Foraminifera are free-living protozoa that grow an elaborate, solid calcite skeleton. Their well-marked evolutionary record makes them of outstanding value in zonal stratigraphy. The role of fossil planktonic foraminifera as markers for biostratigraphical zonation and correlation underpins most drilling of marine sedimentary sequences and is key to hydrocarbon exploration. Biostratigraphic and Geological Significance of Planktonic Foraminifera presents a comprehensive analysis of existing data on fossil planktonic foraminifera genera and their phylogenetic evolution in time and space. In addition, the book contains new, unpublished data on carbonate thin sections with identified fossil planktonic foraminifera from the Far East to offshore Brazil and South Africa.

• The first book to synthesize the biostratigraphic and geological usefulness of planktonic foraminifera
• Includes a discussion of the recent advances being enabled by molecular studies of living forms
• Opens a new field of dating planktonic foraminifera in carbonates and expands their usefulness in hydrocarbon exploration