Foraminifera
Microscopic, single-celled organisms called foraminifera have a fossil record that extends from today to more than 500 million years ago. Although each foram is just a single cell, they build complex shells around themselves from minerals in the seawater. These shells have accumulated in layers of sediment below the seafloor of the open ocean and in regions where the ocean once flooded the continents for millions of years. By examining the shell chemistry of these ancient forams, scientists can learn about Earth's climate long before humans ever walked the planet—and get insight into how climate changed in the past. Take a closer look at a few members of this fascinating life form.
Foraminifera
Foraminifera
Shallow Coral Reef Foraminifers
Shallow Coral Reef Foraminifers:
Star Sand Grains Collected from Southern Japan
Star Sand Grains Collected from Southern Japan:
A Colorful Foram: Globigerinoides ruber
A Colorful Foram: Globigerinoides ruber:
The central dark area of this foram (Globigerinoides ruber) is the shell surrounded by spines. The tiny yellow dots are symbiotic algae, which live in the protoplasm of the host organism.
Globotruncana falsostuarti
Globotruncana falsostuarti:
This foram Globotruncana falsostuarti) lived about 75 million years ago. Using shell chemistry, scientists can estimate sea surface temperatures at the time when these organisms lived and learn more about our changing climate. For this specimen, they calculate that it lived in 28°C (82°F) seawater.
Hedbergella sliteri
Hedbergella sliteri:
This Hedbergella sliteri specimen was taken from a drill core near Antarctica dating back 71-66 million years ago, a time when the south polar region was warm enough for the Antarctic continent to have forests and dinosaurs.
Hantkenina mexicana
Hantkenina mexicana :
Hantkenina mexicana is a foram with elongated shell chambers that lived between 45-49 million years ago, during the Eocene Epoch. This specimen is from marine sediments that were drilled in the southeast coastal region of Tanzania.
Lenticulina secans
Lenticulina secans:
This foram (Lenticulina secans) lived on the Tanzania seafloor more than 92 million years ago when both the polar regions and the deep ocean were much warmer than they are today, an era known as the "Cretaceous Supergreenhouse." Scientists estimate that in this region at that time, the temperature of the ocean bottom at 600 meters was about 20°C. Present day temperatures at that depth average about 12°C.
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