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Special
Publications
Proposed Special Publication - The History of Foraminiferal Micropalaeontology
A note from our new editors.
As you may know, we (Daniela Schmidt and Jeremy Young) have in the early part of 2008
taken over as TMS Special Publications editors, following several years
fine work by Malcolm Hart. The transfer of special publications to the
Geological Society Publishing House has worked very well. They have
produced our latest volumes, Deep-Time Perspectives in Climate Change and Recent Developments in Applied Biostratigraphy to very high standards, and they are supplying excellent support to editors.
We will of course continue
to support Stratigraphical Atlas special publications, indeed the
ostracod atlas is very near completion. We have also, however, spent
some time thinking about other types of special publications we could
usefully encourage in order to help promote our science and support its
role in modern earth science research and petroleum geology. In fact, a
minimal amount of brainstorming has resulted in a wide range of
possibilities:
Biology and Palaeobiology of Microfossil Groups
There has been an immense
amount of research recently on the biology of microfossil groups, often
largely driven by the need for better understanding of them in order to
improve their use in micropalaeontology. In consequence classic guides
such as the Coccolithophores book of Winter & Siesser (1994) or Hemleben’s Planktonic Foraminifera
are increasingly out of date. We envisage that for any of the groups we
specialise in there is potential for a new guide aimed at graduate
students and researchers working with them. These might include review
chapters by appropriate experts on topics such as - Organismal
biology; test structure and formation; Physiological ecology;
Classification and phylogeny; Extant biodiversity (with some kind of
checklist or atlas); Biogeography; Study in sediment traps; study in
core-top sediments; Geochemical studies; fossil record overview.
Micropalaeontology and stratigraphy of a formation/basin.
Micropalaeontology plays a
key role in stratigraphy and we could take a lead in developing
syntheses of the stratigraphy and biostratigraphy of key basins or
formations. Such books might include synthesis chapters on the
lithostratigraphic framework; sedimentary environments and facies;
cyclostratigraphy and geochronology; macrofossil biostratigraphy;
calcareous microfossil biostratigraphy; palynology, nannofossil
biostratigraphy. Obviously these should be focussed on formations or
basins of current industrial and/or academic research interest.
A few possibilities:
Plio-Pleistocene of NW Europe;North Sea Early Paleogene; The Chalk; The Paratethys, The Messinian of the Mediterranean
Micropalaeontological Techniques and Methods
As micropalaeontology has
become ever more diverse in scope and in applications the range of
techniques we are using has grown considerably but there are few good
manuals or information for new students. We do not think a single
methods in micropalaeontology volume could be practical but do think
volumes focussed on a sub-set of techniques could be invaluable.
Possibilities might include:
Actuomicropalaeontology (methods in biologcal study of microfossil groups)
Palaeoproxies from microfossils (methods used in palaeoceanographic applications of microfossils)
Field & laboratory methods in Micropalaeontology
Imaging Microfossils
Morphometric study of microfossils
Statistical Techniques in Micropalaeontology
Automated identification of Microfossils
History of Micropalaeontology
The Heroes of Micropalaeontology theme at the last AGM showed how rich the history of micropalaeontology is and a volume on the History of Foraminferal Micropalaeontology
is being developed. There almost certainly is the potential for more
volumes with an historical focus, which might be focussed on particular
fossil groups, or on individual scientists (e.g. Haeckel and the study of radiolaria) or on particular episodes (e.g. The Deep Sea Drilling Project and the invention of palaeoceanography).
Volumes arising from major research projects
Numerous palaeoceanographic
or palaeoclimatic projects involve large amounts of micropalaeontology
and so provide potential for special publications. This could certainly
include any IODP Leg or other research cruse with a strong
palaeoceanographic focus but also EU Research Projects or other larger
research projects.
Micropalaeontological aspects of Multi-Disciplinary Research
The recent climate change book (full title Deep-Time Perspectives on Climate Change: Marrying the Signal from Computer Models and Biological Proxies)
is an impressive example of micropalaeontologists taking the lead in
synthesing results from a multidisciplinary field with a mix of review
and research articles. Other topics which might be suitable for this
type of coverage with a strong but not exclusive focus on
micropalaeontological aspects include:
Sequence stratigraphy
Biosteering of horizontal wells
Cyclostratigraphy and recalibration of the geological timescale
Biomineralization by eukaryotic protists
The evolution of eukaryote diversity
Biogenic fluxes to the deep sea.
Microfossil lagerstaten
Microfossils as provenance indicators in archaeological and forensic science.
How to implement this?
As series editors we intend
to play a supporting role in this, encouraging proposals and supporting
editors, but keeping as light a touch as possible. We will be
proactively encouraging likely editors of a few of the possible topics,
but we would very much like TMS specialist groups and individual
members to propose taking on any of these topics. The basic process
would be first to informally contact either of us to suggest working up
a concept (so we can ensure there is no duplication of endeavours). We
would then ask editors to develop a book proposal for approval by the
TMS committee and Geological Society Publishing House. The typical
length of books should be 200-400 pages.
We are not interested in
loosely focussed collections of research papers from open meetings, but
there is a very strong case for using focussed research meetings or
special sessions of large conferences (e.g. EGU, AGU, NAPC) as
benchmarks in the development of publication projects. A very effective
model is to require submission of manuscripts at the time of the
meeting.
Advantages of
publishing through the TMS special publication series are, that this
provides strong support for our society and science; that the society
will provide support and encouragement; that the publishing house will
provide professional copy editing, high quality publication, and
effective marketing of the book.
We feel TMS has established
a really valuable relationship with the publishing house and that this
provides great potential to develop a series of publications which
promote and enable micropalaeontology. We will be very happy to hear
from any of you.
Daniella Schmidt (University of Bristol, UK)
Jeremy Young (NHM, London, UK)
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