Contributions Series Nr. 41 (PDF)

$10.00

Acritarchs and Prasinophyte Phycomata: A Short Course
Geoffrey Playford
2003

44 pp.

PDF only

Description

Abstract

Acritarchs and prasinophyte phycomata constitute a heterogeneous (and undoubtedly polyphyletic) microfossil complex of very durable, organic-walled palynomorphs having considerable (and mainly stratigraphic) importance, particularly in Neoproterozoic through Devonian marine successions. Uncertainties and controversy about the biological relationships of acritarchs, though continuing and providing fertile grounds for research, have not impeded their systematic study and their geological application, both of which have, in concert, expanded considerably from the 1960s. The main purposes of this course are to review, in some detail, the geological occurrence of acritarchs and prasinophytes; their retrieval in concentration from sedimentary rocks and their methods of study; the varied morphology of these microfossils; how they are treated taxonomically (i.e., as form genera and form species); their speculative natural relationships; and their principal applications in the earth sciences.