Fossil Plants and Spores : modern techniques, 1999, 396 p., ill., br. -

In recent years the study of fossil plants, spores and pollen has produced an abundance of new methods and modifications of old ones. This volume provides the first comprehensive collection of these practical methods – balancing the techniques that have been perfected over decades of research with the very latest methods and ideas.The volume is divided in to 10 sections, with 60 compact chapters written by an international array of specialists. They describe detailed accounts of the methods used to obtain information from the fossil record, the problems that may be encountered and ways in which these may be overcome. The layout of the chapters follows a logical sequence of locating, collecting, extracting, analysing and preserving plant fossils and palynomorphs. A comprehensive bibliography, glossary and list of equipment suppliers is also provided. While many of the methods in the book have been specifically designed for fossil plants, they can be adapted for other branches of palaeontology and related subjects. This book demonstrates that the study of fossil plants is a modern science and one increasingly applied in many disciplines to address such issues of current concern as evolution, environmental change and occurrence of fossil fuels. It is essential reading for palaeobotanists, palynologists, palaeontologists and academics teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in earth and life science university departments. It will be used as both a laboratory manual and a source of inspiration for what can be discovered from the fossil plant record.