Cretaceous Diatoms: Morphology, Taxonomy, Biostratigraphy

Abstract

The Cretaceous record of the diatoms presented here outlines our understanding of their early morphological development. Recent documentation of well preserved Lower Cretaceous (Aptian/Albian) diatom assemblages provides a window into the early history of the diatoms and serves as a base for comparing their subsequent morphological changes. A brief review of diatom biology and morphology is provided to introduce this paper and that of Barron and Baldauf (this volume). Additional background information on the diatoms can be found in the works of Schrader and Schuette (1981), Tappan (1980), Bach and Burkhardt (1984), Barron (1985a, 1993), Fenner (1985), Ricard (1987), Bradbury (1988), Round et al. (1990), and Picket-Heaps et al. (1990).