Gaining insight and knowledge about the concepts, methods, techniques, and applications of micropaleontology, as well as its role in the broader context of geological research. Through case studies of sediments and microfossil assemblages from the Paleozoic to recent deposits, the systematics, usefulness, and areas of application of different groups of microfossils will be demonstrated. Emphasis will be placed on the role of microfossils in paleoenvironmental reconstruction.
1) Environments: terrestrial, marine, and transitional; their distribution, physicochemical properties, and ecological factors governing them and controlling organism distribution;
2) Microfossils: skeletal structures, identification, and evolution;
3) Precambrian environment: blue-green bacteria and Archaea;
4) Paleozoic marine environments: radiolarians, ostracods, chitinozoans, conodonts, and architrachs;
5) Late Paleozoic shallow-marine environments: large benthic foraminifera, green and red algae;
6) Mesozoic marine environments: from the "organism-barren" period to the diversity and abundance of the Cretaceous (planktonic foraminifera, calcareous nannofossils, diatoms, dinoflagellates, algae);
7) Recovery of shallow-water microorganisms after major extinctions, their distribution and diversity, and the establishment of environments similar to modern ones;
8) Recent environments and the microorganisms that inhabit them;
9) Microfossils of salt marshes;
10) Microfossils of deltas;
11) Microfossils of estuaries;
12) Microfossils of mud plains;
13) Case study: development of the Mirna River delta and microfossils application;
14) Case study: development of the Neretva River delta and microfossils application;
15) Case study: development of the Po River delta and microfossils application.
The content of the exercises will follow the lectures and will consist of practical tasks and problem-solving related to each specific unit. The emphasis will be on concrete and current issues.
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