‘Ghost’ Nannofossils: A New and Untapped Fossil Record

This project will investigate a remarkable and overlooked type of fossilisation: imprint, or ´ghost´ nannofossils of coccolithophores.

These plankton produce hard calcium carbonate (CaCO3) plates called coccoliths, which are what normally fossilise in rocks.

Since coccolithophores are extremely abundant and environmentally sensitive, their fossil record is one of the most valuable natural databases for understanding climatic changes in Earth’s history.

Until now, coccolith research has been confined to rocks that contain CaCO3, but as ghost nannofossils can preserve without CaCO3, their discovery unlocks new research opportunities.

Numerous previous studies have hypothesised marine ecosystem crises through several global warming and mass extinction events based on abundance declines of coccoliths and CaCO3, but ghost nannofossils discovered in a pilot study call these views into question.

A 4-year project is planned that will test these views and develop this multidisciplinary method into a prominent branch of palaeontology; the budget covers 70% of the applicant’s salary with indirect and running costs.

This research will likely reshape our thinking of how marine ecosystems respond to severe environmental change, and links to climate change, evolution and extinction make this project of interest to a broad audience.

By capitalising on outreach opportunities at the host institute, the Swedish Museum of Natural History, this project will place Swedish science in the spotlight.