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Paleoenvironment and Paleoclimate

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Abstract

Microfossils are key to the interpretation of paleoenvironment, including the estimation of sea-level change, oceanic productivity, amount of dissolved oxygen in seawater and paleoclimate. Foraminiferal assemblages are indicators of sea-level change. The common foraminiferal genera of different depth zones on the shelf, slope and abyssal plain of the ocean floor are explained. The δ18O of foraminiferal shells complements the sea-level curve based on assemblages of foraminifera. The dissolved oxygen index, based on morphotypes of foraminifera, estimates the oxygen content in seawater. There are several indicator taxa of ocean eutrophication and upwelling among planktic foraminifera, diatoms, radiolarians and dinoflagellates. Microfossils have contributed significantly towards the understanding of the Cenozoic paleoclimate, especially in determining the sea-surface and bottom-water temperatures. There are two approaches to paleotemperature estimation: the biological approach relies on the known or inferred temperature preferences of microfossils and the geochemical approach uses stable isotopes and trace elements in carbonate shells. The resulting paleoclimate trends of the Cenozoic and hyperthermal events are elaborated in the chapter. It also discusses microfossils as tracers of monsoon and summarizes how microfossils helped in reconstruction of paleomonsoon intensity in the Quaternary.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India

    Pratul Kumar Saraswati

  2. Department of Geology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

    M. S. Srinivasan

Authors
  1. Pratul Kumar Saraswati
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  2. M. S. Srinivasan
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Saraswati, P.K., Srinivasan, M.S. (2016). Paleoenvironment and Paleoclimate. In: Micropaleontology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14574-7_11

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