Advantages and disadvantages of palynological
approaches in marine geology and
paleoclimatology
Marine palynology is an important discipline in the field
of marine geosciences with applications in biostratigraphy, paleoclimatology, and paleogeography. There are
three main advantages of palynological approaches
among other micropaleontological methods for the study
of marine sediment. First, organic-walled microfossils
such as pollen and spores are well preserved in sediments,
whereas biogenic minerals such as opal silica and calcium
carbonate are susceptible to dissolution leading to poor
representation of the original diatom, foraminifer, or
coccolith populations in the sediments. Second, organicwalled microfossils include representatives from several
ecological settings (marine, terrestrial, lacustrine, pelagic,
benthic) and all latitudes, from poles to equator, thus
allowing assessment on the depositional environments,
biogenic productivity, and biofacies, in addition to provide
biostratigraphic markers. Third, among palynomorphs,
pollen and spores occupy an important place for paleoclimatological studies as they permit to document the vegetation and climate. Hence, in marine environments, the
advantage of their study is for establishing direct correlation between the continental and oceanic stratigraphy.
Because terrestrial sedimentary sequences are usually discontinuous unlike marine series, pollen and spores offer a
unique tool for direct land-sea correlation.
Palynological approaches, however, are moderately
useful in distal offshore ocean settings characterized
by oligotrophic conditions because of low concentration
of palynomorphs, especially pollen and spores, making it
difficult to do statistically representative counts.
Another difficulty of the palynological approaches is the
post-sedimentary reworking of palynomorphs that can be
preserved despite erosion and subsequently transported
with bottom current and redeposited. Hence, it is sometime difficult to distinguish reworked palynomorphs from
others. Finally, one important limitation, which concerns
mostly pollen and spores, is the fact that they necessarily
relate to long-distance transport through winds and water
resulting in distortion in the proportion of taxa and making
it difficult to identify the precise source area.
Summary
Marine palynology is an extremely useful discipline as it
may provide information on biostratigraphy in addition
to environmental and climatic conditions. In particular,
pollen grains and spores may give clues on terrestrial vegetation and climate, whereas the respective proportion of
terrestrial and marine palynomorphs may provide indication on the paleogeography. The interpretation of palynological records from marine sediments is not unequivocal,
and the transcription of pollen assemblages in terms of
vegetation is not straightforward as it requires taking into
account specific properties of pollen grains and spores:
the species morphology and size as well as taphonomic
processes such as dispersion and sedimentation. Nevertheless, marine palynology offers one of the best means for
direct land-sea correlations and linkage of paleoceanography with continental paleoclimatology.
Bibliography
de Vernal, A., 2009. Marine palynology and its use for studying
nearshore environments. IOP Conference Series: Earth and
Environmental Science, 5, 012002.
de Vernal, A., and Giroux, L., 1991. Distribution of organic walled
microfossils in recent sediments from the Estuary and Gulf of
St. Lawrence: some aspects of the organic matter fluxes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 113, 189–199.
de Vernal, A., and Hillaire-Marcel, C., 2008. Natural variability of
Greenland climate, vegetation and ice volume during the last
million years. Science, 320, 1622–1625.
de Vernal, A., and Mudie, P. J., 1989. Pliocene to recent palynostratigraphy at ODP sites 646 and 647, eastern and southern Labrador Sea. Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, 105B,
401–422.
de Vernal, A., Bilodeau, G., Hillaire-Marcel, C., and Kassou, N.,
1992. Quantitative assessment of carbonate dissolution in
marine sediments from foraminifer linings vs. shell ratios: example from Davis Strait, NW North Atlantic. Geology, 20,
527–530.
de Vernal, A., Bilodeau, G., and Henry, M., 2010. Micropaleontological Preparation Techniques and Analyses. Cahier du Geotop
n
3.
http://www.geotop.ca/en/publications/cahiers-delaboratoire-et-protocoles.html.
Dupont, L., and Agwu, C. O. C., 1992. Latitudinal shifts of forest
and savanna in NW Africa during the Brunhes chron: further
marine palynological results from site M 16415 (9
19
0 W). Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 1, 163–175.
Faegri, K., and Iversen, J., 1989. Textbook of Pollen Analysis.
Chichester: Wiley.
Hemsley, A. R., and Poole, I., 2004. The Evolution of Plant Physiology. London: Elsevier Academic Press.
Hemsley, A. R., Barrie, P. J., Chaloner, W. G., and Scott, A. C.,
1993. The composition of sporopollenin and its use in living
and fossil plant systematics. Grana, 32(Suppl. 1), 2–11.
Heusser, L. E., and Balsam, W. L., 1977. Pollen distribution in the
northeast Pacific Ocean. Quaternary Research, 7, 45–62.
Heusser, L. E., and Shackleton, N. J., 1979. Direct marinecontinental correlation: 150,000-year oxygen isotope-pollen
record from the North Pacific. Science, 204, 837–839.
Heusser, L. E., and Van de Geer, G., 1994. Direct correlation of terrestrial and marine paleoclimatic records from four glacialinterglacial cycles – DSDP site 594 Southwest
Pacific. Quaternary Science Reviews, 13, 273–282.
Hooghiemstra, H., Lézine, A.-M., Leroy, S. A. M., Dupont, L., and
Marret, F., 2006. Late Quaternary palynology in marine sediments: a synthesis of the understanding of pollen distribution
patterns in the NW African setting. Quaternary International,
148, 29–44.
Jansonius, J., and McGregor, D. C. (eds.), 1996. Palynology: Principles and Applications. College Station: American Association
of Stratigraphic Palynology.
Kapp, R. O., Davis, O. K., and King, J. E., 2000. Guide to Pollen
and Spores, 2nd edn. College Station: American Association of
Stratigraphic Palynology.
Kenrick, P., and Crane, P. R., 1997. The Origin and Early Diversification of Land Plants: A Cladistic Study. Washington, DC:
Smithsonian Institution Press.
Kenrick, P., Wellman, C. H., Schneider, H., and Edgecombe, G. D.,
2012. A timeline for terrestrialization: consequences for the
658
PALYNOLOGY (POLLEN, SPORES, ETC.)
approaches in marine geology and
paleoclimatology
Marine palynology is an important discipline in the field
of marine geosciences with applications in biostratigraphy, paleoclimatology, and paleogeography. There are
three main advantages of palynological approaches
among other micropaleontological methods for the study
of marine sediment. First, organic-walled microfossils
such as pollen and spores are well preserved in sediments,
whereas biogenic minerals such as opal silica and calcium
carbonate are susceptible to dissolution leading to poor
representation of the original diatom, foraminifer, or
coccolith populations in the sediments. Second, organicwalled microfossils include representatives from several
ecological settings (marine, terrestrial, lacustrine, pelagic,
benthic) and all latitudes, from poles to equator, thus
allowing assessment on the depositional environments,
biogenic productivity, and biofacies, in addition to provide
biostratigraphic markers. Third, among palynomorphs,
pollen and spores occupy an important place for paleoclimatological studies as they permit to document the vegetation and climate. Hence, in marine environments, the
advantage of their study is for establishing direct correlation between the continental and oceanic stratigraphy.
Because terrestrial sedimentary sequences are usually discontinuous unlike marine series, pollen and spores offer a
unique tool for direct land-sea correlation.
Palynological approaches, however, are moderately
useful in distal offshore ocean settings characterized
by oligotrophic conditions because of low concentration
of palynomorphs, especially pollen and spores, making it
difficult to do statistically representative counts.
Another difficulty of the palynological approaches is the
post-sedimentary reworking of palynomorphs that can be
preserved despite erosion and subsequently transported
with bottom current and redeposited. Hence, it is sometime difficult to distinguish reworked palynomorphs from
others. Finally, one important limitation, which concerns
mostly pollen and spores, is the fact that they necessarily
relate to long-distance transport through winds and water
resulting in distortion in the proportion of taxa and making
it difficult to identify the precise source area.
Summary
Marine palynology is an extremely useful discipline as it
may provide information on biostratigraphy in addition
to environmental and climatic conditions. In particular,
pollen grains and spores may give clues on terrestrial vegetation and climate, whereas the respective proportion of
terrestrial and marine palynomorphs may provide indication on the paleogeography. The interpretation of palynological records from marine sediments is not unequivocal,
and the transcription of pollen assemblages in terms of
vegetation is not straightforward as it requires taking into
account specific properties of pollen grains and spores:
the species morphology and size as well as taphonomic
processes such as dispersion and sedimentation. Nevertheless, marine palynology offers one of the best means for
direct land-sea correlations and linkage of paleoceanography with continental paleoclimatology.
Bibliography
de Vernal, A., 2009. Marine palynology and its use for studying
nearshore environments. IOP Conference Series: Earth and
Environmental Science, 5, 012002.
de Vernal, A., and Giroux, L., 1991. Distribution of organic walled
microfossils in recent sediments from the Estuary and Gulf of
St. Lawrence: some aspects of the organic matter fluxes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 113, 189–199.
de Vernal, A., and Hillaire-Marcel, C., 2008. Natural variability of
Greenland climate, vegetation and ice volume during the last
million years. Science, 320, 1622–1625.
de Vernal, A., and Mudie, P. J., 1989. Pliocene to recent palynostratigraphy at ODP sites 646 and 647, eastern and southern Labrador Sea. Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, 105B,
401–422.
de Vernal, A., Bilodeau, G., Hillaire-Marcel, C., and Kassou, N.,
1992. Quantitative assessment of carbonate dissolution in
marine sediments from foraminifer linings vs. shell ratios: example from Davis Strait, NW North Atlantic. Geology, 20,
527–530.
de Vernal, A., Bilodeau, G., and Henry, M., 2010. Micropaleontological Preparation Techniques and Analyses. Cahier du Geotop
n
3.
http://www.geotop.ca/en/publications/cahiers-delaboratoire-et-protocoles.html.
Dupont, L., and Agwu, C. O. C., 1992. Latitudinal shifts of forest
and savanna in NW Africa during the Brunhes chron: further
marine palynological results from site M 16415 (9
19
0 W). Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 1, 163–175.
Faegri, K., and Iversen, J., 1989. Textbook of Pollen Analysis.
Chichester: Wiley.
Hemsley, A. R., and Poole, I., 2004. The Evolution of Plant Physiology. London: Elsevier Academic Press.
Hemsley, A. R., Barrie, P. J., Chaloner, W. G., and Scott, A. C.,
1993. The composition of sporopollenin and its use in living
and fossil plant systematics. Grana, 32(Suppl. 1), 2–11.
Heusser, L. E., and Balsam, W. L., 1977. Pollen distribution in the
northeast Pacific Ocean. Quaternary Research, 7, 45–62.
Heusser, L. E., and Shackleton, N. J., 1979. Direct marinecontinental correlation: 150,000-year oxygen isotope-pollen
record from the North Pacific. Science, 204, 837–839.
Heusser, L. E., and Van de Geer, G., 1994. Direct correlation of terrestrial and marine paleoclimatic records from four glacialinterglacial cycles – DSDP site 594 Southwest
Pacific. Quaternary Science Reviews, 13, 273–282.
Hooghiemstra, H., Lézine, A.-M., Leroy, S. A. M., Dupont, L., and
Marret, F., 2006. Late Quaternary palynology in marine sediments: a synthesis of the understanding of pollen distribution
patterns in the NW African setting. Quaternary International,
148, 29–44.
Jansonius, J., and McGregor, D. C. (eds.), 1996. Palynology: Principles and Applications. College Station: American Association
of Stratigraphic Palynology.
Kapp, R. O., Davis, O. K., and King, J. E., 2000. Guide to Pollen
and Spores, 2nd edn. College Station: American Association of
Stratigraphic Palynology.
Kenrick, P., and Crane, P. R., 1997. The Origin and Early Diversification of Land Plants: A Cladistic Study. Washington, DC:
Smithsonian Institution Press.
Kenrick, P., Wellman, C. H., Schneider, H., and Edgecombe, G. D.,
2012. A timeline for terrestrialization: consequences for the
658
PALYNOLOGY (POLLEN, SPORES, ETC.)