46 min listen
Episode 34a: Foraminifera and Palaeoclimatology
FromPalaeocast
ratings:
Length:
32 minutes
Released:
Sep 15, 2014
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
Planktonic foraminifera are single celled organisms that are highly abundant in modern oceans and a hugely important part of the Earth's carbon cycle. Each cell builds a hard calcite 'test' around itself in a huge variety of shapes. These tests continuously rain down on to the ocean floor leaving continuous records of how these organisms have changed over millions of years. They form the most complete fossil record we have, and are a very useful tool in everything from the oil industry to understanding how evolution works.
In this episode we talk to Dr Tracy Aze from the University of Leeds about her research using planktonic forams to understand macroevolutionary change, as well as decoding their record to map major climate events and temperatures throughout geological history.
In this episode we talk to Dr Tracy Aze from the University of Leeds about her research using planktonic forams to understand macroevolutionary change, as well as decoding their record to map major climate events and temperatures throughout geological history.
Released:
Sep 15, 2014
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
GSA day 3: The third and final day of our coverage of the GSA annual meeting by Palaeocast