All foraminifera articles
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NewsMicroscopic plankton reveal tropicalization of the Mediterranean Sea
A recent study of the western Mediterranean demonstrates that the expansion of microscopic warm-water species provides a clear and early indication of tropicalization impacts on marine ecosystems.
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NewsFossilized plankton study gives long-term hope for oxygen depleted oceans
A new study suggests the world’s oxygen depleted seas may have a chance of returning to higher oxygen concentrations in the centuries to come, despite our increasingly warming climate. Source: Anya Hess Scanning electron image of fossilised planktonic foraminifera. Researchers at the University of Southampton (UK) and ...
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NewsEvidence of ‘lightning-fast’ evolution found after dino-killing asteroid impact
The asteroid that struck the Earth 66 million years ago devastated life across the planet, wiping out the dinosaurs and other organisms. But new research shows new species of plankton appeared fewer than 2,000 years after the world-altering event.
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NewsScientists solve 66 million-year-old mystery of how Earth’s greenhouse age ended
Experts studying foraminifera fossils have discovered that concentrations of calcium in the sea dropped by more than half across the last 66 million years, which likely caused Earth’s massive drop in temperature.
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NewsResearchers to investigate moisture-driven Antarctic ice sheet growth during past warm climates
Investigating how increased moisture transport to Antarctica, and under what temperatures and sea ice conditions moisture transport occurs, is required to understand the mechanisms that can lead to increased ice accumulation.
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NewsAncient plankton hint at steadier future for ocean life
A team of scientists has uncovered a rare isotope in microscopic fossils, offering fresh evidence that ocean ecosystems may be more resilient than once feared. They analyzed nitrogen isotopes preserved in the shells of tiny plankton called foraminifera.
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NewsNew study provides insight into how some species thrive in dark, oxygen-free environments
A new study sheds light on how a species of foraminifera, single-celled organisms found in almost all marine habitats, thrives in a dark, oxygen-free environment.
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NewsAn ‘invasive’ marine organism has become an economic resource in the eastern Mediterranean
Skeletons and shells from an invasive species of foraminifera are helping build beaches in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
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NewsWhat microscopic fossilized shells tell us about ancient climate change
New research pairs sea surface temperatures with levels of atmospheric CO2 during the end of the Paleocene, showing the two were closely linked.
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NewsWeaker ocean currents lead to decline in nutrients for North Atlantic ocean life during prehistoric climate change
Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology have finished investigating how the prehistoric weakening of a major ocean current led to a decline in ocean nutrients and negative impacts on North Atlantic ocean life. The results support predictions about how our oceans might react to a changing climate — and what ...
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NewsAccelerated marine carbon cycling forced by tectonic degassing over the Miocene Climate Optimum
Massive carbon inputs from volcanism and seafloor spreading have impacted the orbital phase relationships between carbon cycle and climate change, a new study finds.
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NewsMarine plankton behaviour could predict future marine extinctions, study finds
Marine communities migrated to Antarctica during the Earth’s warmest period in 66 million years long before a mass-extinction event.
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NewsScientists reveal ‘burrowing effect’ of foraminifera on marine environments
Scientists have shown for the first time that the burrowing of single-celled organisms in marine ecosystems affects oxygen distribution and bacterial diversity in sea sediments.
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NewsEvidence of climate change in the North Atlantic can be seen in the deep ocean
Evidence of climate change in the North Atlantic during the last 1,000 years can be seen in the deep ocean, according to a newly published paper.
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NewsShell-building strategies could be key in climate models
A scientist investigating how single-celled organisms discovered how to build a ‘shell’ around their single cell says it could help predict how the calcium balance in the oceans will change under the influence of the changing climate.