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.