Instructors: A. Antonarakou; T. Tsourou; K. Kouli; O. Koukousioura; H. Vasilatos; M. Dimiza; P. Frenzel; M. Langer.

SEMESTER: 2nd  

LEARNING OUTCOMES 

The course deals with applications of microfossils and their modern representatives to the detection of environmental stress (including both natural and anthropogenic), the environmental quality assessment and monitoring, the detection of urban and industrial pollution as well as the dynamic evolution of oceanic, coastal, and terrestrial paleoenvironments.

CONTENT:  

Theoretical content (lectures). 

• Introduction. Basic principles of Environmental Micropaleontology. The impact of climate change and human activities on coastal ecosystems and transitional water bodies  

• Environmental monitoring and sustainability 

• Applications and case studies in environmental science: Benthic foraminifera as bioindicators of natural and anthropogenic stress and pollution, applications in the context of environmental monitoring of coastal marine ecosystems 

• Applications and case studies in environmental science: Ostracod response to natural and anthropogenic stress and pollution. Case studies from marginal marine and freshwater ecosystems. The potential of ostracods in environmental monitoring 

• Recent invasions and expansion of larger benthic foraminiferal populations in higher latitudes as examples of adaptation to climatic warming  

• Applications and case studies in Paleo-Environmental Reconstructions. Benthic foraminifera and ostracods as paleoenvironmental proxies for past water depth, temperature, salinity, nutrient levels and substrates in coastal marine settings and proxies for the regional spatial and temporal changes in paleo-productivity and bottom water oxygenation 

• Modern pollen rain: applications in air quality and plant productivity monitoring. Pollen traps, mosses, surface samples, air filters. Application in paleoenvironmental reconstructions and  climate change assessment 

 

Β. Practice exercises: 

• Sampling and preparation techniques 

• Quantitative methods and data statistical treatment  

• Microscope lab sessions  

• Exercises on interpreting paleo-/ environmental conditions 

• Environmental status assessment 

• Project based on critical bibliographic review 

 

BREAKDOWN OF WORKLOAD  

Activity	Semester Workload (hours)
Face to face (in lectures and practice exercises)	39
Using computers, tablets, smartphones and specialized software (in lectures and practice exercises)	10
Fieldwork	10
Homework – includes bibliographic research and applications	20
Questions and Answers	10
Preparation for final examination and/or project presentation	36
Total	125

STUDENT EVALUATION/GRADING 

The evaluation process is conducted in English, either with progress in separate sections of the material or with the final examination of the whole material and includes: 

I. LECTURES (50%)  

• Oral Examination and/or 

• Written exam with short answer questions and Multiple choice test and/or 

• Written examination with extended Answer questions and/or  

• Scientific presentation in a specific topic related to the subject of the course  

II. PRACTICE EXERCISES (50%) 

• Written examination with exercises and problem solving 

 

SUGGESTED LITERATURE 

• Martin, R. E. (Ed.). (2000). Environmental micropaleontology: the application of microfossils to environmental geology (Vol. 15). Springer Science & Business Media. 

• Dimiza, M. D., Triantaphyllou, M. V., Koukousioura, O., Hallock, P., Simboura, N., Karageorgis, A. P., & Papathanasiou, E. (2016). The Foram Stress Index: A new tool for environmental assessment of soft-bottom environments using benthic foraminifera. A case study from the Saronikos Gulf, Greece, Eastern Mediterranean. Ecological Indicators, 60, 611-621. 

• Dimiza, M. D., Triantaphyllou, M. V., Portela, M., Koukousioura, O., & Karageorgis, A. P. (2022). Response of living benthic Foraminifera to anthropogenic pollution and metal concentrations in Saronikos Gulf (Greece, Eastern Mediterranean). Minerals, 12(5), 591. 

• Ruiz, F., Abad, M., Bodergat, A. M., Carbonel, P., Rodriguez-Lazaro, J. & M. Yasuhara  (2005). Marine and brackish-water ostracods as sentinels of anthropogenic impacts. Earth Science Reviews, 72(1-2): 89-111. 

• Boomer, I., Attwood, F.: Ostracods as freshwater pollution indicators: a case study from the Ouseburn, a polluted urban catchment (Tyneside, NE England), J. Micropalaeontol., 26, 117–125, https://doi.org/10.1144/jm.26.2.117, 2007. 

• Schmitz, O., Mehlhorn, P., Finch, J., Haberzettl, T., Hahn, A., Hill, T., … & Frenzel, P. (2024). Ostracoda and Foraminifera as bioindicators of (aquatic) pollution in the protected area of uMlalazi estuary, South Africa. Revue de Micropaléontologie, 100771. 

• Triantaphyllou, M. V., Tsourou, Th., Koukousioura, O.,  Dermitzakis, M. D., (2005). Foraminiferal and ostracod ecological patterns in coastal environments of SE Andros Island (Middle Aegean Sea, Greece). Revue de Micropaleontologie, 48: 279-302 

 

SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS: 

• Environmental pollution 

• Marine Pollution Bulletin 

• International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology 

• Journal of Marine Systems 

• Earth-Science Reviews 

• Micropaleontology 

 

Website: 

https://eclass.uoa.gr/courses/GEOL660/