--> ABSTRACT: Paleobiological and Evolutionary Models Based on Quantitative Signal Processing of Morphological Data From Evolving Lineages of Planktonic Foraminifera, by Nancy Healy-Williams, Dwight M. Trainor, and Anthony C. Gary; #91022 (1989)
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Paleobiological and Evolutionary Models Based on Quantitative Signal Processing of Morphological Data From Evolving Lineages of Planktonic Foraminifera

Previous HitNancyTop Healy-Williams, Dwight M. Trainor, Anthony C. Gary

In this presentation we demonstrate how quantitative signal processing techniques can be used to develop geochronological models based on shape changes in evolving planktonic foraminiferal lineages. For the purposes of illustration, we have objectively defined five morphologic end members within the Sphaeroidinellopsis lineage based on test shape outline using Fourier series analysis in closed form. A progressive increase in test triangularity or trilobateness (harmonic 3 amplitude) from EM1 through EM5 represents an evolutionary progression, with EM5 being the earliest ancestor of the lineage and EM1 the most recent descendant.

Of the numerous quantitative signal processing procedures available for analyzing micropaleontological and geochemical data in the time and frequency domains, power spectral analysis, auto-correlation, cross-correlation, and cross power spectral analysis are particularly well suited for resolving biostratigraphic and micropaleontological problems. Using spectral analysis, we sought to determine what frequencies are present in the mean harmonic changes in the Sphaeroidinellopsis lineage from the late-middle Miocene through the early Pliocene, approximately 11-3 Ma. How do the frequencies compare from basin to basin, i.e., between five localities in the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the eastern Atlantic? Using cross-correlation analysis, we sought to quantify the correlation of eve ts, shifts, and long-term trends in the mean harmonics of the Sphaeroidinellopsis lineage. Cross power spectral analysis was also used to determine the common frequencies which exist in the Sphaeroidinellopsis lineage.

These results illustrate the exciting potential of using quantitative signal processing techniques to increase the confidence and accuracy of (1) geochronological models based on evolving lineages, (2) visual correlations of biostratigraphic data made by micropaleontologists, and (3) interpretations of paleobiological and evolutionary events.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91022©1989 AAPG Annual Convention, April 23-26, 1989, San Antonio, Texas.