Diatoms are algae and are one of the most common types of phyto-plankton. They are unicellular but often form filamentous colonies. Diatom cells are enclosed within a cell wall made of silica resulting in a persisting fossil records. Diatoms show a wide diversity in form, but are usually almost bilaterally symmetrical. Fossil records indicates they originated around the early Jurassic. Diatom populations are used for monitoring environmental conditions over an extended time period. Taking samples of lake sediments allows for an examination of paleo-environmetal conditions. The ES class developed an identification key for diatoms (classified to the order) in conjunction with a scientist from the Museum of Natural History. Following this, ES developed an environmental key that linked orders of diatoms with environmental conditions for each order.
The key we developed allows for identification and the look up table permits narrowing down possible environmental conditions when examining a specific strata in the lake bottom core.
The key we developed allows for identification and the look up table permits narrowing down possible environmental conditions when examining a specific strata in the lake bottom core.
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