THE WORLD ENCOMPASSED: USING INVERTEBRATE FOSSILS TO RECONSTRUCT PALEOHYDROCLIMATIC CONDITIONS

Ostracodes and gastropods can be used to reconstruct paleoenvironmental conditions, primarily the salinity and persistence of water bodies on the landscape surface. At the University of Akron, our Paleontology Lab and our Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy Laboratory can identify and analyze faunas in order to reconstruct fluviolacustrine paleoenvironments. With NSF support in 2003, we acquired a Quanta 200 ESEM with an EDAX attachment that allows for high magnification imaging as well as semi-quantitative X-ray analysis. Current projects underway include (but are not limited to) investigating salinity and geographical distribution of modern ostracodes in the Bahamas, reconstructing the paleohydrology of the Gosiute and Fossil basins, Green River Formation, Wyoming, and various studies of ostracode assemblages from the East African Rift. Through cooperative exchanges between the University of Akron and Kent State University, we continue to pursue various projects to reconstruct biotic responses to environmental change during Neogene time.