the creature that you just saw isn't an alien or mythical monster. They are
remnants of prehistoric microorganisms that once lived in our planet millions of years ago.
we might be familiar with huge fossils like dinosaur bones or footprints but the fossils
these microorganisms left behind are very tiny and can only be properly analyzed to a microscope.
and that's why they're named "microfossils". There can be different kinds of microfossils
and they come in many unique shapes and sizes. New species of microfossils are still being found
and it's amazing how unique they are from one another.
now if these fossils are so tiny, how do scientists collect them? And why collect these fossils at all?
when you have big fossils like T-rex skulls or ammonites? Well, bigger is always better, right? right?
Let's find out.
Collecting the microfossils requires a very thorough process, which includes
collecting the samples which are mostly limestone and shale, breaking them down
separating the particles using petroleum, sifting them through multiple sieves and drying them
Take your time~
Approximately 10 hours later..
after being dried overnight we get sand-like particles.
and then we are ready to take a closer look. Looking like specks of sand through the naked
eye, these microfossils look very different under a microscope. You will find yourself looking into
a vast alien land filled with multiple species of microfossils. Separating the microfossils from
mineral particles and shell fragments can take a lot of time, but once you find some microfossils
you can analyze them further under a scanning electron microscope or SEM. The SEM emits
electrons onto the specimens to bring out even the tiniest of details, from here you can move on
to identifying and classifying the micro fossils from known sources such as Mikrotax. Mikrotex has
the most recent microfossil records and you can cross-check them with your findings to narrow
down their classification. Now let's see how microfossils are formed and why they are so
important in geosciences. In simple terms when a creature or organism gets rapidly buried by
sediments, any organic material is stripped away and under immense pressure from ever building
sediments on top. Water carries in minerals which slowly mineralize the remains. Turning them into
fossils. The same happens with microfossils when they die, they get rapidly buried by sediments
leaving behind their fossilized remains. The principle of faunal succession tells us that
newer fossils always lie on top of older fossils. Superposition also gives us a similar principle
that all the strata occur below younger strata. When these two principles are considered together, we
can get an idea about biostratigraphy, which is the specific branch of stratigraphy that uses fossils
found in strata to serve as biological markers and give a more precise estimate of the rock units' age.
microfossils are crucial for biostratigraphy as they are so diversely abundant in fossil records
they can be used as biological markers to determine the age of the surrounding rocks.
This information is crucial for geoscientists and researchers and also oil and gas mining and
related industries. To understand the importance of microfossils is even better, let's talk to an expert,
Dr. Pujana. He is an associate professor at the University of Texas at Dallas
So, we can see that microfossils, even though
they are tiny, they create an immense impact in our day-to-day lives. So the next time you pick
up a rock. Remember, there could be tiny little creatures that once lived millions of years ago!!
you