Xenophyophores Deep sea is the largest ecosystem on Earth and it exhibited a large diversity of life forms that appeared to be bizarre and curious to both general and scientific communities. The sediment samples obtained from deep seas were usually containing fecal pellets (released by animals lived in photic zone of ocean), foraminiferan tests, as well as organic matters. Recently, during the July of 2011, researchers with Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and National Geographic
the assessment and monitoring of aquatic ecosystem (Coull & Chandler, 1992). Meiofauna is thought to be jointly connected to the other faunal compartments as they are the most richest benthic group. Foraminifera and Nematode are two major protozoans usually found in the sand sediment. As for foraminifera, it plays an important role in the global biogeochemical cycles of organic and inorganic compounds, making them one of the most valuable groups on earth (Yanko et al, 1999). Evidence of environmental
Radioactive isotope dating techniques use present day processes as well as rates of processes to interpret past conditions and infer patterns of distribution and climate change and geology to past events. Techniques used to measure and reconstruct palaeoenvironmental records/frameworks depend on the material (proxy) that is preserved and the events that occurred when it became fossilized. There are radioactive properties in different materials, contained within them there are natural time signals
Ocean acidification, resulting from the increased acidity of the ocean, is one of the lesser known implications of climate change, but it has the capacity to completely alter the marine ecosystem. Scientists have previously neglected ocean acidification because it was thought that rivers contained a sufficient amount of dissolved chemical from rocks to stabilize the ocean’s pH. However, in recent years, scientists have become aware of the effects that the increased anthropogenic CO2 has on the ocean
the removal of about seventy-five percent of the fusulinid foraminifer’s genera. Of the fusulinid organisms, the only ones to be removed were species that had diverse wall features, and ones who were longer than a quarter of an inch. Within the foraminifera there was most likely symbiotic algae that lived... ... middle of paper ... ...t a doubt one of the most influential events that has affected the history of life. The extinction portrays all sorts of outcomes and consequences. It depicts how
pollution in the marine environment after the Prestige oil spill by means of seabird blood analysis. Environmental Science and technology 42: 707-713. Sabean JAR, Scott DB, Lee K, Venosa AD. 2009. Monitoring oil spill bioremediation using marsh foraminifera as indicators. Marine Pollution Bulletin 59: 352-361. Swannell RPJ, Lee K, McDonagh M. 1996. Field evaluations of marine oil spill bioremediation. Microbiological Reviews 60: 342-365.
Marine Biology of the Jurassic Period The Jurassic period is known as one of the most interesting periods of time in earth’s history, mainly for the awe-inspiring creatures many of which have gone extinct, the most remarkable being the dinosaurs. Life in the ocean during this time was also extremely diversified and amazing for the creatures it beheld. The Jurassic occurred from 199.6 to 145.5 million years ago, following the Triassic Period and preceding the Cretaceous Period within the Mesozoic
In “Chapter 6 – The Sea Around Us” of Elizabeth Kolbert’s The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, the author reveals the fact that the ocean is acidifying due to human activities, such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation. In this chapter, Kolbert notes that there was a lack of biodiversity near the vents at Castello Aragonese in order to present the oceans’ future possibility. One of the types of sea creatures that ocean acidification would devastate are the calcifiers, which are organisms
Oceans cover around seventy percent of the Earth’s surface. The oceans of the world have a direct relationship with weather and climate – they influence the weather both locally and globally and the changes in climate in exchange have an affect on properties of the oceans. Changes that occur to the ocean for the most part occur over a much longer period than in the atmosphere. Even if carbon dioxide emissions were to be stabilized today, it would centuries for oceans to adjust to the changes in
Honeycomb weathering is a common surface phenomenon affecting a variety of rocks in a range of environments. The processes involve the appearance of closely spaced cavities which are generally small, with an average width of a few millimeters to several centimeters in diameter. Honeycomb weathering is also known as fretting, cavernous weathering, alveoli/alveolar weathering, stone lattice, stone lace or miniature tafoni weathering. Incipient honeycomb weathering in a homogeneous limestone has been
Introduction: The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether global warming could affect the thermohaline circulation cycle (THC) significantly enough that it could even shut it down and thus cause a shift in the climate of Europe severe enough to cause another Little Ice Age. To answer the question about whether global warming could cause another ice age, I have divided this paper into segments. The first will explain what the thermohaline circulation cycle is. Next, I will look at the last
takes a materials science-based approach on nanotechnology. It studies ingredients with morphological landscapes on the nanoscale, and exclusively those that have special properties restricting from their nanoscale extents. The fine stucture of foraminifera and germs (capsid), the wax crystals covering a lotus leaf, spider and spider-mite silk,[2] the "spatulae" on the bottom of gecko feet, some butterfly wing scales, natural colloids (milk, blood), horny materials, paper, fiber, nacre, corals, and
Two properties are required for fluid movement of Reservoir rocks and Source rocks: permeability and porosity. It consist voids or pores, ability to contain fluid (known as porosity) and the pores are interconnected (permeability) in order to allow flow to occur. Hydrocarbons can be termed as reservoir fluid. The volume of hydrocarbons stored in a reservoir depends upon the porosity of the reservoir rock. The rate and volume at which hydrocarbons are withdrawn depends upon the permeability of the
extinction (K stands for Cretaceous, T stands for Tertiary), many species and families became extinct. These include all marine reptiles such as plesiosaurs, mosasaurs, ichthyosaurs, and ammonites, swimming and flying reptiles, sea crocodiles, and foraminifera. In addition to that there were many bony fish, sponges, snails, clams, and sea urchins became extinct. Paleontologists have proposed scenarios that could have caused these extinctions. One such scenario involves the growing number of small
No one would ever expect a Dutch fabric merchant to be the first to discover some of the most abundant organisms in the world. Europe was in the midst of a Scientific Revolution as part of the Renaissance. At this time, new scientific discoveries were being made with the rise of scientists such as Galileo and Newton. Another prominent name in this revolution was Antoni van Leeuwenhoek. Leeuwenhoek first worked in a fabric shop in Delft, Holland in the mid-1600s. Leeuwenhoek used his microscope to
So what killed the dinosaurs? Without having any background education in science it is hard for the general public to comprehend such matters and they rely on the knowledge of the scientists in this field. Although there has been much research on the subject nobody has come up with a conclusive answer. And we are left to read the countless articles, all having their own opinions as to the mass extinction. One such theory is that a shift in the solar system could have caused the mass destruction.
Extinction of Dinosaurs due to Asteroid Impact Nobody knows for sure exactly how the dinosaurs became extinct. However scientists have speculated for decades about possible events that caused the dinosaurs to die out. Possibilities range from asteroids, to volcanoes, to climate changes. One of the more popular or well-known extinction theories involves the belief that an asteroid struck the Earth, causing devastating effects, and triggering mass extinctions around the end of the Cretaceous
2000). Among the species that perished were the dinosaurs, pterosaurs, belemnoids, many species of plants, except ferns and seed-producing plants, ammonoids, marine reptiles and rudist bivalves. Severely affected organisms included planktic foraminifera, calcareous nannnoplankton, diatoms, dinoflagellates, brachiopods, mollusca, echinoids and fish. Mammals, birds, turtles, crocodiles, lizards, snakes and amphibians fared much better and were mostly unaffected by the End-Cretaceous mass extinction