Annual General Meeting 2004

The 2004 Annual General Meeting was held on 17th November at University College London.

Following Society business, two talks were presented.

Ancient Glacier Bodies, the Case of Oetzi, the Tyrolean Iceman: Clues from Microscopic Plant and Animal Remains –

Dr Jim Dickson Institute of Biomedical & Life Sciences, Univ. of Glasgow

The 5,300 year old Tyrolean Iceman is the best preserved, oldest human body ever found. Scientifically, he is much more fun than Tutankamun. By palynology and complimentary techniques, the challenge is to work out his lifestyle in as great detail as possible and in particular to reconstruct his last days and hours.

Pteropods; What the Heck are They? – Mr Arie Janssen
National Museum of Natural History, Leiden

Pteropods, nowadays more correctly indicated as Gastropoda, Thesosomata, are holoplanktonic molluscs. They are known from marine deposits since the Late Palaeocene and still occur in the actual fauna. A brief account of systematics and morphology will be given. Their potential application in biostratigraphy will be demonstrated, with results from the Mediterranean and the North Sea Basin. Some practical cases using vertical distribution and evolution will be explained as examples of their possibilities, next to well-known other holoplanktonic organisms like dinoflagellates, foraminifera and calcareous nannoplankton.