2019/2020

2019/2020

DM270

GEO/01 (PALAEONTOLOGY AND PALAEOECOLOGY)

DEPARTMENT OF EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

APPLIED GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES

PERCORSO COMUNE

1°

1st semester (01/10/2019 - 15/01/2020)

6

56 lesson hours

Italian

ORAL TEST

MANCIN NICOLETTA (titolare) - 6 ECTS

Basic concepts about Paleontology, Paleoecology and fossil significance with particular attention to Tafonomic process; basic concepts about Stratigraphy and Sedimentology with a robust understanding of sedimentological processes and depositional environments (mostly marine environments); classification of sedimentary rocks.

Knowledge of the morphology, stratigraphical distribution and application in Biostratigraphy, Palaeoecology, Paleoceanography of the main
microfossil groups. Practice taxonomic determination of the different microfossil taxa using the polarizing-light and stereoscopic microscopes and to directly experience the industrial and scientific applications of Micropaleontology.
Recognition of stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental markers (mainly Foraminifera) in Mesozoic and Cenozoic rock samples

The course consists of two complementary parts, which include both lectures and practical activities in laboratory.
The first part of the course is dedicated to the Taxonomy of the main modern and fossil Protista (foraminifera, calcareous nannofossils, calpionellids, , radiolaria, diatoms, silicoflagellates, ebridians, dinoflagellates, conodonts), to their stratigraphical distribution and application in Biostratigraphy and Environmental Ecology. A conspicuos part of the course is dedicated to a theoretical and practical probing of the Taxonomy of planktonic and benthic foraminifera and of larger benthic foraminifera, mostly Mesozoic and Cenozoic in age. The study material consists of
washed residues and thin sections prepared following standard procedures.
The abundant practical activities in the laboratory will provide each student with a good knowledge and an autonomous ability on the integrated use of both biostratigraphic marker species and paleoenvironmental proxies in the Earth Sciences.

The second part of the course is dedicated to the different applications of Micropaleontology: the integrated methods and techniques in paleoenvironmental and paleoceanographic reconstruction and in bio-monitoring are explained and applied to practical examples from both academia and industry. Individual laboratory exercises are assigned on peculiar case-studies from the literature and on selected stratigraphic sections in order to probe the use of Micropaleontology applied to Basin Analysis, Paleclimatology and bio-monitoring.

The course includes lectures organized in Power Point presentations and practical activities in laboratory through the use of both stereo and polarized microscopes.

-Armstrong H.A. and Brasier M.D. (2005) - Microfossils (II Edition). Blackwell Publishing
-Martin R.E. (2000) –Environmental Micropaleontology: the applications of microfossils to Environmental Geology. Kluwer Academic Publishers
-Sen Gupta B.K. (1999) – Modern Foraminifera. Kluwer Academic Publishers
-Sinha D.K. (2007) – Micropaleontology: application in Stratigraphy and Paleoceanography. Narosa Publishing House.

The teaching material, the bibliographic references and the suggested manuals are provided in English. The shown slides are available online on “Kiro” http://elearning3.unipv.it/terra/.

The final examination includes two distinct parts: 1) analysis of the foraminiferal content determined in a washed residue and in a thin section; 2) oral discussion on arguments described during the course. The final examination could be in English (on request)

To acquire a good knowledge on the use of fossil foraminifera applied to the Earth Sciences will be necessary a conspicuous individual work and practice to be performed on washed residues and thin sections observed under the microscope. For this purpose, a tutor is available to help the students during the practical activities and individual exercises finalized to the recognition of fossil samples. The scheduled dates of the tutorial activities are available online on “Kiro”.