Microfossils - Work on the Assemblage !
Geplaatst: 10 mar 2017, 13:38
Dear microfossil hunting colleagues,
in a sq-inch on the seafloor and the water column above dozens or thousands of microorganisms usually live and lived. In fossil rocks and samples microfossils - if present - do not come alone but as an assemblage of different species and many specimens. These assemblages represent the environment in which the specimens lived. Besides of the micro-organisms living on the sea-ground there maybe many planktonic ones living in the water column above. When they die, their shell/remnants sink to the seafloor and intermingle with the remnants of those, who lived on the bottom.
Please find in the image an example of my work on Foraminifera from a Miocene sample from Quelfes, Portugal. It is just a start as many more species can be found in this material. Nonetheless is already tells the story of a nearshore Miocene and nutrient rich environment. I strongly recommend you to work on your samples likewise.
WORK ON THE ASSEMBLAGE ! It is the true fossil record. Picking just the big, nice looking specimens is a man-made fabricate, which gives a misleading idea about, what is really there. Respect nature as it is and appears.
Get a microcell with 10 or more holes and put the assemblage sorted by morphology in it. Then you have a true picture of the assemblage, environment, and geological time of the material.
Have fun with your assemblages !
Foram-Mike
[Edited by Foram-Michael on 10-03-2017 at 13:38 GMT +1]
[Edited by Foram-Michael on 10-03-2017 at 13:39 GMT +1]