to reconstruct relative nutrient availability fluctuations
across past abrupt global climatic events (see Sluijs
et al., 2005; Bijl et al., 2010). Principal component analysis of dinocyst distributions in the Oligocene has also been
used to relate productivity changes to the structure of the
water column (stratification), eutrophication, and oxygen
depletion (e.g., Pross and Schmiedl, 2002). Fluctuations
of biogenic silica content in sediment, usually measured
spectrophotometrically (e.g., Iwasaki et al., 2014), are also
used as a paleoproductivity proxy and comprise photoautotrophic diatoms and silicoflagellates and heterotrophic
radiolarians and ebridians that feed on primary producers.
Variations in diatom accumulation rates can be indicative
of periods of elevated diatom production and flux (e.g.,
Witkowski et al., 2014). Owing to their unique life cycle
characteristics, including resting spore formation in some
planktic taxa, diatoms offer a number of ways to infer past
variations in nutrient availability. For instance, Davies
et al. (2009), based on laminated high-latitude late Cretaceous sediments including alternating resting spore and
vegetative valve laminae, have successfully reconstructed
seasonal fluctuations in diatom production and flux, thus
testifying to ice-free summer conditions in the late Mesozoic Arctic.
Conclusions
Although the study of marine microfossils has so many
facets, covering some two thirds of Earth’s history and
so many systematic groups, its main value is in the applied
aspects, particularly in biostratigraphy and paleoceanography. The benefits of marine microfossils have been
fully appreciated only recently, but scientific interest in
them is certain to continue for many decades to come.
Bibliography
Barron, J. A., Stickley, C. E., and Bukry, D., 2015. Paleoceanographic, and paleoclimatic constraints on the global Eocene
diatom and silicoflagellate record. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 422, 85–100.
Berggren, W. A., and Pearson, P. N., 2005. A revised tropical to subtropical paleogene planktic foraminiferal zonation. Journal of
Foraminiferal Research, 35, 279–298.
Berggren, W. A., Kent, D. V., Swisher, III, C. C., and Aubry, M.-P.,
1995. A revised Cenozoic geochronology and chronostratigraphy. Geochronology, time scales, and global stratigraphic
correlation. SEPM special publication, 54.
Bijl, P. K., Houben, A. J. P., Schouten, S., Bohaty, S. M., Sluijs, A.,
Reichart, G.-J., Sinninghe Damsté, J. S., and Brinkhuis, H.,
2010. Transient middle Eocene atmospheric CO 2 and temperature variations. Science, 330, 819–821.
Boersma, A., 1998. Foraminifera. In Haq, B. U., and Boersma,
A. (eds.), Introduction to Marine Micropaleontology. New York:
Elsevier, pp. 19–78.
Bogus, K., Harding, I. C., King, A., Charles, A. J., Zonneveld, K.,
and Versteegh, G., 2012. The composition and diversity of
dinosporin in species of the Apectodinium complex
(Dinoflagellata). Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 183,
21–31.
Bogus, K., Mertens, K. N., Lauwaert, J., Harding, I. C., Vrielinck,
H., Zonneveld, K. A. F., and Versteegh, G. J. M., 2014. Differences in the chemical composition of organic-walled
dinoflagellate resting cysts from phototrophic and heterotrophic
dinoflagellates. Journal of Phycology, 50, 254–266.
Bohaty, S. M., Zachos, J. C., and Delaney, M. L., 2012. Foraminiferal Ca/Mg evidence for Southern Ocean cooling across the
Eocene-Oligocene transition. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 317–318, 251–261.
Bolli, H. M., Saunders, J. B., and Perch-Nielsen, K., 1985. Comparison of zonal schemes for different fossil groups. In Bolli,
H. M., Saunders, J. B., and Perch-Nielsen, K. (eds.), Plankton
Stratigraphy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Vol. 1,
pp. 3–10.
Brinkhuis, H., Sengers, S., Sluijs, A., Warnaar, J., and Williams,
G. L., 2003. Latest Cretaceous–earliest Oligocene and Quaternary dinoflagellate cysts, ODP Site 1172, East Tasman Plateau.
In Exon, N. F., Kennett, J. P., Malone, M. J. (eds.), Proceedings
of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results. College Station, TX, Vol. 189, pp. 1–48 (Online).
Cande, S. C., and Kent, D. V., 1995. Revised calibration of the geomagnetic polarity timescale for the Late Cretaceous and
Cenozoic. Journal of Geophysical Research, 100(B4),
6093–6095.
Casey, R. E., 1993. Radiolaria. In Lipps, J. H. (ed.), Fossil Prokaryotes and Protists. Boston: Blackwell Scientific Publications,
pp. 249–284.
Censarek, B., and Gersonde, R., 2002. Miocene diatom biostratigraphy at ODP sites 689, 690, 1088, 1092 (Atlantic sector
of the Southern Ocean). Marine Micropaleontology, 45,
309–356.
Cody, R. D., Levy, R. H., Harwood, D. M., and Sadler, P. M., 2008.
Thinking outside the zone: high-resolution quantitative diatom
biochronology for the Antarctic Neogene. Palaeogeography
Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 260, 92–121.
Cramer, B. S., Toggweiler, J. R., Wright, J. D., Katz, M. E., and
Miller, K. G., 2009. Ocean overturning since the Late Cretaceous: inferences from a new benthic foraminiferal isotope compilation. Paleoceanography, 24, PA4216.
Cunningham, J.A., Rahman, I.A., Lauterschlanger, S., et al., 2014.
A virtual world of paleontology. Trends in Ecology & Evolution,
29, 347–357.
Davies, A., Kemp, A. E. S., and Pike, J., 2009. Late Cretaceous seasonal ocean variability from the Arctic. Nature, 460, 254–259.
Davydov, V. I., Korn, D., and Schmitz, M. D., 2012. The Carboniferous period. In Gradstein, F. M., Ogg, J. G., Schmitz, M. D., and
Ogg, G. (eds.), The Geologic Timescale 2012. Amsterdam:
Elsevier, pp. 603–651.
Donoghue, P. C. J., Forey, P. L., and Aldridge, R. J., 2000. Conodont affinity and chordate phylogeny. Biological Reviews, 75,
191–251.
Edgar, K. M., Wilson, P. A., Sexton, P. F., Gibbs, S. J., Roberts,
A. P., and Norris, R. D., 2010. New biostratigraphic, magnetostratigraphic and isotopic insights into the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum in low latitudes. Palaeogeography
Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 297, 670–682.
Egan, K. E., Rickaby, R. E. M., Leng, M. J., Hendry, K. R.,
Hermoso, M., Sloane, H. J., Bostock, H., and Halliday, A. N.,
2012. Diatom silicon isotopes as a proxy for silicic acid
utilisation: a Southern Ocean core top calibration. Geochimica
et Cosmochimica Acta, 96, 174–196.
Egan, K. E., Rickaby, R. E. M., Hendry, K. R., and Halliday, A. N.,
2013. Opening the gateways for diatoms primes Earth for Antarctic glaciation. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 375, 34–43.
Eldrett, J. S., Harding, I. C., Firth, J. V., and Roberts, A. P., 2004.
Magnetostratigraphic calibration of Eocene-Oligocene dinoflagellate cyst biostratigraphy from the Norwegian-Greenland
Sea. Marine Micropalaeontology, 204, 91–127.
Evitt, W. R., 1975. Memorial to Georges Deflandre, 1897–1973.
Geological Society of America Memorials, 5, 1–11.
MARINE MICROFOSSILS
473
across past abrupt global climatic events (see Sluijs
et al., 2005; Bijl et al., 2010). Principal component analysis of dinocyst distributions in the Oligocene has also been
used to relate productivity changes to the structure of the
water column (stratification), eutrophication, and oxygen
depletion (e.g., Pross and Schmiedl, 2002). Fluctuations
of biogenic silica content in sediment, usually measured
spectrophotometrically (e.g., Iwasaki et al., 2014), are also
used as a paleoproductivity proxy and comprise photoautotrophic diatoms and silicoflagellates and heterotrophic
radiolarians and ebridians that feed on primary producers.
Variations in diatom accumulation rates can be indicative
of periods of elevated diatom production and flux (e.g.,
Witkowski et al., 2014). Owing to their unique life cycle
characteristics, including resting spore formation in some
planktic taxa, diatoms offer a number of ways to infer past
variations in nutrient availability. For instance, Davies
et al. (2009), based on laminated high-latitude late Cretaceous sediments including alternating resting spore and
vegetative valve laminae, have successfully reconstructed
seasonal fluctuations in diatom production and flux, thus
testifying to ice-free summer conditions in the late Mesozoic Arctic.
Conclusions
Although the study of marine microfossils has so many
facets, covering some two thirds of Earth’s history and
so many systematic groups, its main value is in the applied
aspects, particularly in biostratigraphy and paleoceanography. The benefits of marine microfossils have been
fully appreciated only recently, but scientific interest in
them is certain to continue for many decades to come.
Bibliography
Barron, J. A., Stickley, C. E., and Bukry, D., 2015. Paleoceanographic, and paleoclimatic constraints on the global Eocene
diatom and silicoflagellate record. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 422, 85–100.
Berggren, W. A., and Pearson, P. N., 2005. A revised tropical to subtropical paleogene planktic foraminiferal zonation. Journal of
Foraminiferal Research, 35, 279–298.
Berggren, W. A., Kent, D. V., Swisher, III, C. C., and Aubry, M.-P.,
1995. A revised Cenozoic geochronology and chronostratigraphy. Geochronology, time scales, and global stratigraphic
correlation. SEPM special publication, 54.
Bijl, P. K., Houben, A. J. P., Schouten, S., Bohaty, S. M., Sluijs, A.,
Reichart, G.-J., Sinninghe Damsté, J. S., and Brinkhuis, H.,
2010. Transient middle Eocene atmospheric CO 2 and temperature variations. Science, 330, 819–821.
Boersma, A., 1998. Foraminifera. In Haq, B. U., and Boersma,
A. (eds.), Introduction to Marine Micropaleontology. New York:
Elsevier, pp. 19–78.
Bogus, K., Harding, I. C., King, A., Charles, A. J., Zonneveld, K.,
and Versteegh, G., 2012. The composition and diversity of
dinosporin in species of the Apectodinium complex
(Dinoflagellata). Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 183,
21–31.
Bogus, K., Mertens, K. N., Lauwaert, J., Harding, I. C., Vrielinck,
H., Zonneveld, K. A. F., and Versteegh, G. J. M., 2014. Differences in the chemical composition of organic-walled
dinoflagellate resting cysts from phototrophic and heterotrophic
dinoflagellates. Journal of Phycology, 50, 254–266.
Bohaty, S. M., Zachos, J. C., and Delaney, M. L., 2012. Foraminiferal Ca/Mg evidence for Southern Ocean cooling across the
Eocene-Oligocene transition. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 317–318, 251–261.
Bolli, H. M., Saunders, J. B., and Perch-Nielsen, K., 1985. Comparison of zonal schemes for different fossil groups. In Bolli,
H. M., Saunders, J. B., and Perch-Nielsen, K. (eds.), Plankton
Stratigraphy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Vol. 1,
pp. 3–10.
Brinkhuis, H., Sengers, S., Sluijs, A., Warnaar, J., and Williams,
G. L., 2003. Latest Cretaceous–earliest Oligocene and Quaternary dinoflagellate cysts, ODP Site 1172, East Tasman Plateau.
In Exon, N. F., Kennett, J. P., Malone, M. J. (eds.), Proceedings
of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results. College Station, TX, Vol. 189, pp. 1–48 (Online).
Cande, S. C., and Kent, D. V., 1995. Revised calibration of the geomagnetic polarity timescale for the Late Cretaceous and
Cenozoic. Journal of Geophysical Research, 100(B4),
6093–6095.
Casey, R. E., 1993. Radiolaria. In Lipps, J. H. (ed.), Fossil Prokaryotes and Protists. Boston: Blackwell Scientific Publications,
pp. 249–284.
Censarek, B., and Gersonde, R., 2002. Miocene diatom biostratigraphy at ODP sites 689, 690, 1088, 1092 (Atlantic sector
of the Southern Ocean). Marine Micropaleontology, 45,
309–356.
Cody, R. D., Levy, R. H., Harwood, D. M., and Sadler, P. M., 2008.
Thinking outside the zone: high-resolution quantitative diatom
biochronology for the Antarctic Neogene. Palaeogeography
Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 260, 92–121.
Cramer, B. S., Toggweiler, J. R., Wright, J. D., Katz, M. E., and
Miller, K. G., 2009. Ocean overturning since the Late Cretaceous: inferences from a new benthic foraminiferal isotope compilation. Paleoceanography, 24, PA4216.
Cunningham, J.A., Rahman, I.A., Lauterschlanger, S., et al., 2014.
A virtual world of paleontology. Trends in Ecology & Evolution,
29, 347–357.
Davies, A., Kemp, A. E. S., and Pike, J., 2009. Late Cretaceous seasonal ocean variability from the Arctic. Nature, 460, 254–259.
Davydov, V. I., Korn, D., and Schmitz, M. D., 2012. The Carboniferous period. In Gradstein, F. M., Ogg, J. G., Schmitz, M. D., and
Ogg, G. (eds.), The Geologic Timescale 2012. Amsterdam:
Elsevier, pp. 603–651.
Donoghue, P. C. J., Forey, P. L., and Aldridge, R. J., 2000. Conodont affinity and chordate phylogeny. Biological Reviews, 75,
191–251.
Edgar, K. M., Wilson, P. A., Sexton, P. F., Gibbs, S. J., Roberts,
A. P., and Norris, R. D., 2010. New biostratigraphic, magnetostratigraphic and isotopic insights into the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum in low latitudes. Palaeogeography
Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 297, 670–682.
Egan, K. E., Rickaby, R. E. M., Leng, M. J., Hendry, K. R.,
Hermoso, M., Sloane, H. J., Bostock, H., and Halliday, A. N.,
2012. Diatom silicon isotopes as a proxy for silicic acid
utilisation: a Southern Ocean core top calibration. Geochimica
et Cosmochimica Acta, 96, 174–196.
Egan, K. E., Rickaby, R. E. M., Hendry, K. R., and Halliday, A. N.,
2013. Opening the gateways for diatoms primes Earth for Antarctic glaciation. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 375, 34–43.
Eldrett, J. S., Harding, I. C., Firth, J. V., and Roberts, A. P., 2004.
Magnetostratigraphic calibration of Eocene-Oligocene dinoflagellate cyst biostratigraphy from the Norwegian-Greenland
Sea. Marine Micropalaeontology, 204, 91–127.
Evitt, W. R., 1975. Memorial to Georges Deflandre, 1897–1973.
Geological Society of America Memorials, 5, 1–11.
MARINE MICROFOSSILS
473