An international team of researchers has discovered a new type of fossilization. ‘Ghost’ discovery of fossils against past global warming plankton shows his resistance.

International from University College London (UCL), the Swedish Museum of Natural History, the Natural History Museum London and the University of Florence a team of scientists, hitherto unnoticed exceptional a Fossilization Type: found it. fossils that lived in the seas millions of years ago, coccolithophore microscopic traces or “ghosts” of unicellular plankton, called Their discovery is revolutionizing the understanding of how climate change affects plankton in the oceans.

Ghost fossils are very important to humanity

Coccolithophores are very important for today’s oceans. They provide most of the oxygen we breathe, support marine food webs and trap carbon in seafloor sediments. It surrounds its cells with hard calcareous plates of a type of microscopic plankton called coccolite. Also, coccolithophores are things that normally solidify in rocks.

The gradual disappearance of these fossils has been documented in many previous global warmings. This suggests to scientists that this plankton has been severely affected by climate change and ocean acidification.

From the Swedish Museum of Natural History, Dr. Sam Slater,The discovery of these beautiful ghostly fossils was completely unexpected. We originally found them preserved on the surface of fossilized pollen, and it soon became apparent that they were abundant during periods when normal coccolithophore fossils were rare or non-existent. This was a big surprise for us!he declared.

Despite their microscopic size, coccolithophores can be quite abundant in the ocean and seen from space as cloud-like flowers. After death, their calcareous exoskeletons collapse to the seafloor, where they accumulate in large numbers and form calcareous rocks.

Cocolithophores are thinner than a hair!

Professor Paul Bown emphasized in his statement that these ghostly nanofossils must be preserved, saying: “Ghost fossils are extremely small. Their length is about five thousandths of a millimeter, 15 times thinner than a human hair! But the details of the original plates are still perfectly visible. Even if the plates dissolve on their own, old organic matter is pressed into their surface.he concluded.

Ghost fossils, formed when sediments are buried on the seafloor, turn into rock. As more and more mud builds up on top, the resulting pressure crushes the coccolite plates and other organic debris together and is pressed against the surfaces of hard coccolites, pollen and other soft organic matter. Later, the acidic water in the cavities in the rock dissolves the coccolites, leaving behind only their impressions, namely ghosts. This is how ghostly fossils are formed.

As a result of studies, ghost fossils have been found all over the world

The study focused on the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE), a rapid warming sequence in the early Jurassic caused by massive volcanism in the southern hemisphere caused by increases in atmospheric CO2 levels. Researchers found ghostly nanofossils associated with T-OAE from the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and New Zealand.

Professor Richard Twitchett said: “Ghost fossils show that nannoplankton were abundant, diverse, and evolved during previous Jurassic and Cretaceous warming events, which previous data have suggested collapsed due to ocean acidification. These fossils reshape our understanding of how calcareous nanoplankton responded to warming events.” said.

Finally, Dr. Sam Slater explains the discovery: “Our work shows that during these past warmings, algal plankton was abundant and contributed to the expansion of dead zones in the sea, where seafloor oxygen levels were too low.” for most species to survive. These conditions, along with plankton explosions and dead zones, could be more common in our globally warming oceans.”