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MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
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MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
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Reed
Wicander Initial Appointment : August 1976 Specialties : Paleontology and Palynology PhD : U.C.L.A
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Research Interests
My main research interest is Paleozoic palynology, specifically the study of acritarchs, chitinozoans, and spores and their application to solving biostratigraphic and paleoecological problems. Palynology, a discipline of paleontology, is the study of microscopic organic-walled microfossils.
ACRITARCHS
Acritarchs are marine, microscopic algae of unknown affinity that were abundant during the Proterozoic through Paleozoic eras (670 - 245 million years ago). They are important because they were the primary producers in the oceans during that time, and as such, were the main food source of the invertebrate consumers. Fluctuations in their abundance and diversity thus affected the composition and evolution of the marine ecosystem during that time. Acritarchs are also excellent guide fossils, that is, because of their world-wide distribution and short geologic ranges, they can be used to age-date and correlate rock formations, which is important in working out the geologic history of an area. Lastly, acritarchs are important because they are the organisms from which Paleozoic oils are derived.
CHITINOZOANS
Chitinozoans are marine, microscopic vase-shaped animals, also of organic composition, that lived only during the Ordovician through Devonian periods (505 - 360 million years ago) of the Paleozoic Era. They are primarily useful in age-dating and correlation of rock formations. They frequently are the only fossils found, particularly in rocks that have been subjected to low-grade metamorphism.
SPORES
Spores are the microscopic organic-walled haploid reproductive bodies of land plants. They occur in both terrestrial and marine sediments. They are very useful in age-dating and correlating rock formations, particularly between marine and terrestrial environments. Fluctuations in the ratio between spores and acritarchs is very helpful in determining ancient shorelines. The occurrence, abundance, and diversity of spores provides researchers with insights into the origin and evolution of the terrestrial flora during the Paleozoic Era.
ACRITARCHS FROM MICHIGAN'S UPPER PENINSULA
I am currently involved in several research projects. One involves naming and describing the acritarchs and chitinozoans from the upper Ordovician Stonington Formation and Bills Creek Formation from Michigan's upper peninsula. Many of the species are new and undescribed. When this descriptive phase of the research is complete, I'll be able to correlate these formations with similar-aged formations elsewhere in the world and help to contribute to better understanding the configuration of ocean basins and ocean currents during this time period in earth history.
ACRITARCHS OF THE UPPER ORDOVICIAN BARBWIRE TERRACE REGION, CANNING BASIN, AUSTRALIA
A second project I am still working on with an Australian colleague is the study of the acritarchs of the upper Ordovician Barbwire Terrace region, Canning Basin, Australia. We have been describing and naming the new species from this area, interpreting the paleoenvironment of this area, and correlating the formations in this area to other parts of the world that have upper Ordovician rocks, thus contributing to the knowledge of the paleogeography during this time.
Eomerismopedia maureenia n. gen. n. sp., a chroococcacean cyanobacteria from the lower Ordovician Coolibah Formation, Georgina Basin, Queensland, Australia
This project, also in collaboration with Australian colleagues, involves a reexamination of a colonial palynomorph from the lower Ordovician Coolibah Formation, Georgina Basin, Queensland, Australia and its assignment to the chroococcacean cyanobacteria. Based on the morphological similarity of the palynomorph masses to extant Merismopedia, my colleagues and I believe these Ordovician forms may represent fossil forms of the cyanobacteria family Chroococcaceae that either were transported into the intertidal-subtidal marine Coolibah environment or were flourishing in that environment.
GLOBAL ACRITARCH DIVERSITY DURING THE ORDOVICIAN
This project is concerned with acritarch diversity during the Ordovician. It is an international collaborative research project and my part in it involves an analysis of the stratigraphic ranges and paleogeographic distribution of North American Ordovician acritarchs.
ACRITARCH AND MIOSPORE CHANGES ACROSS THE DEVONIAN-CARBONIFEROUS BOUNDARY
This project involves an examination of changes in the acritarch and miospore assemblages across the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary. I am examining the acritarch data for North America, as part of a larger project undertaken by palynologists in Ireland and Portugal.
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
In the past, I've had several students do independent research projects on such topics as upper Ordovician acritarchs from Missouri, Middle Devonian acritarchs and chitinozoans from Ontario, Canada, and Upper Devonian acritarchs and kerogen analysis from black shales from Kentucky. This latter project evolved into a Senior Thesis, the results of which were presented at the Michigan Academy of Arts and Sciences annual meeting and then published in the Michigan Academician. I also had a student complete a Senior Thesis on brachiopod epizoans from the Middle Devonian Gravel Point Formation, Petoskey, Michigan, and another independent research project on the microfossils from the Middle Devonian Arkona Shale, Ontario, Canada.
FACILITIES
The palynology lab is equipped with all the necessary equipment to process and analyze any type of palynologic samples. I have both a floor model and table-top centrifuge for processing any size of sample, 2 fume hoods, and all the necessary lab ware and equipment for preparing samples for study by both light and scanning electron microscopy. I have several research microscopes available for palynologic research, two of which are equipped for ultraviolet, fluorescence, and Nomarski interference phase contrast work, as well as an automated camera system for photomicroscopy. My extensive reprint collection and personal palynologic library is also available for palynologic research.
*** 1999-2000 News ***
Like my friend Elvis, I cannot tell a lie. Last year was very hectic and involved many changes. With the somewhat sudden resignation of Eric Johnson, I became chairman, something I've avoided for 23 years. By the end of the 1999 fall semester, I realized I'm not suited for administrative work, and resigned the chairmanship effective at the end of the 1999-2000 academic year.
In terms of research, the paper I worked on during my sabbatical with Geoff Playford at the University of Queensland was published as a monograph in the Journal of Paleontology and was the final monograph of the century for that publication. I was also able to present two palynological papers last year, one in lovely and historic Savannah, Georgia, and another in equally lovely and even more historic Prague, Czech Republic. During the 1999 summer, I spent a week in Ohio and Indiana collecting Upper Devonian-Lower Carboniferous palynomorph samples with two Ph.D. students from Ireland. This is part of a project involving an examination of the changes in palynomorph assemblages across the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary.
Stew Monroe and I continued our long and successful collaboration of writing textbooks, with the publication of the 3rd edition of Historical Geology: Evolution of Earth and Life Through Time, and the 2nd edition of Essentials of Geology.
In news outside of Brooks Hall, I became the announcer for the home meets of the Mt. Pleasant High School Girls Swim Team, and had my 'contract' renewed for this year. It looks like it will be another good year for the swimmers. The Singing Striders (Art Fredericks and me) once again performed at the annual Geology Department Christmas party as well as the Ronan Hall Christmas Party, and as always, we probably had more fun than anyone. The Sap Boys (also Art Fredericks and me) performed our own brand of entertainment at the 41st annual Shepherd Maple Syrup Festival Variety Show in 1999, and were such a success we were asked to be the Masters of Ceremonies at this year's show. In addition to being the cohosts, we also performed more of our original material as the Sap Boys. Lastly, our family spent two weeks in South Korea this past summer and enjoyed it immensely. The highlight of the trip for me was running the track at Seoul Olympic Stadium, the site of the 1988 Summer Olympics. To the cheers of more than 100,000 empty seats, I finished first, and stood on the winners platform to receive my justly deserved gold medal.
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