Two factors govern the performance of computerized systems for classifying foraminiferal tests (forams) from optical microscopy images: (1) the amount of information captured by the images; and (2) the ability of computer algorithms to exploit the information. This paper provides an analysis of the former, to understand the efficacy and limitations of digital images in foram representation. To ...

We examined pollen grains and starch granules from a large number of modern populations of teosinte (wild Zea spp.), maize (Zea mays L.), and closely related grasses in the genus Tripsacum to assess their strengths and weaknesses in studying the origins and early dispersals of maize in its Mesoamerican cradle of origin. We report new diagnostic criteria and question the accuracy of others used ...

The RASC method for ranking and scaling of biostratigraphic events was developed by the authors and associates during the past 20 years. The purpose of ranking is to create an optimum sequence of events observed in different wells or sections subject to stratigraphic inconsistencies in the direction of the arrow of time. These inconsistencies, which result in crossovers of lines of correlation ...

The last interglacial interval was terminated by the inception of a long, progressive glaciation that is attributed to astronomically influenced changes in the seasonal distribution of sunlight over the earth. However, the feedbacks, internal dynamics, and global teleconnections associated with declining northern summer insolation remain incompletely understood. Here we show that a crucial earl...

Variations in the abundance of fossil charcoals between rocks and sediments are assumed to reflect changes in fire activity in Earth's past. These variations in fire activity are often considered to be in response to environmental, ecological or climatic changes. The role that fire plays in feedbacks to such changes is becoming increasingly important to understand and highlights the need to cre...

Wetland environments have been important resources for human habitation since prehistoric times and in parts of northern Europe these witnessed the construction artificial islet settlements, known as ‘crannogs’ Scotland Ireland. This paper presents a high-resolution multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental study from Loch Leys, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, site recently excavated crannog that provides chron...

The Permian Lucaogou Formation in the Junggar Basin, NW China is target layer for shale oil exploration, but its hydrocarbon precursors have remained focus of debate. In this study, we investigated source rocks throughout Well J10025 by conducting detailed petrological, paleontological, and geochemical analyses purpose revealing occurrence cyanobacterial blooms as specific events upper Formatio...

In this paper we evaluate new data and those from previous studies in northwest Scotland perform a modelling study to test the hypothesis that Storegga tsunami (submarine slope failure off continental shelf of Central Norway dated 8120–8175 bp) impacted region. The model used is 2D non-linear, non-conservative, Shallow Water Equation solver incorporating inundation realistic glacial isostatic a...

The upper Paleocene to lower Eocene Margaret Formation exposed at Stenkul Fiord on southern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, represents a nearly continuous terrestrial succession of microfossil-rich clastic sediments and coal. These strata were deposited time extensive tectonic activity associated with Eurekan deformation. precise chronology the deformation is poorly known. Prior studies prov...