Using fossils to tell geological time, biostratigraphy balances biology with geology. In modern geochronology - meaning timescale-building and making correlations between oceans, continents and hemispheres - the microfossil record of speciations and extinctions is integrated with numerical dates from radioactive decay, geomagnetic reversals through time, and the cyclical wobbles of the earth-sun-moon system. This important modern synthesis follows the development of biostratigraphy from classical origins into petroleum exploration and deep-ocean drilling. It explores the three-way relationship between species of microorganisms, their environment and their evolution through time as expressed in skeletons preserved as fossils. This book is essential reading for advanced students and researchers working in basin analysis, sequence stratigraphy, palaeoceanography, palaeobiology and related fields.

This Atlas attempts to dispel some of the mystery surrounding stomatocysts, to facilitate the accurate identification of individual cyst morphotypes, and to encourage other workers to begin using these important indicators of environmental change. The terminology is outlined in detail. This is followed by detailed descriptions of cyst morphotypes, which continues from work completed in the first Atlas. Any available biogeographical and ecological information is also provided.
We believe this Atlas will be useful to paleoecologists who wish to include stomatocysts in their studies. We also expect this book will be used by researchers working with living chrysophytes, and those interested in the morphology and ultrastructure of cyst morphotypes. Hopefully these descriptions will further accelerate the continued effort to link cyst morphotypes to the algae that produce them.

This thorough reference shows how stable isotopes can be applied to understanding the palaeoenvironment, with chapters on the interpretation of isotopes in water, tree rings, bones and teeth, lake sediments, speleothems and marine sediments. The book offers detailed advice on calibration, including a multi-proxy approach, using isotope signals from different materials or combined with other palaeoenvironmental techniques, to enhance the reliability of readings.

This book focuses on two complementary time-scales, the Holocene (approximately the last 11,500 years) and the last glacial-interglacial cycle (approximately the last 130,000 years) to synthesize evidence of climate variability at the regional and continental scale across Europe and Africa. This is the first examination of historical climate variations at such a scale, and thus sets a benchmark for future research.

INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR EVOLUTIONARY PROTISTOLOGY (ISEP) 5th International Meeting 1983 Banyuls-sur-Mer, France, June 4-6, 1 For the first time since its inception, at Boston University in June 1975 , the Society for Evolutionary Protistology met in Europe. Under the direction of Marie-Odile Soyer- Gobillard and hosting some 70 people representing a dozen nations (Belgium, Canada, Denmark, England, France, W. Germany, The Netherlands, Poland, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, U. S. A. ) the meeting was held at Banyuls-sur-Mer in Catalunya. The 1983 ISEP met at the famed Laboratoire Arago on the Mediterranean Sea, most partici- pants were housed in the Laboratory's newly refurbished Grand Hotel. The previous meetings had emphasized single themes, e. g. , (First) Boston, 1975 Evolution of Mitosis in Eukaryotic Microorganisms: (Second) Downsview Ontario, 1977 Criteria for Phylogeny in Protists. In spite of the fact that the third meeting, planned for Leeds, England in June of 1979, was never held some of the papers scheduled to be presented there were published in BioSystems, Volume 12, Numbers 1 and 2. The fourth meeting at Port Deposit, Maryland, 1981 called Conference on Cellular Evolution focused on the Evolution of Micro tubules, Mitosis, Microfilaments and other Fibrillar Systems. The proceedings of this meeting were published in BioSystems, Volume 14, Numbers 3 and 4.

In 2002 the multidisciplinary research project ''Nasca: development and adaptation of archaeometric techniques for the investigation of cultural history'' (Nasca: Entwicklung und Adaption archa]ometrischer Techniken zur Erforschung der Kulturgeschichte) started, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education andResearch(Bundesministerium fu]r Bildung und Forschung, BMBF ) in its priority program ''New scientific methods and technologies for the humanities'' (Neue Naturwissenschaftliche Methoden und Technologien fu]r die Geisteswissenschaften, NTG). This new project continued and in a certain way fulfilled a lasting goal of the ministry to integrate different branches of scientific activities and to foster the transfer of expertise gained in natural sciences to the humanities and vice versa. Archaeometry, by definition the application of scientific methods in archaeological investigation, has been a major focus of the priority program since its beginnings in 1989. After funding numerous fruitful research projects that developed new archaeometric techniques mostly in bilateral cooperation, an even greater outcome was expected from a more multifaceted approach with the participation of various scientific disciplines around a well-defined, archaeological research topic. Furthermore, it was intended to establish a project outside the traditional research areas in central Europe or the Mediterranean. It was the great merit of the person formerly in charge of the BMBF priority program, Dr. Edgar Pusch, to develop these far-reaching perspectives and we are extremely grateful that after a rigorous screening our project among other interesting ones was selected for funding."

This is the first comprehensive source of information about Mexican fossils to be published in English. The book offers updated information in the fields of stratigraphy, sedimentology, tectonics, paleobiogeography, paleoclimatology and evolution. Included is an extensive bibliography of almost 1000 references related to the central topic, a tribute to two centuries of research.

Seven original case-studies are presented in this volume, each describing the application of micropaleontology and palynology in applied geology: (1) a study of the modern distribution of coccolith sedimentation in the North Sea and its potential for future application in basin analysis; (2) ostracods are shown to be good paleoenvironmental indicators in the early Cretaceous and Tertiary; (3) a biogenic gas seep in the North Sea is shown to be marked by diagnostic benthonic foraminifera; (4) in the North Sea hydrocarbon exploration, integrated studies of micropaleontology have provided invaluable data; (5) palynofacies analysis are shown to be vital in determining depositional events and hydrocarbon source rock potential; (6) the application of paleontology and sedimentology to sequence stratigraphy is demonstrated in the early Cretaceous; and (7) the application of micropaleontology is shown to be an essential tool in both engineering and economic geology. Most chapters have been prepared by earth scientists from industry. The study of microfossils presented in this book provides invaluable data for stratigraphers, petroleum geologists and for engineers and economic geologists working in hydrocarbon exploration and basin analysis.

This richly illustrated book clothes the skeletons of dinosaurs and other Mesozoic reptiles with flesh, and shows how these fascinating animals evolved and probably lived. Expert author John L. Cloudsley-Thompson synthesizes current views on ecology, physiology and behaviour, and outlines the various hypotheses that have been proposed to explain their extinction. Numerous beautiful drawings of the animals and their environment illustrate this exciting monograph.

Mud and mudstone, the most abundant of all sediments and sedimentary rocks, are relevant to many different human activities and disciplines and thus have a widely scattered literature. Our book provides the first elementary overview of mud and mudstone written for a broad spectrum of professionals, teachers and students in geology, petroleum geology and engineering, urban planning and development, paleontology and paleoecology, and architecture and archaeology. Mud and mudstone provide the foundations to master all their aspects and prepares you to dig deeply into the many fascinating questions of their origin, relationships to earth history and practical uses. Key topics include the production of mud, its transport, the important role of bottom oxygen, sites of deposition, burial, provenance, mudstones in basins and an overview of practical uses followed by an appendix and extended glossary.

Biology Distribution and ecology Taphonomy and preservation Field sampling and coring Laboratory procedures Data analysis and interpretation Summary Acknowledgements References 9. Chrysophyte scales and cysts. B. A. Zeeb & J. P. Smol 203 Introduction Taxonomy and nomenclature Methods Paleolimnological applications Future research directions Summary Acknowledgements References 10. Ebridians. A. Korhola & J. P. Smol 225 Introduction Morphology, taxonomy and preservation in the sediments Methodological aspects Brief history of use of ebridians in palaeoecological research Indicator value and future research priorities Summary Acknowledgements References 11. Phytoliths. D. R. Piperno 235 Introduction and history Phytolith production and taxonomy Laboratory methods Applications of phytolith analysis in lake sediments Summary of the major results Other potential applications of phytoliths in lake sediments Summary Acknowledgments References x 12. Freshwater sponges. 253 T. M. Frost Introduction Sponge species and their distribution Sponge life history Sponge spicules Paleolimnological studies using freshwater sponges Techniques for assessing sponge spicules in sediments Future applications of sponges in paleolimnology Summary Acknowledgements References 13. Siliceous protozoan plates and scales. M. S. V. Douglas & J. P. Smol 265 Introduction History and taxonomy Ecology Paleoecological potential Laboratory methods Data presentation Paleolimnological applications Other related siliceous indicators Summary Acknowledgements References 14. Biogenic silica. D.J. Conley & C.L Schelske 281 Introduction and history Methods Applications Future directions Summary Acknowledgements References 15. Sedimentary pigments.

This volume presents the work of researchers at many sites spanning the East African Pliocene. The authors take a broad approach that seeks to compare paleoenvironmental and paleoecological patterns across localities and among various taxonomic groups. This volume aims to synthesize large amounts of faunal data, and to present the evolution of East African vertebrates in the context of environmental and climatic changes during the Pliocene.

The user This manual is designed for the use of geo-scientists with an interest and need in developing palaeobiological materials as a potential source of data. To meet this objective practical procedures have been formatted for use by both professional and semi professional students with an initial understanding of palaeo biological research aims as a primary source of scientific data. I have attempted to provide an explanation and understanding of practical procedures which may be required by students undertaking palaeobiological projects as part of a degree course. The layout of this manual should be particularly beneficial in the instruction and training of geotechnologists and museum preparators. Graduate students and scientists requiring an outline of a preparation procedure will also be able to use the manual as a reference from which to assess the suitability of a procedure. This manual is also intended for use by the "committed amateur." Many of the techniques described in this manual have been devised by non-palaeontologists, and developed from methods used in archaeology, zoology and botany, as well as other areas of geology. A considerable number of the methods can be undertaken by the amateur, and in the case of many of the field procedures, should be used. This will ensure that specimens and samples can be conserved in such a manner as to facilitate any later research, and not invalidate the results of subsequent geochemical analytical techniques which might be employed."

Concern about the effects of global change on our planet's future has driven much research into the last few thousand years of earth history. In contrast, this volume takes a much longer viewpoint to provide a historical perspective to recent and future global change. Over 40 international specialists investigate the reaction of life to global environmental changes, from Cretaceous times to the turn of the century. During this time earth's climate has changed from a very warm, 'greenhouse' phase with no significant ice sheets to today's 'ice-house' world. A wide spectrum of animal, plant and protistan life is discussed, encompassing terrestrial, shallow-marine and deep-marine realms. Each chapter considers a particular taxonomic group, looking first at the general picture and then focusing on more specialized aspects such as extinctions, diversity and biogeography. This volume will form an invaluable reference for researchers and graduate students in paleontology, geology, biology, oceanography and climatology.

Traces of the action of mechanical and chemical boring, scraping or crushing organisms on hard substrates appear in fossil carbonates as old as the Precambrian, providing valuable palaeoenvironmental indicators. Bioerosion has been extensively studied in tropical seas, but data from cold-temperate to polar settings remain sparse. This book presents an experimental study into the pace of carbonate degradation and the chronology of boring community development along a bathymetric gradient in high-latitude settings.

The volume contains summaries of facts, theories, and unsolved problems pertaining to the unexplained extinction of dozens of genera of mostly large terrestrial mammals, which occurred ca. 13,000 calendar years ago in North America and about 1,000 years later in South America. Another equally mysterious wave of extinctions affected large Caribbean islands around 5,000 years ago. The coupling of these extinctions with the earliest appearance of human beings has led to the suggestion that foraging humans are to blame, although major climatic shifts were also taking place in the Americas during some of the extinctions. The last published volume with similar (but not identical) themes -- Extinctions in Near Time -- appeared in 1999; since then a great deal of innovative, exciting new research has been done but has not yet been compiled and summarized. Different chapters in this volume provide in-depth resumes of the chronology of the extinctions in North and South America, the possible insights into animal ecology provided by studies of stable isotopes and anatomical/physiological characteristics such as growth increments in mammoth and mastodont tusks, the clues from taphonomic research about large-mammal biology, the applications of dating methods to the extinctions debate, and archeological controversies concerning human hunting of large mammals."

This book discusses procedures for handling information derived from the fossil record, and the application of this information to solving problems in geological succession and earth history. The main purpose of the book is to analyse shortcomings of the existing procedures, and to propose in their place an alternative set of data-handling arrangements of much greater simplicity and efficiency. The author argues that the procedures in current use are cumbersome and inefficient, and that, partly as a consequence of these information-handling methods, palaeontology has failed to make advances commensurate with technological improvements. In this book he proposes a system which could make possible the integrated use of every detail of geological information taken from the rocks. This would achieve better resolution in sequence correlation, in paleoecologic interpretation and in logging the course of evolution. Compatibility of style with existing records has been maintained to avoid any danger of loss of valuable data, and to simplify the process of reevaluating old records. The book will be of interest to all paleontologists, particularly those dealing with microfossils, and is intended to stimulate discussion and criticism of both the analysis and the proposals.

Coccolithophores are one of the primary algal groups in the oceans. They are the focus of recent research in many disciplines because of their importance in paleoenvironmental reconstruction and stratigraphy. The book starts with a history of coccolithophore studies, followed by chapters discussing coccolithophore biology, and the composition, function, and classification of their skeletal elements. At the heart of the book are taxonomic and atlas chapters with 140 scanning electron micrographs of coccolithophore species. Through a series of contributions from key workers in the field, the reader can then follow the path of the organisms from the ocean surface, through the water column to the ocean floor and the addition to the sedimentary rock record. The book concludes with a chapter on geochemical tracers, and the implication of these studies for stratigraphy and paleoenvironmental change.

This book offers a thorough and up-to-date treatment of the use of morphometric procedures in a wide variety of contexts. As one of the most dynamic and popular fields on the contemporary biological scene, morphometrics is gaining notice among researchers and students as a necessary complement to molecular studies in the understanding and maintenance of biodiversity. This is the first reference to meet that growing need.

Paleolimnology is a rapidly developing science that is now being used to study a suite of environmental and ecological problems. This volume is the fourth handbook in the Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research book series. The first volume (Last & Smol, 2001a) examined the acquisition and archiving of sediment cores, chronological techniques, and large-scale basin analysis methods. Volume 2 (Last & Smol, 2001b) focused on physical and chemical methods. Volume 3 (Smol et al. , 2001), along with this book, summarize the many biological methods and techniques that are available to study long-term environmental changeusing information preserved in sedimentary profiles. A subsequent volume (Birks et al. , in preparation) will deal with statistical and data handling procedures. It is our intent that these books will provide sufficient detail and breadth to be useful handbooks for both seasoned practitioners as well as newcomers to the area of paleolimnology. These books will also hopefully be useful to non-paleolimnologists (e. g. , limnologists, archeologists, palynologists, geographers, geologists, etc. ) who continue to hear and read about pal- limnology, but have little chance to explore the vast and sometimes difficult to access journal-based reference material for this rapidly expanding field. Although the chapters in these volumes target mainly lacustrine settings, many of the techniques described can also be readily applied to fluvial, glacial, marine, estuarine, and peatland environments. This current volume focuses on zoological indicators preserved in lake sediments, whilst Volume 3 focused on terrestrial, algal, and siliceous indicators.

The present book combines three main aspects: five major mass extinctions; contributions on some other minor extinctions; and more importantly contributions on the current mass extinction. All three aspects are introduced through interesting studies of mass extinctions in diverse organisms ranging from small invertebrates to mammals and take account of the most accepted subjects discussing mass extinctions in insects, mammals, fishes, ostracods and molluscs.

Glaciers provide an unparalleled tool for studying global environmental change. This book is the first of its kind concentrating on the paleoenvironmental record archived in mid- and low-latitude glaciers. By concentrating mainly on the last 500 years of these records, we can now see that laws enacted to protect our environment in Europe and North America are providing positive results. Documenting global mid- and low-latitude paleoenvironmental records in glaciers, this volume forms a timely and essential complement to the wealth of literature on polar and Greenland ice sheet records.

This text is directed towards undergraduate and graduate university audiences and forms an ideal supplement in courses dealing with climate and global environmental change, glaciology, and natural resources management. It is also suitable in helping teach application of innovative analytical and interpretive methods and would be an excellent example of the rapidly emerging discipline of "Forensic Earth Science."

This is the first time that a single book has attempted to cover the whole of the fossil history of insects so comprehensively. The volume embraces the history of insect palaeontology, methods for studying fossils, the taphonomic processes leading to their formation, the diagnostic features of all insect orders, both extant and extinct, the major fossils of each order, and the implications that can be drawn from the palaeoentomological record about past ecology and climates. Many new insights are presented.
It is the product principally of the largest palaeoentomological group in the world, in Moscow, and makes full use of the remarkable collection that these workers have developed. It includes a very large number of illustrations showing both real fossils and reconstructions of extinct taxa. The systematic part is treated in a phylogenetic framework, with information on fossil groups being used to help interpret relationships. An appendix provides information on virtually all sites where fossil insects have been found. This book is essential to all students of palaeoentomology and contains a wealth of information that will be of interest to students of insect evolutionary relationships and of palaeontology in general.

Benthic foraminifera from the classic southern Caribbean region are presented in this book, to provide valuable information on ranges for biostratigraphers working in the region and beyond. Around 1000 of the more important species are assembled - from the Barremian (early Cretaceous) to the middle Miocene, approximately 120 to 10 million years before the present. The deeper water benthic species are tied in to the zonal scheme used in Plankton Stratigraphy, published by Cambridge University Press in 1985. The taxa have been brought up to date generically, and in many cases new comparisons between species have been made - the late Cretaceous and early Paleogene are particularly detailed. This information, together with detailed illustrations, will enable the taxa to be used stratigraphically.

The changes in the Earth's climate over the past 600 million years, from the Cambrian to the Quaternary, come under scrutiny in this book, first published in 1992. The geological evidence for ancient climates is examined, such as the distribution of climate-sensitive sediments. The Earth's climate has changed many times throughout the Phanerozoic. Thus in this book the climate history has been divided into Warm and Cool modes, intervals when either the Earth was in a former 'greenhouse' state with higher levels of atmospheric CO2 and polar regions free of ice, or the global climate was cooler and ice was present in high latitudes. The studies presented here highlight the complex interactions between the carbon cycle, continental distribution, tectonics, sea level variation, ocean circulation and temperature change as well as other parameters. In particular, the potential of the carbon isotope records as an important signal of the past climates of the Earth is explored. This book will be useful to all students and researchers with an interest in palaeoclimates and palaeoenvironments.