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Micropalaeo > Phytoplankton > Flashcards

Phytoplankton Flashcards

1
Q

What type of wall structure do phytoplankton posses?

A

organic

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2
Q

What are phytoplankton?

A

photoautotroughs that live in the water column - make own energy using photosynthesis CO2 + (2)H2O -> sugar + H2O + O2 (free oxygen)

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3
Q

Why are phytoplankton important?

A
  • They fuel the biological pump, carbon and oxygen recycling
  • primary production
  • Provide fossil fuels
  • re-engineered earths ecosystem, driven many major evoutions
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4
Q

What are the main types of phytoplankton?

A 
Prokaryotes
- cyanobacteria (1 million tonnes of biomass)
Eukaryotes
- coccolithophorids
- diaatoms
- dinoflagellates
- green algae
Probably eukaryotes
- acritarchs
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5
Q

Describe early Precambrian phytoplankton

A

Localized early life used chemical energy, producing a microbial ‘slime’ world. The biosphere becomes global because of photosynthesis

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6
Q

Describe how algae first photosynthesized in anoxic waters

A

Anoxic photosynthesis produces no free oxygen, using hydrogen sulphide or ferrous iron as electron donors
- Iron rich seas and BIF form from this process

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7
Q

How did anoxic iron rich seas change to an oxic one?

A

Cyanobacteria/ blue-green algae (prokaryotes)

  • unicells, colonies, branched and unbranched filaments
  • basis of oxic photosynthesis
  • contain chlorophyl
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8
Q

What fossil evidence is there for early phytoplanktonic life?

A

Stromatolites are disputed to be the oldest 3.5Ga in western australia
- are they diagentic artifacts or cyanobacteria
Acritarchs at 3.2Ga in south africa
- very large cyanobacteria with complex structure, could be an acritarch?

–> Definitely at 2.5Ga during great oxygenation event

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9
Q

What was the early atmosphere rich in before O2?

A

methane - which is 30 times more powerful than CO2

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10
Q

What happened to the atmosphere when O2 production began?

A

GOE - O2 reacted with methane producing water and CO2 which rapidly cooled the earth - solar luminosity was 90% less at the time so snowball earth was definitely possible! - makganyene period

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11
Q

When did Uraninites form and what happened to them after the GOE?

A

In Granites in the Archaean are uplifted and uraninites are eroded, transported by rivers where they are deposited as placers. However, they now begin to oxidise and wash into the ocean

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12
Q

What follows the GOE?

A
  • increased oxygen allows organism growth
  • altered hydrosphere
  • BORING BILLION
  • Chuanlinggou Fm. China 1.8Ga
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13
Q

Describe the Chuanlinggou Fm.:

A
  • 1.8Ga
  • Probably eukaryotic life including prasinophyte algae and acritarchs
  • Endosymbiosis, an important step in evolution of the biosphere
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14
Q

In the Late PreCambrian we can track changes in what organism?

A

Acritarchs

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15
Q

What are the 3 main periods of oxygen increase

A
  • Makganyene
  • Sturtian
  • Marinoan
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16
Q

Sponges acted as what in the Late PreCambrian?

A

The base of food tree
- they concentrate biomass and reduce organic debris, like a natural hoover and fast food stop
allowed organisms to evolve as new ecospace opened up as waters changed from turbid cyanobacterial anoxic conditions to eukaryotic algal clear waters

17
Q

What are the main groups of acritarchs?

A
  • acanthomorphs and sphaeromorphs (PreCambrian but major radiation in Early Palaeozoic)
  • diacromorph (divided into two parts)
  • netromorphs (extended poles as processes)
18
Q

Which acritarchs is good for stratigraphy?

A

Acanthomorph cysts

19
Q

The GOBE lead to what?

A
  • Increased productivity
  • Increased flux of carbon to the seabed
  • major diversification of marine neckton before benthos as water column is enriched first then it sinks after death or as poo and less CO2
  • all driven by phytoplankton
20
Q

The GOBE was made of many events but which one was particulary important?

A

Spice event - major radiation of acritarchs increasing production possibly increasing O2 levels

21
Q

When did phytoplankton blackout in the Palaeozoic?

A

Carboniferous and Permian

- must be a preservation chararcteristic as it can’t be true as there was high productivity in the Carboniferous

22
Q

What are the three main groups associated with modern phytoplankton?

A
  • Coccoliths
  • Dinoflagellates
  • Diatoms and grasses
23
Q

How do coccoliths differ from other phytoplankton?

A
  • presence of a third flagella like appendage called a haptonema
  • responsible for circa 45% of ocean primary productivity
24
Q

Why are coccolith important

A
  • prevent runaway greenhouse
  • zoned according to temperature of water so have significant stratigraphic importance
  • high primary productivity
  • help map out polar front
25
Q

What suggest dinoflagellates originate in the neoproterozoic?

A

ultrastructural data and molecular phylogeny but they are classified as Mid - Triassic

26
Q

When did dinoflagellates originate?

A

Mid- Triassic

27
Q

Describe the life mode of a dinoflagellate:

A
  • Single celled motile with non-motile cyst life cycle
  • Some are photosynthetic, heterotrophic and mixotrophic
  • Marine and freshwater
28
Q

Acritarchs a possible record of what?

A

Dinoflagellates as they have very similar cyst morphologies

29
Q

What is the difference between acritarchs and dinoflagellate cysts?

A
  • Dinoflagellates are more complex, they have a door/lid to grow out of
  • Acritarchs rupture and squeeze out of their old cyst
30
Q

The evolution of Diatoms can be linked with what other organism?

A

Grasses! they supply the needed silica when they die

31
Q

Diatoms are responsible for how much productivity in the oceans?

A

circa 45% - 100000 species

32
Q

Describe Diatoms size, morphology, ecology:

A
  • siliceous skeletons (frustule)
  • unicellular, golden brown algae, solitary and colonial
  • 1 - 1000 microns
  • non flagellate, non motile
  • freshwater/brackish/marine/terrestrial/icebound
  • planktonic/epizoan/endozoan
33
Q

What are Diatoms commonly used for?

A

To track the movement and growth of sea ice

Micropalaeo (6 decks)

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