Micropaleontology

Earth History 1131

Microfossils
Not necessarily microscopic, but details of a microfossil
typically cannot be seen with the naked eye
Many make good index fossils
Common microfossils
Forams
Radiolarians
Diatoms
Conodonts
Common microfossils
Protists
Eukaryotic, single-celled organisms
Contain forams, radiolarians (pictured below) and diatoms
Common microfossils
Foraminifera:
Single-celled, small organisms that either secrete a shell or
construct an agglutinated shell.
Can be planktonic or benthic
Fusulinids (pictured below) are common in the fossil record,
and very useful for biostratigraphy
Common microfossils
Radiolarians: marine zooplankton
Silica-based test
Feed through trapping of food particles
Common microfossils
Diatoms: photosynthetic algae
Silica test
Common microfossils
Conodonts: less understood than other microfossils, but
very useful for biostratigraphy
Jaw portions (hard parts) are preserved in the fossil record
Thermal Alteration Index
Viewing microfossils
The big picture
What can the fossils within a rock specimen tell us about the
depositional environment?

Factors include:
Rock composition
Bathymetry
Other influences (biological, chemical, etc.)
Viewing microfossils
Loose specimens
Can be observed with a hand lens or basic microscope

Specimens in matrix (rock)
Often viewed in a thin section of a rock (pictured below)