Paleontology at FSU
RESEARCH AREAS
Our emphasis in faculty specialties has been increasingly on quantitative aspects of micropaleontology, paleoecology/paleoenvironmental
analysis, paleo-oceanography, and stratigraphy. Our research/instructional faculty in these areas includes Anthony J. Arnold, William C.
Parker, and Sherwood W. Wise . The FSU Antarctic Marine Geology Research Facility and Core Library is a strong adjunct of the research program.
Many of the other faculty at FSU are "soft-rock oriented", and interact with the paleontology group.
Foraminifera: Research interests in benthic foraminifera include the distribution, diversity, and paleoecology of the group,
primarily on the continental shelf and slope of North America, the Galapagos Rift and the East Pacific Rise, with sampling trips aboard
the deep-sea submersible R/V EDWIN LINK. Planktonic foraminiferal research emphasizes evolutionary lineage studies, macroevolutionary
analysis, and light isotope work, primarily on DSDP/ODP material. Lab facilities include sophisticated light microscope-interfaced digital
image analysis systems, with ready availability of SEM and mass spectrometer.
Calcareous Nannofossils: Calcareous nannofossils, produced by planktonic algae, provide a rapid means to date marine sediments
and to characterize surface water masses of paleo-oceans. Nannofossil specialists are in strong demand by the Ocean Drilling Program, and
while enrolled at FSU, over 35 of our graduate students have participated in cruises of the D/V's GLOMAR CHALLENGER and JOIDES RESOLUTION,
thereby obtaining valuable material for thesis research as well as the experience of working with multidisciplinary teams of scientists at
sea. Similar work has taken us to Antarctica for the Cape Roberts Drilling Project.
Evolutionary Paleoecology: This program emphasizes the use of multivariate statistics to explore and quantify the ecological
relationships among taxa and to relate the patterns discovered to the taxa's evolutionary history. Paleoenvironmental reconstruction,
taphonomy, and functional morphology are used to reconstruct the ecology of extinct forms. Lab facilities include rock sample preparation,
thin-section equipment, and computer-aided image analysis.
FACILITIES
Lab facilities include two micropaleontology laboratories fully equipped with research scopes and a sophisticated light microscope-interfaced
digital image analysis systems, with ready availability of SEM and mass spectrometer.
FACULTY
Anthony J. Arnold
Dr. Arnold and his students are actively involved in research in two broad areas of foraminiferal
research. The first is the distribution, diversity, and paleoecology of benthic foraminifera. Dr. Arnold's planktonic foraminiferal
studies emphasize evolutionary lineage studies, macroevolutionary analysis, and light isotope work.
William C. Parker
This program emphasizes the use of multivariate statistical techniques to explore and quantify the
ecologic relationships among extinct groups of organisms, and to attempt to relate these relationships to their evolutionary history.
Sherwood W. Wise
Calcareous nannofossils are produced by planktonic algae and are the primary constituents of deep
sea calcareous oozes and chalks. We use quantitative methods and other means to refine biostratigraphic zonation, their correlations
with chemo- and paleomagneto-stratigraphy, taxonomy and evolutionary trends, and to reconstruct paleoclimates and paleo-oceanographic
histories.
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