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Encyclopedia of Petroleum Geoscience pp 1–12Cite as

Microfossils: Foraminifera

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Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Synonyms

Foram (shortened, informal); Foraminiferida (formal)

Definition

Foraminifera are microscopic marine protozoans that construct an encasing shell or test often preserved as microfossils in great abundance in marine sediments.

Introduction

The term “foraminifera” is derived from a Latin word meaning “hole bearers.” Fossil foraminifera have become an important tool for correlation of sedimentary rocks and beginning in the twentieth century have been widely applied to the exploration of petroleum basins (Galloway 1933).

This article provides a review the biology of Foraminifera, describes how to study them, and finally discusses the applications of foraminifer studies, especially in petroleum geoscience. Three key terms for these applications are defined below: (1) Biostratigraphy is the correlation and subdivision of subsurface and outcrop rock sections via the relative succession of fossil occurrences over regional or global extent. (2) Paleoenvironmentincludes the physical...

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Acknowledgment

Reviews and comments by Richard Denne, Sudeep Kanungo, and Eiichi Setoyama are appreciated.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, The Woodlands, TX, USA

    Paul J. Sikora

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  1. Paul J. Sikora
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Correspondence to Paul J. Sikora .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Energy and Geoscience Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

    Rasoul Sorkhabi

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Sikora, P.J. (2018). Microfossils: Foraminifera. In: Sorkhabi, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Petroleum Geoscience. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02330-4_144-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02330-4_144-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-02330-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-02330-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

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