This book provides a comprehensive overview of the taxonomy, biology, sedimentation, and carbonate geochemistry of modern species. Students, early career and advanced scientists alike will profit from a broad synthesis of the current understanding of planktic foraminifers as an ecological indicator, biogeochemical factories, and proxies in paleoceanography. The classification of modern species is amply illustrated with electron and light microscope images of morphotypes, addresses the state-of-the-art of molecular genetics of species, and provides a detailed guide for any laboratory analyses. The biology of planktic foraminifers is extensively discussed in chapters dedicated to the cellular ultrastructure, nutrition, symbionts, reproduction, ontogeny, and test architecture. Building on the biological prerequisites, the distribution of planktic foraminifers is discussed at regional to global scale. The geochemistry and sedimentation of tests are considered in relation to the ecology of the living animal. In the final chapter, which examines the most common methods in planktic foraminifer research, hands-on information is provided on sampling, processing and analyzing samples in the laboratory, as well as selected established methods for data interpretation. The various topics discussed in this book are aimed at the application of planktic foraminifers as sensitive indicators of the changing climate and marine environment.
Dr. Ralf Schiebel, born 1965, is Professor in Geology at Angers University, France, since 2008. After studying and completing his PhD thesis at the Geology Department at Kiel University in 1992, he started work on planktic foraminifers at the lab of Ch. Hemleben at Tübingen University, Germany. In 2000, he accepted a position as Oberassistent at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and in 2005 he joined the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, UK, as a Lecturer in Paleoceanography. His main areas of research include the ecology, biogeochemistry, and paleoceanography of foraminifers. He is developing new methods in microscopy and image analysis in Earth sciences. Dr. Schiebel has participated in many research cruises to the North Atlantic, Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, Caribbean, and western Pacific.
Dr. Christoph Hemleben, born 1938, retired from his professorship in Geology and Paleontology at Tübingen University in 2002. He did his MSc (Diplom) at Munich University in 1964, and completed his PhD at Tübingen University in 1969. He has been extensively working on the biology, biomineralisation, and paleoceanography of foraminifers. He has published more than 100 papers in micropaleontology and sedimentology. The Springer-Verlag released his first book on Modern Planktonic Foraminifera together with Michael Spindler and Roger Anderson in 1989. He participated in more than 20 research cruises, on many of them as chief-scientist. With his retirement he
stopped teaching, but is still supporting research on an international level and co-authoring scientific publications.
