Stratigraphic Micropaleontology Of Atlantic Basin And Borderlands

Stratigraphic Micropaleontology of Atlantic Basin and Borderlands

This comprehensive synthesis of our knowledge of the biostratigraphy of marine plankton is the work of an international team of eighteen authors. It covers all the major fossil groups that can be used to date sediments and rocks in the time interval Late Mesozoic to Holocene. Altogether more than 3200 taxa are considered, almost all of which are illustrated and depicted on range charts, making the book a valuable work of reference in the earth sciences. For ease of reference by specialists interested in either calcareous or non-calcareous microfossils, the original work is now divided into two independent volumes. Volume 2 describes siliceous and other non-calcareous microfossils, covering radiolaria, diatoms, silicoflagellates, dinoflagellates and ichthyoliths.

Extensive field studies on the African and North American plates during this past decade have yielded a wealth of new data and ideas about rift basins and the origin of passive margins. New surface and subsurface basins have been identified; fossils abound in strata that only recently were considered barren; oil exploration is being actively pursued in continental strata of the Richmond-Taylorsville, Sanford and Newark basins, Late Triassic marine strata have been identified in Georges Bank off the coast of Massachusetts, and the roles of wrench tectonics, successor basins and listric normal faults have challenged the classical view that these are simple extensional basins.This two part work brings together representative examples of these studies. It is not intended as an exhaustive synthesis of the subject, but rather a vehicle to present new data, new ideas and alternative views. Some of the papers present regional summaries, others attempt to relate local features to regional questions, while others describe modern rift basins as possible analogs of early Mesozoic basins.Geologic data from the Atlantic passive margins record that continental rifting of central Pangaea occurred during the latest Triassic-earliest Jurassic (Liassic), and that sea-floor spreading probably began no later than the Middle Jurassic. The primary subject of this book focuses on the Triassic-Jurassic rifting events that led to the breakup of Pangaea and the opening of the central Atlantic Ocean. Whereas other treatises have focused on the origin of the passive margins, inferred primarily from geophysical data of the offshore basins, this volume primarily and uniquely focuses on land-based field studies of the onshore synrift basins. Offshore studies of synrift basins are also included and add substantially to our understanding of the breakup. However, the onshore data base, while complementary, is different, thus providing researchers with a different insight to the questions at hand.The book is organized into four sections. Section I, Pangaean Plate in Time and Space, first locates Pangaea in space and then places the Triassic basins within an historical context on the Alleghanian-Variscan Orogens. Section 2, the offshore and onshore basins of the North American and African Plates, comprises about 70% of all papers in this book, and includes papers on structural geology, petrology, paleontology, sedimentation, organic geochemistry, vulcanism and mineral resources. Section 3, Related Mesozoic Atlantic Rift Basins, includes papers on Iberia, Western Europe, the Benue Trough and Brazil. The final section of the book, Analogs, includes the rift basins of East Africa, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Elat (Aqaba), the Dead Sea and the Rio Grande.The book is richly illustrated throughout with figures, photographs, tables and fold-out maps, including nine in full colour.

Polycystine radiolaria are exclusively marine protists and are found in all ocean waters, from polar regions to the tropics, and at all water depths. There are approximately 600 distinct described living species and several thousand fossil species of polycystines. Radiolarians in general, and polycystines in particular, have recently been shown to be a major component of the living plankton and important to the oceanic carbon cycle. As fossils radiolarians are also fairly common, and often occur in sediments where other types of fossils are absent. This has made them very valuable for certain types of geologic research, particularly estimating the geologic age of the sediments containing them, and as guides to past oceanic water conditions. As our current understanding of the biology, and even taxonomy of the living fauna is still very incomplete, evolutionary studies based on living polycystines are still rare. However, the common occurrence of numerous specimens for many species, and in a wide variety of oceanic environments, provides an excellent opportunity to study the processes of biologic evolution in the fossil record. Paleobiology of the Polycystine Radiolaria is the first major book on radiolarians to appear in the western literature since 2001. Focusing on living and fossil siliceous shelled radiolarians, it is notable for its emphasis not upon morphologic or taxonomic detail but on concepts and applications. The book attempts to provide a balanced, critical review of what is known of the biology, ecology, and fossil record of the group, as well as their use in evolutionary, biostratigraphic and paleoceanographic research. Full chapters on the history of study, and molecular biology, are the first ever in book form. Written for an audience of advanced undergraduate to doctoral students, as well as for a broad range of professionals in the biological and Earth sciences, Paleobiology of the Polycystine Radiolaria summarizes current understanding of the marine planktonic protist group polycystine radiolaria, both in living and fossil form.

Presents information from the primary abiotic forces defining the system, and from the present hydrology, biogeochemistry and physics of major sites of organic carbon production of the McMurdo Dry Valleys. Additionally, research on the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the dry valley soils is included. The role of environmental management in long-term ecological studies is also addressed. The accompanying CDROM provides details and scale to visualize the McMurdo Dry Valleys from an ecosystem perspective.