The Micropalaeontological Society

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21
Mar

TMS Newsletter

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We are pleased to announce that the TMS Newsletter for March 2022 is now available to download here.

04
Nov

Obituary for Professor John Murray

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We were very sorry to hear of the death of Professor John Murray in late October 2021. John had a long and distinguished academic career at Imperial College London, The Marine Biological Association in Plymouth, Bristol University, Exeter University and finally Southampton, carrying out research on numerous topics related to benthic foraminifera. He was outstanding as both a teacher and researcher and will be greatly missed in both the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton and in the world of foraminiferal research. He will also be sorely missed in our society. John was a member of the society from its foundation in 1970, as the British Micropalaeontological Group. He was secretary of the Foraminifera specialist group in 1972-1973,  and Chairman of the society from 1978 to 1980. He edited the Journal of Micropaleontology from 1994 to 1997. In each of the roles he was supremely efficient and made major contributions to development of the society, in recognition of this he was made an Honorary Member of the Society in 2005. The Society also recognised his outstanding scientific contributions to Micropalaeontology, awarding him the Brady Medal, the highest honour of the society, in 2007. His achievements to that date are summarised in the commendation for the award – although since he continued a high-level of scientific output that summary is in need of updating. 

Our knowledge of microfossils and their role in global ecology has been built by the work of numerous micropalaeontologists and John was one of the best, and one of the kindest.  

Written by Dr Jeremy Young, on behalf of the Micropalaeontological Society committee

09
Apr

New papers

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The latest papers published in the Journal of Micropalaeontology are now available on the website:

Jurassic planktic foraminifera from the Polish Basin

Maria Gajewska, Zofia Dubicka, and Malcolm B. Hart

Last Glacial Maximum to Holocene paleoceanography of the northwestern Ross Sea inferred from sediment core geochemistry and micropaleontology at Hallett Ridge

Romana Melis, Lucilla Capotondi, Fiorenza Torricella, Patrizia Ferretti, Andrea Geniram, Jong Kuk Hong, Gerhard Kuhn, Boo-Keun Khim, Sookwan Kim, Elisa Malinverno, Kyu Cheul Yoo, and Ester Colizza

Comparative analysis of six common foraminiferal species of the genera Cassidulina, Paracassidulina, and Islandiella from the Arctic–North Atlantic domain

Alix G. Cage, Anna J. Pieńkowski, Anne Jennings, Karen Luise Knudsen, and Marit-Solveig Seidenkrantz

12
Jan

New papers

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The latest papers in the Journal of Micropalaeontology are now online:

Microfossil assemblages and geochemistry for interpreting the incidence of the Jenkyns Event (early Toarcian) in the south-eastern Iberian Palaeomargin (External Subbetic, SE Spain)

Matías Reolid

Micropalaeontology, biostratigraphy, and depositional setting of the mid-Cretaceous Derdere Formation at Derik, Mardin, south-eastern Turkey

Michael D. Simmons, Vicent Vicedo, İsmail Ö. Yılmaz, İzzet Hoşgör, Oğuz Mülayim, and Bilal Sarı

Automated analysis of foraminifera fossil records by image classification using a convolutional neural network

Ross Marchant, Martin Tetard, Adnya Pratiwi, Michael Adebayo, and Thibault de Garidel-Thoron

Liberating microfossils from indurated carbonates: comparison of three disaggregation methods

Charlotte Beasley, Daniel B. Parvaz, Laura Cotton, and Kate Littler

04
Dec

Microfossil Image Competition 2021

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Diatoms are tiny, silica-shelled phytoplankton. Not only are they an important part of marine ecosystems and useful tools for studying past climate – this Asteromphalus flabellatus proves that they are also amazingly beautiful!

The Micropalaeontological Society is delighted to announce the winner of the 2020 Micropalaeontology Image Competition!

The overall image winner was submitted by Isabel Dove from the University of Rhode Island – Graduate School of Oceanography, with a beautiful image of the diatom species Asteromphalus flabellatus. Not only does Isabel win the competition’s first prize of €200, but her image is also included on the front cover of our TMSoc2021 Calendar (note these are now sold out)!

On behalf of the Society we would like to congratulate Isabel on her success. Eleven additional winners were selected from the fantastic submissions, and are on display below! A wide variety of microfossils and imaging techniques have been championed this year, and we are already looking forward to next year’s competition.

Additional winners

Odysseas Archontikis and Jeremy Young, University of Oxford and University College London

Coccolith ultrastructure of Cyclicargolithus floridanus. Each coccolith is composed of two interconnecting cycles of the same crystal units, known as the R-units. Coccosphere specimen is c. 10μm in diameter and was collected from Early Miocene dark sapropelic sediments.

Hilary H. Birks, University of Bergen, Norway

Seed of mountain chickweed, Cerastium cerastoides. This creeping arctic-alpine plant bears large white chickweed flowers, characteristic of its family, Caryophyllaceae. It grows in seepage zones from melting snowbeds usually in open gravel or stones. The bean-shaped seeds, about 1.5 mm long, have an amazing pattern of humpy interlocking cells.
Seed of sea campion, Silene maritima. The grey-leaved plants form loose mats and bear large white flowers typical of its family, Caryophyllaceae. It inhabits sea-cliffs, seaside walls, shingle banks, and drift-lines on seashores. Its bean-shaped seeds, about 2 mm long, have an amazing pattern of interlocking jig-saw cells

Damián Cárdenas, Missouri University of Science and Technology

Catching a glimpse of organic-walled microfossils

Dimitris Evangelinos, Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra – CSIC – Universidad de Granada

Diatom buried in calcareous nannofossils

Sahina Gazi, National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, India

Calcareous Nannofossils from the Indian Sector of Southern Ocean

Hannah Hartung, University of Cologne

Look, which surprise: a baby-like Radiolaria in the belly of its mother

Susan Richardson, Florida Atlantic University

Slice through shell of an ancient foraminiferan Rauserella erratica. Image shows the discoidal shape of the early shell which results from regular coiling in a single plane. In later stages, the shell becomes uncoiled as the axis of coiling shift. Shells collected from reef-associated habitats in Permian-aged rocks of North America.

Mariem Saavedra-Pellitero, University of Birmingham

During COVID-19 lockdown, I experienced a great personal tragedy. I drew these two coccospheres of Emiliania huxleyi (type A and type O) to cheer myself up. I hope this watercolor will bring a smile to others.

Nicolai Schleinkofer, Goethe University, Frankfurt

Parasitic foraminifera (Hyrokkin sarcophaga) on host organism (Acesta excavata, bivalve). The bored hole is visible as well as the defense reaction of the bivalve (callus formation to close the boring)

Yan Yu Ting, Earth Observatory of Singapore

A showcase of nature’s meticulous design skills – a handful of tropical benthic foraminifera imaged at various angles using microscope.
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