FROM BIOSTEERING WELLS, TO FORENSIC INVESTIGATION OR PAST-CLIMATE RECONSTRUCTION; WHAT PALYNOLOGY CAN DO FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

Here we review various uses of palynological research. Biosteering applications will be illustrated by an example of biostratigraphic zonation developed for exploration of Cretaceous sections in Colombia. Forensic applications will be illustrated by work performed to geolocate the provenance of illegal drugs. Paleoenvironmental reconstructions will be illustrated via a review of Antarctic palynological studies showing the vegetation changes that constrain the timing and amplitude of climate changes in the Paleogene and Neogene. Sites reviewed include a Paleogene section sampled off the Sabrina Coast, a Mio-Pliocene outcrop section sampled on King George Island, a Mio-Pliocene record obtained by SHALDRIL core NBP0602A-5D on the Joinville Plateau in the Weddell Sea, the Mio-Pliocene core obtained by the ANDRILL 2A campaign, and a series of Neogene outcrop samples obtained from the Dry Valleys of the Transantarctic Mountains. Fossils of pollen and spores recovered at these various sites provide a record of vegetation changes that occurred in each of these regions of Antarctica. The timing of these vegetative changes are evaluated against known driving factors such as atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, plate tectonic activity (or lack of), precipitation, and temperature (sea-surface and atmospheric) changes.