Palaeontology collections
The British Geological Survey houses the following palaeontology collections that may be of use for ocean acidification research:
Biostratigraphy and palaeontology reference collection
This collection consists of:
- 194 cabinets containing 250,000 specimens
- 2 million specimens in the tray store
Database information:
250,000 specimens are catalogued, of which 50% are databased.
BGS PalaeoSaurus online collections databaseCollections manager: Paul Shepherd
Micropalaeontology collection
There were no grab samples taken in the 1950s or earlier as these only happened due to oil exploration in the late 1960s.
A 40m borehole from the Irish Sea (89/15) may be of interest to ocean acidification researchers. It covers the Holocene since the end of the Younger Dryas and has microfossils.
Database information:
- 95% of the type collection is databased and online
- Around 500,000 slides are catalogued
Micropalaeontologist and collections advisor: Ian Wilkinson
Contact information
Enquiries
British Geological Survey
Keyworth
Nottingham
NG12 5GG
Tel: 0115 936 3143
Fax: 0115 936 3276
Email
Personnel interviewed from the British Geological Survey:
- Mike Howe - Chief Curator
- Jeremy Giles - Manager, National Geoscience Data Centre
- Linda Ault - Data Management
- Paul Shepherd - Palaeontology Collections Manager
- Ian Wilkinson - Micropalaeontologist