Techniques
of study Phase 1: Field detection![]() Close-up of grey radiolarian ribbon chert from the Cache Creek complex, Teslin plateau, Yukon, Canada. |
Phase 2: Radiolarian Chemical Extraction Polycystines radiolarian
shells are made of silica (post-mortem recrystallization Opal A - Opal
CT - Quartz). The surrounding matrix of chert, siliceous shale, mudstone,
or siltstone, also contains silica with variable amount of clays. Chemical
processing uses hydrofluoric acid (HF). Techniques related to radiolarian
extraction from siliceous rocks have been discovered at the end of the
60s (Hayashi, 1969; Dumitrica, 1970; Pessagno and Newport, 1972). More
recently, these processing techniques have been applied in the field
in relation to geological mapping (Cordey and Krauss, 1990).
|
|
Phase 3: Age determination and biostratigraphyRadiolarians have a 500 million years age range, making them a powerful biostratigraphic tool. Selection of adequate and reliable radiolarian associations is based on picking techniques aiming at faunal assemblages. Morphological identification is performed through optical and/or Scanning Electron microscopes.
|
Present and Future DevelopmentsIn addition to stratigraphic investigations relative to geological mapping for government agencies and mining/oil companies, new directions in radiolarian fossil research include study of faunal differentiation in relation to paleogeography, paleoclimates and paleoenvironments of ocean basins (Panthalassa, Tethys). In this context, radiolarian-bearing geological units from Canada, the US, Europe and Asia are under scrutiny. |