New frontiers

Palaeontologist at work overseasBGS palaeontologists have an extensive portfolio of international work, often involving collaboration with other scientific institutions.

Map of overseas projects

International highlights:

Australia: New palynomorph descriptions will form the basis of a new biozonal scheme.
Middle East: Fossil pollen provides new insights into the geological history of Iran. In Oman, hydrocarbons reservoir rocks and hydrocarbons seal rocks have been characterised by distinct palynological assemblages.
Papua New Guinea: Foraminifera are used to document the post mid-Miocene subsidence of the sea floor. Hawaii: Studies of fossil-rich gravels on the flanks of volcanoes suggest emplacement by giant tidal waves.
Armenia: Palaeoecological studies of lake sediments adjacent to major fault systems to examine if changes in microfauna could be a precursor to major geological events.

Foraminifera
(above) Polished foraminifera in Hawaiian beach sand contrast with worn examples emplaced on the flanks of a volcanic cone by a giant tidal wave.		 (below) Remains of worm-like creature in rocks of Early Silurian age from the Southern Uplands.

Silurian Worm		 Acritarch

(above) Vulcanisphaera cirrita, an acritarch that is characteristic of Lower Ordovician marine palynomorph assemblages in Oman. The specimen is approximately 48µm across.

UK highlights:
Midland Valley of Scotland: Palaeoecological and palaeogeographical variation is discriminated in Carboniferous strata by statistical analysis of macrofossils
North-east Scotland: Construction of a revised biostratigraphical framework based on Middle Devonian fish.
Central Wales: Structurally complex successions are unravelled using graptolite faunas.
Southern Uplands: Discovery of rare soft-bodied worm-like fossils in Early Silurian rocks.
Southern England: Integration of palaeontological data with borehole geophysical log data and lithological data to produce high-resolution correlations in the Chalk Group.