozoique (CIMP), international commission for Palaeozoic palynology.
• CIMP Subcommission on Acritarchs
• CIMP Chitinozoan Subcommission

• Micropaleontology Press, a division of the Micropaleontology Project, a nonprofit organization with the mission of promoting the science of micropaleontology.
• University of California, Berkeley, microfossil collections.
• The Ocean Drilling Programme (ODP) Micropaleontological reference centres.
• University College, London, Micropalaeontology Unit, including the MIRACLE microfossil image database.