Applications of microfossils

1. APPLICATIONS OF MICROFOSSILS
SEMINAR ON

2.  INTRODUCTION
 AGE DETERMINATION OF FOSSILS
 MAKING OF BIOZONATION
 PALAEOECOLOGY
 PALAEOCURRENT
 PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
 TO STUDY HYDROTHERMAL ACCUMULATION
 TO STUDY CONTINENTAL DRIFT THEORY
 CONCLUSION
 REFERRENCE
CONTENTS

3.  Microfossils are the tiny remainings of ancient
lived organisms, whose size ranges from 50 to
500 milli micron.
 These group includes Plants, Animals, seeds,
spores of plants, teeth, jaws of animals .
 Study of Microfossils gives us many vital
Informations.
INTRODUCTION

4.  Microfossils are a very important source
in determinination of the age of
sediments.
 The collected sedimentary specimen is
dated to determine the age of rock.
AGE DETERMINATION OF FOSSILS

5.  Biostratigraphic units or biozones are
intervals of geological strata that are defined
on the basis of their characteristic fossil taxa.
 If one or more specific kind of fossils present
in a zone , such fossils are known as Zone
fossils.
 The zone fossils are mostly microfossils, and
these microfossils helps in biozonation.
BIOZONATION

6.  The analysis of microfossils from archeological
sites can give us the living conditions in the past.
 This helps in reconstructing the palaeoecology
or the elements of the past condition.
 Palaeoecology is considered as one of the
fundamental tools to understand the
development and the changes that took over
the evolutionary period.
PALAEOECOLOGY

7.  Microfossils data can be used in the study of
palaeo currents of sea.
 Microfossils are good indicators of the
depositional environmental and hence they help
in determintion of the nature and age of palaeo
current.
 The ornamentation and coiling type helps in the
determination of the current direction.
TO STUDY PALAEO CURRENTS

8.  Microfossils play a very important role in analyzing
eustatic sea level.
 The presence of certain microfossils found in deep
water sediments which lived in shallow water and
The presence of microfossils in shallow water
sediments which lived in deep water, Indicates a
global change in the sea level.
 From the study of such fossils distribution and
habit it shows that the global sea level has not
been the same throughout the geological time.
TO STUDY EUSTATIC SEA LEVEL

9.  The study of microfossils has been helpful in
the evaluation of the conditions in which
petroleum deposits have been formed.
 The study of microfossils is very important for
petroleum prospecting.
 Certain characters of microfossils like colour,
outer shell composition etc gives an idea
about type of petroleum deposition present.
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS

10.  For example: When mid-brown coloured
palynamorphs are present in the source
rocks, it can be inferred that petroleum has
been formed under suitable condition, If it is
darker in colour it indicates that the source
rocks contains Gas.
Cont….

11.  Some microfossils found in sea floor environments
are encrusted with iron oxides which contain minor
amounts of others elements.
 From further several studies on microfossils around
hydrothermal deposits it has been suggested that
iron is an important energy sources in these
environmental study of such microfossils in
hydrothermal accumulations is useful in determining
the type of deposits it has formed.
TO STUDY HYDROTHERMAL
ACCUMULATION

12.  The same kinds of microfossils have been found from
continental shows which lie adjacent to one another
seperated by water bodies.
 The study of these microfossils and their
geographical distribution has given evidence that the
geography of the earth in the past was not the same
as it is today.
 These microfossils help in the reconstructing the
palaeogeography of the earth and in marking its
ancient continental shorelines.
CONTINENTAL DRIFT THEORY

13.  BioStratigraphy is the grouping of strata into units
based on their fossils content with the aim of
zonation and correlation microfossils are among the
best fossils for biostratigraphical analysis because
they can be extremely abundant in rocks.
 Many groups evolved rapidly allowing a high level of
sub-division of the rock record and a high level of
biostratigrphical resolution.
TO STUDY HIGH RESOLUTION
BIOSTRATIGRAPHY

14.  Microfossils are especially note worthy for their importance in
biostratigraphy. Since they are extremely abundant, widespread
and quick to appear and reappear from the stratigraphic record.
They constitute ideal in deep fossils.
 Microfossils are some of the most important indicators of global
environmental change in long time scale.
 They are abundantly used in both petroleum geology and
palaeooceanography and has found a number of roles in new
fields such as in forensic investigation.
 Microfossils is also a tool in geo archeology used in archeo
ecological reconstruction of human habitation sites and
environment.
CONCLUSION

15.  2005, Howard – Armstrong, M.D.Brasier, Microfossils,
Wiley – Blackwell, Pp 16 – 35.
 2008, Yildirim Dilck, Harald Furnes, Karlis
Muchlenbachs, Links Between Geological Processes,
Microbial Activities And Evloution Of Life : Microbes
and Geology, Springer.
 www.bgr.bund.de/en/themen/gg-stratigraphie/gg-
stratigraphie-node-en.html.
 www.palaeoecology.co.uk/prs.info.htm
Reference

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