In comparison, which proxy gives more accurate biostratigraphic data: nannoplankton or planktonic foraminifera?
Suman:
In whatever region, age and facies these two groups of calcareous fossils co-occur, calcareous nannofossils offer much higher biostratigraphic resolution and still better if the zonation offered by the two are integrated.
Best
Syed
Hi Suman.
It really depends on the samples, but when both fossils occurs with good preservation and high diversity in my oppinion calcareous nannofossils is the more accurate group.
Thank you for the answers. If samples are of Palaeogene (Palaeocene-Eocene) then which proxy would be more suited for biostratigraphy? Nannofossils??
Suman,
It depends on age of the sediments, calcareous nannoplankton offer higher resolution but best results would come from integrating both groups of fossils.
You can find the best answer though details of the IUGS time scale. The age resolution of index nannofossil zone is a little bit higher than foraminiferal zone.
Suman:
For Palaeogene, again the facies is important. One should not loose sight of the fact that calcareous nannofossils being much smaller than planktonic foraminifera, yield far more specimens per unit volume of sample. Also the age of the samples could be determined in minutes by calcareous nannofossils, whereas for planktonic foraminifera it may take hours to days. In marginal marine facies, if the biozonation yielded by these two groups are integrated, a much finer resolution could be obtained (Eocene of Kutch, India). But in Palaeogene Flysch facies of Andaman island, for example, you may not get any trace of these two groups, which are otherwise present in Flysch of other regions, like European Flysch. So depending upon region, tectonics, facies and state of preservation, you may choose either of two or both.
Best
Syed
Thank you very much Jaffer Sir. Any interaction with you, be it offline or online is always very fruitful.
Thank you Dr. Kenneth Towe.
Dear Suman,
As all colleagues highlighted in their suggestions, every thing depends on type, age and environment of your samples. Nonnoplanktons are very good for age determinations, but depend on the time you are dealing and also they are very pron to be contamination due to their very fine size. Plankton foraminifers are also very useful in biostratigraphy as well as for age determination, but they are also depending on environment. Therefore, scientist normally choose multidisciplinary techniques to combine all data together to get better and reliable results.
The highest resolution tool in microfossils groups is Nannoplanktons, planktonic foraminifera comes next.
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