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Full-Text Articles in Paleobiology
Investigation Of Dead Ocean Quahogs (Arctica Islandica) Shells On The Mid-Atlantic Bight Continental Shelf, Alyssa Leclaire
Investigation Of Dead Ocean Quahogs (Arctica Islandica) Shells On The Mid-Atlantic Bight Continental Shelf, Alyssa Leclaire
Master's Theses
Ocean quahogs, Arctica islandica, are a long-lived, widely dispersed, biomass dominate in the Mid-Atlantic; therefore, quahog shells are valuable resources for studying climate change over time. Recently, dead ocean quahog shells were discovered south and inshore of the present biogeographic range of this animal. The presence of ocean quahog shells outside the current range is presumably a consequence of past regressions and transgressions of the Cold Pool, the bottom-trapped, cool body of water that allows boreal animals to live at lower latitudes. Dead ocean quahog shells were collected offshore of the DelMarVa Peninsula then radiocarbon-dated, evaluated for taphonomic condition, …
Pliocene Wood From The Gray Fossil Site, Owen Madsen
Pliocene Wood From The Gray Fossil Site, Owen Madsen
Undergraduate Honors Theses
The Gray Fossil Site in northeastern Tennessee preserves materials from a 5-million-year-old ecosystem, including wood from nearby trees. This study consists of three parts: conservation of wood remains, identification of taxonomic groups represented by the fossil wood, and measuring the organic content of fossil wood from the Gray Fossil Site. When excavated, wood specimens from the site are saturated due to a high local water table. After testing seven different techniques to dry wood specimens, wrapping a specimen in string and allowing it to dry slowly was the method least likely to cause warping and cracking. Microscopic examination of wood …
Exploring The Morphometrics Of The Diatom Fragilariopsis Kerguelensis As A Proxy For Paleo-Sea Surface Temperature In The Late Pleistocene-Holocene Southern Ocean, Joseph Anthony Ruggiero
Exploring The Morphometrics Of The Diatom Fragilariopsis Kerguelensis As A Proxy For Paleo-Sea Surface Temperature In The Late Pleistocene-Holocene Southern Ocean, Joseph Anthony Ruggiero
Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations
The Southern Ocean has played a large role in moderating global climate since its inception in the Oligocene. With the onset of anthropogenic global warming, it is now more necessary than ever that we understand the world’s climate during periods of rapidly fluctuating temperature in the past. Climatic forecasts are informed by paleoenvironmental conditions of the past during these turbulent periods, which we can examine using proxy data. This thesis assesses a potential proxy for Sea Surface Temperature (SST) through morphometric analysis of the Southern Ocean diatom Fragilariopsis kerguelensis in the Amundsen Sea, West Antarctica. This proxy is based off …