Small Fossils Provide Key Clues For Interpreting Environmental ChangesScienceDaily (Aug. 2, 2009) — The Micropalaeontology team at the Department of Stratigraphy and Palaeontology at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) is working on the study of microfossils under the direction of Mr Julio Rodríguez Lázaro. The concentrations of these types of fossils and the composition of their shells can provide much information about the conditions of life thousands or even millions of years ago. These microfossils once belonged to aquatic organisms and their analysis provides a knowledge of past ocean and lake characteristics – data that is highly significant in the study of climate change.
Microfossils are found in rocks and are very abundant. Samples are gathered, the species are identified and the geochemical analysis of their shells is undertaken, which enable the characteristics of the water in which these organisms lived to be identified. The UPV/EHU team has been collaborating for many years with a research team from Bordeaux (France) and mainly works with foraminiferes and ostracods. These organisms have inhabited the planet for many millions of years, in such a way that the variations observed within their populations help to describe environmental situations in the past.
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