Diatoms

Acknowledgments

Special acknowledgments and gratitude are due to Geurt Verweij of Bureau Waardenburg who has been extremely generous with his time for this project. He has proved invaluable in identifying the majority of the specimens shown and providing encouragement and advice in helping me start down that route. Thanks also to his company in generously allowing him to help me. Of great help were Robert Devoy and Leszek Wolnik who have both provided significant guidance in identification and interpretation of diatom fossils.

Other resources

Natural History Museum of Wales Diatom Database

Algaebase - of most use in the taxonomy of diatoms.

Diatoms of North America - but still of interest and use for Ireland.

Diatombase - supported by Belgium Lifewatch as part of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructure.

Diatoms Ireland website - by Leszek Wolnik and Richard Carter. Not updated since 2010.

Some excellent books - bearing in mind that the taxonomy of diatoms is under constant review, so that aspect may be out of date (in which case use Algaebase - see above) are

'An Atlas of British Diatoms' edited by P.A. Sims; Biopress, Bristol, UK. 1996;
'Freshwater Diatoms in Ireland' Niels Foged; J. Cramer. 1977.
'A Guide to the Morphology of the Diatom Frustule' H G Barber, E Y Haworth. Freshwater Biological Association. 1981.
'Freshwater Benthic Diatoms of Central Europe. Over 800 Common Species Used in Ecological Assessment' edited by M Cantonati, M G Kelly, H Lange-Bertalot. Koeltz Botanical Books. 2017.
'Freshwater Algae - Identification, Enumeration and Use as Bioindicators', E. G. Bellinger and D. C. Sigee; Wiley Blackwell; 2015.

And some useful and interesting papers:-

Factors Effecting the Distribution of Diatoms by Ruth Patrick. Botanical Review, Vol. 14, No. 8 (Oct., 1948).

Diatoms - essential and invisible

THIS PAGE IS IN THE PROCESS OF BEING EDITED

Every genus of diatom found in sediment samples from sites in West Cork are shown in the list under the diatoms tab on the right. The diatom page will display in a new tab. For a list of images of Diatom genera, go here.

Diatoms are a globally widespread and numerically and environmentally significant group of single celled algae belonging to the class Bacillariophyceae. They have silica skeletons, or frameworks, made from a form of hydrated silica, similar to opal. This framework is durable and easily preserved within sediments, though fragile and subject to breakage in high energy environments. Diatoms are almost exclusively photosynthetic autotrophs, that is, they manufacture their nutritional needs from the environment, and so most are not predatory on other organisms. By determining the species represented by the fossilised remains, and relating the preferred environments of those species, it is possible to make some determinations about the environment at the time of deposition. Also see here.

West Cork Palaeoecology

The Environment of West Cork through Time

Visit the Blogsite at westcorkpalaeo.ie (new tab)

Diatoms - essential and invisible