Ref ID : 6577
Marianne S.V. Douglas and John P. Smol; Siliceous protozoan plates in lake sediments. Hydrobiologia 154:13-23, 1987
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The silicified plates of certain testate amoebae have the neccesary characteristics to be useful paleoindicators. These plates are usually abundant and well preserved in sedimentary deposits, where they can be studied using the same preparation techniques developed for other siliceous microfossils. Individual plates can usually be identified to the generic and, in some cases, to the species level. A preliminary survey of plates recorded in the surficial (top centimetre) sediment of 38 Adirondack Mountain (NY) lakes suggests that these testacean may reflect catchment features (e.g. bog development) more closely than lakewater characteristics. The siliceous, species-specific scales of heliozoans are also shown to preserve in sedimentary profiles.