Environmental quality and preservation - tiny windows to environmental change: the fascinating world of microfossils

Though small in size, calcareous (calcium carbonate) microfossils reveal volumes about geologic time, events, processes, and past climate. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has the capability to provide signifi cant scientifi c information based on microfossils that can be used to help resolve issues raised in many other disciplines. A source for pioneering investigations and new discoveries little recognized outside the fi eld, microfossils and the stories they tell lie preserved in the geologic record.