
Susanne Feist-BurkhardtSFB Geological Consulting & Services
Susanne Feist-Burkhardt
PhD
About
94
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Introduction
Susanne Feist-Burkhardt works as an Independant Consultant and she recently retired from teaching at the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Geneva. Susanne does research in Paleontology. Her current project is 'Palynostratigraphy of the middle Jurassic in southwest Germany and Switzerland.'
Additional affiliations
Education
January 1988 - December 1992
September 1984 - December 1987
Publications
Publications (94)
The environmental perturbations of the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE, ~ 183 Ma) were associated with the widespread deposition of black shales, such as the Posidonia Shale in South Germany. We recently published a detailed palynological analysis of the Posidonia Shale deposit at Dormettingen, investigating both pollen, spores, and marine pla...
The Reisdorf drilling site is located a little south of the river Sauer in northeastern Luxembourg. The cored section only reached a depth of 158.3 m, below which only cutting samples were obtained down to the terminal depth of 200 m. The well stretches the lower Middle Muschelkalk, the Lower Muschelkalk (mu) and the majority of the Upper Buntsands...
The Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE; ~ 183 Ma) represents an episode of marine anoxia that lasted for several hundred thousand years. Abiotic factors contributing to the formation of the T-OAE, such as global warming, changes in weathering intensity, or sea-level change, are associated with a marked change in carbon cycling. While these factor...
Extinctions have played an important role in the history of life by sweeping out niches and fostering adaptive radiations. While the fossil animal record shows a decline in taxonomic richness during these events, fossil vegetation records rarely show prolonged diversity reduction. Nevertheless, plant communities react to environmental changes sensi...
The Lower Bleichtal research borehole was drilled in 2016 to investigate the thickness and composition
of the filling of the Bleichtal valley between Herbolzheim and Kenzingen. The 123 m deep borehole
contains 98.5 m thick unconsolidated sediments
in a side valley of the Upper Rhine Graben and terminates in the lower part of the Opalinuston Formati...
A palynological investigation of sixteen (16) outcrops from Mamfe Basin, southwest Cameroon, has been carried out using spores, pollen and organic matter components to establish the biostratigraphic framework of the basin and reconstruct the depositional and paleoclimatic conditions. The inferred climatic trend is based on the distribution pattern...
During the Early Toarcian, deposition of organic carbon-rich-shales occurred throughout the epicontinental sea across Europe. Climate instability and high extinction rates in the marine realm were associated with profound environmental changes. The Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE) has been linked to the injection of greenhouse gases (e.g. ocea...
Dinoflagellate cysts are the group of choice for palynostratigraphical age dating of Middle Jurassic marine sediments. Rapid evolution and wide distribution in marine sediments provide the means for palynostratigraphical age dating at an ultra high resolution level.
In recent years a large series of core and outcrop sections have been studied for...
A 250 m-deep inclined well, the Mont Terri BDB-1, was drilled through the Jurassic Opalinus Clay and its bounding formations at the Mont Terri rock laboratory (NW Switzerland). For the first time, a continuous section from (oldest to youngest) the topmost members of the Staffelegg Formation to the basal layers of the Hauptrogenstein Formation is no...
Organic geochemical, palynological and palynofacies analyses were carried out on 79 selected samples from four sedimentary basins (Mayo-Rey, Mayo-Oulo-Lere, Hamakoussou and Benue) in northern Cameroon. Rock-Eval pyrolysis and Total Organic Carbon results indicate that most of the samples of the studied basins are thermally immature to mature. The o...
The volcano-sedimentary infill of the Dschang basin in the Western part of Cameroon is poorly known. The present study provides the first biostratigraphical data of the volcano-sedimentary sequence and allows constraining the age and the position of this basin within the regional context of Central Africa. The studied sequence is composed of three...
A 250 m-deep inclined well, the Mont Terri BDB-1, was drilled through the Jurassic Opalinus Clay and its bounding formations at the Mont Terri rock laboratory (NW Switzerland). For the first time, a continuous section from (oldest to youngest) the topmost members of the Staffelegg Formation to the basal layers of the Hauptrogenstein Formation is no...
Marine and terrestrial palynomorphs of the Middle Jurassic, Early Bajocian are documented from three outcrop sections in the Upper Rhine area, southwest Germany. The studied part of the sections corresponds to the Early Bajocian Sauzei and Humphriesianum zones and is independently age dated down to ammonite subzone level. Palynomorph assemblages ar...
A 250 m-deep, inclined well, the Mont Terri BDB-1, was drilled through Jurassic
Opalinus Clay and its bounding formations at the Mont Terri rock laboratory (NW
Switzerland). A continuous section is thereby available for the first time for the Mont
Terri area, from the topmost members of the Staffelegg Formation to the basal layers
of the Hauptrogen...
The evolution of angiosperms significantly changed the composition of the terrestrial vegetation during the mid-Cretaceous. In contrast to the wealth of information available on the biology and systematic relationships of early angiosperms, the temporal patterns of their evolution and radiation are poorly constrained. Here we present a continuous a...
The Nomenclature Committee on Fossils has been dealing with numerous conservation proposals for names of fossil-genera that originally contained a hyphen (Doweld in Taxon 62: 638–642. 2013). Doweld correctly indicated that Art. 60.9 in the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (the Melbourne Code, McNeill & al. in Regnum V...
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The leading German fossil dinoflagellate cyst researcher Hans Gocht passed away on the 24th of July 2014 during his 84th year. Hans had an outstanding career of over 40 years and made many breakthroughs, particularly in the field of dinoflagellate cyst morphology. He authored or co-authored around 50 publications, and was a modest, r...
In a collaborative project of swisstopo, NAGRA, and the Naturhistorisches Museum der Burgergemeinde Bern, new data on lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, and sedimentology were obtained at the Mont Terri rock laboratory. This multidisciplinary study was carried out on the core of borehole BDB-1, which was drilled in December 2013 and January 2014....
Here we report on angiosperm-like pollen and Afropollis from the Anisian (Middle Triassic, 247.2–242.0 Ma) of a mid-latitudinal site in Northern Switzerland. Small monosulcate pollen grains with typical reticulate (semitectate) sculpture, columellate structure of the sexine and thin nexine show close similarities to early angiosperm pollen known fr...
The Early Jurassic Epoch was a predominantly greenhouse phase of Earth history, but a comprehensive understanding of its climate dynamics is hampered by a lack of high resolution multi-proxy environmental records. Here we report a geologically brief (approximately several hundred thousand years) negative carbon isotope excursion (CIE) of 2–3‰ in bo...
The John Williams Index of Palaeopalynology (JWIP) is the result of the lifetime’s work of Dr John E. Williams.
Housed at the Department of Palaeontology of The Natural History Museum (NHM) in London, the JWIP is
publically available and provides probably the most comprehensive fully cross-referenced catalogue on
palaeopalynology in the world. It h...
A detailed account of the organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst succession and geochemical data (δ13Corg, δ13Ccarb,
δ18O, CaCO3 and Total Organic Carbon) from an outcrop section in Condemios (Province of Guadalajara,
Central Spain) are presented and statistically correlated in order to identify the palaeoenvironmental conditions
prevailing in this pal...
Anisian (Lower Muschelkalk) phytoplankton associations of the NW Tethys shelf and the northern Peri-Tethys Basin are characterized by acritarchs and prasinophytes. Stratigraphical and lateral variations in the distribution pattern of these phytoplankton groups were analyzed in key sections of the central basin (Germany), the southern gate areas (Sw...
Acritarch assemblages are reported for the first time from the Cambrian of Comley, Shropshire,
England, a historically important area for British Cambrian biostratigraphy. Three assemblages are
described from the Furongian Shoot Rough Road Shales. Horizons within the Shoot Rough Road Shales
have in the past yielded Parabolina spinulosa and Orusia l...
Herein the organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst Mendicodinium mataschenensis is introduced as a new species. The taxon derives from lower Tortonian clays from the clay pit Mataschen in Styria, Austria. These deposits formed in Lake Pannon, which was characterized throughout the Late Miocene by its highly endemic and rapidly evolving biota. As most sp...
Feist-Burkhardt, S. & Pross, J. 2010: Dinoflagellate cyst biostratigraphy of the Opalinuston Formation (Middle Jurassic) in the Aalenian type area in southwest Germany and north Switzerland. Lethaia, Vol. 43, pp. 10–31.
In order to provide a detailed dinoflagellate cyst stratigraphy of the Lower Aalenian Opalinuston Formation from the Aalenian type...
Absolute abundances (concentrations) of dinoflagellate cysts are often determined through the addition of Lycopodium clavatum marker-grains as a spike to a sample before palynological processing. An inter-laboratory calibration exercise was set up in order to test the comparability of results obtained in different laboratories, each using its own p...
A palynological study of the outcrop section at Aselfingen, Wutach area, SW Germany, has yielded well-preserved and relatively diverse dinoflagellate cyst assemblages from sediments of Late Sinemurian and Early Pliensbachian age. The encountered dinoflagellate cyst taxa are documented and their morphology, systematics and stratigraphical ranges are...
Absolute abundances (concentrations) of dinoflagellate cysts are often determined through the addition of Lycopodium clavatum marker-grains as a spike to a sample before palynological processing. An inter-laboratory calibration exercise was set up in order to test the comparability of results obtained in different laboratories, each using its own p...
Ichthyosaurs are widespread in Mesozoic marine sequences. The marginal marine to terrestrial strata of
the Cretaceous Purbeck Limestone Group of Dorset are an unlikely source for the remains of such
animals. A specimen in the collections of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, acquired in
the nineteenth century, is recorded as collected...
Zusammenfassung: Beim Bau der ICE-Trasse Hannover-Berlin ergaben sich östlich von Braunschweig
mehrere temporäre Aufschlüsse, die im Rahmen der stratigraphischen Landesaufnahme beprobt und mikropaläontologisch
und palynologisch untersucht wurden. Für die beiden im Bereich des „Polyplocus-Sandsteins“
vermuteten Teilprofile (Profil 1.2 und Profil 3b)...
Absolute abundances (concentrations) of dinoflagellate cysts are often determined through the addition of Lycopodium clavatum marker-grains as a spike to a sample before palynological processing. An inter-laboratory calibration exercise was set up in order to test the comparability of results obtained in different laboratories, each using its own p...
The relationship between wall layers in dinoflagellate cysts was investigated with transmission electron microscopy. A simple method is
described in which small cysts (<100 μm) were identified, isolated, and encapsulated in colored agarose. The individual cysts, now visible
to the naked eye, were easy to track throughout the multi-step protocol. Th...
The relationship between wall layers in dinoflagellate cysts was investigated with transmission electron microscopy. A simple method is described in which small cysts (<100 μm) were identified, isolated, and encapsulated in colored agarose. The individual cysts, now visible to the naked eye, were easy to track throughout the multi‐step protocol. Th...
Upper Cretaceous platform carbonates of the Vocontian Basin (southeastern France) have been investigated in a cross-section from the proximal deposits exposed in the lower Rhône Valley to the distal part of the basin in the Southern Subalpine Ranges north of Nice. The stratigraphic interval studied in detail spans the uppermost Turonian and Coniaci...
In 2001 a partial skeleton of an Iguanodon was discovered in the Upper Weald Clay (Barremian, Early Cretaceous) at Smokejacks Brickworks near Ockley, Surrey, UK. When the dinosaur was excavated, a detailed stratigraphic section was logged and 25 samples taken for palynological and micropalaeontological (ostracod and megaspore) analysis, including a...
The Lower Muschelkalk of N Switzerland is characterised by a relatively monotonous succession of marly and dolomitic limestones with siltstone layers and thin sandstone beds. The studied Leuggern, Weiach and Benken wells comprise completely cored sections of the Lower Muschelkalk (Anisian). Due to the lack of characteristic marker beds and vertical...
Triassic facies development in Central Europe is characterized by two different palaeogeographic settings: (1) the NW Tethys shelf area (Tethyan or Alpine realm) and (2) the northern, peripheral, semi-closed Germanic Basin (Germanic realm). The sedimentary successions of both realms reflect the long-term transgressive evolution following a global s...
El área de estudio se localiza cerca de la localidad de Puentedey (Provincia de Burgos) y corresponde al sector NO de la Plataforma Nordcastellana. Las muestras palinológicas han sido recogidas en materiales carbonatados que comprenden desde el Cenomaniense medio hasta el Turoniense medio. El estudio permitió identificar veintiocho palinomorfos mar...
The size structure of phytoplankton assemblages strongly influences energy transfer through the food web and carbon cycling in the ocean. We determined the macroevolutionary trajectory in the median size of dinoflagellate cysts to compare with the macroevolutionary size change in other plankton groups. We found the median size of the dinoflagellate...
INTRODUCTIONDuring editorial work for the Journal of Micropalaeontology, a discussion arose between authors, reviewers and editors on the correct spelling of a technical term in palynology: ‘archeopyle’ or ‘archaeopyle’, the germination aperture in dinoflagellate cysts. One opinion was that there is only one correct spelling, namely ‘archeopyle’, w...
The Triassic–Jurassic (T–J) mass-extinction event is marked by isotope anomalies in organic (δ13Corg) and carbonate carbon (δ13Ccarb) reservoirs. These have been attributed to a (rapid) 4-fold rise in pCO2 as a result of massive flood basalt volcanism and/or methane hydrate dissociation. Here we examine the response of marine photosynthetic phytopl...
The formation of non-motile resting cysts within the dinoflagellate life-cycle has long been considered to be unsuitable for
open oceanic environments, because a considerable part of a population might be lost due to sinking. An alternative life-cycle
with the production of vegetative calcareous cells as the dominant life-cycle stage was reported f...
The phylogenetic affinities of the aberrant monotypic genus Duparquetia (subfamily Caesalpinioideae) are at present unresolved. Preliminary results from molecular analyses suggest a basal, isolated position among legumes. A study of Duparquetia pollen was carried out to provide further morphological characters to contribute to multi-data set analys...
Following votes by the Pliensbachian Working Group, the Jurassic Subcommission and the International Commission on Stratigraphy, IUGS ratified the proposed Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Pliensbachian Stage (Lower Jurassic) at the base of bed 73b in the Wine Haven section, Robin Hood's Bay, Yorkshire Coast,...
Berriasian and Valanginian dinocyst assemblages are documented from three boreholes in Northeast Bulgaria. In addition to conventional transmitted light microscopy, a selection of species has been studied in confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). The novel method of CLSM is now applied for the first time to the morphological analysis and final...
During the Early Jurassic, cyst-forming dinoflagellates began a long-term radiation that would portend ecological importance of these taxa in the pelagic plankton community throughout the rest of the Mesozoic era. The factors that contributed to the evolutionary success of dinofla-gellates are poorly understood. Here we examine the relationship bet...
The stratigraphic distribution of sedimentary organic matter in Anisian carbonate series of southern Poland is studied with respect to relative sea-level fluctuations. Palynofacies patterns clearly reflect transgressive–regressive trends that are interpreted in terms of third-order cyclicity. Major flooding phases are detected by maximum abundance...
The origin of flowering plants is still a matter of dispute. Several lines of evidence suggest
that their origin may go back to the Triassic. This paper reports on pollen grains with angiosperm-like
morphologies from marine Middle Triassic sediments of the Boreal Realm (Norwegian Arctic, Barents
Sea area). The morphology of these pollen grains is c...
Investigations of mass movements of the Messel oil shale in Germany presumed that
swell- and especially shrink-deformations of the organic-rich clay were among the factors triggering
initial displacements. Within the scope of the present studies, delicate clay/organic microstructures
had to be deciphered. Reactions of clay minerals and microstructu...
Sedimentary facies and palynofacies of Muschelkalk ramp
deposits were investigated in outcrop sections from the
Mecsek Mountains in southern Hungary. The sedimentary
series studied in detail comprises the Anisian Lapis Limestone
Formation, Zuhánya Limestone Formation, and the
lowermost part of the Kozár Limestone Formation, representing
a 3rd order...
Wine Haven, a coastal exposure at Robin Hood's Bay (North Yorkshire, UK), fulfils the criteria indicated in the Guidelines of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) (Remane et al. 1996) for definition as the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Pliensbachian Stage (Early Jurassic): 1) The succession of about 30...
The Early Jurassic is considered to be a watershed phase in the evolution of two groups of photosynthetic phytoplankton taxa, i.e. coccolithophorids and thecate dinoflagellates. Both groups are important primary producers in the contemporary ocean. Especially the Upper Pliensbachian has caught our attention, since this interval shows rapid diversif...
Die Palynofaziesanalyse ist eine moderne Untersuchungsmethode zur Charakterisierung sedimentärer Ablagerungssysteme mit Hilfe der in Sedimenten überlieferten organischen Bestandteile. Sie vermittelt zwischen den verschiedenen Disziplinen der Sedimentologie, Palynologie und organischen Geochemie. Die organischen Komponenten eines marinen Sedimentges...
The Onsdorf well brought a continuously cored section of the uppermost part of the Lower Muschelkalk (Dolomitbankschichten) from the western margin of the Germanic Basin. The shallow water deposits are rich in sedimentary organic matter, showing characteristic palynofacies patterns. Lithology, sedimentary structures and palynofacies signatures indi...
The morphology of fossil gonyaulacacean dinoflagellate cysts with multi-plate precingular archaeopyle has been analysed in detail using different microscopical methods, namely transmitted light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and the new technique of confocal laser scanning microscopy. The analyses made evident, that important morphologica...
A Triassic microflora from a limestone-envlosure in a volcaniclastic sequence from the lower part of the research drilling Vogelsberg 1996 was isolated. The spectrum contains large amounts of marine plankton (acritarchs) with only few prasinophytes. Spores of the form genus Aratrisporites is, after bisaccate and non-bisaccate pollen-grains, the str...
The Steudnitz quarry (East Thuringia, Germany) exposes the entire Lower Muschelkalk (Middle Triassic, Anisian) with a thickness
of 103 m. In this paper, a primarily palynofacies-based sequence-stratigraphical interpretation supported by lithological
investigations is proposed.
Palynofacies of the sampled carbonate rocks is dominated by land-derive...
Two relatively new microscopy techniques, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and digital optical microscopy (DOM), which allow three-dimensional reconstructions and stereoscopic visualisations of embedded specimens, are for the first time applied to the morphological analysis of fossil dinoflagellate cysts. Four Middle Jurassic dinoflagellat...
Twenty five samples accurately correlated to ammonite zones from
the Early Bajocian to Early Bathonian of the Bajocian stratotype have
been studied palynologically. This article provides the first published
account on the dinoflagellate cyst assemblages of the Bajocian stratotype.
The systematic part gives an inventory of the 74 taxa of dinoflagell...
The lithostratigraphic unit «Dogger β» (upper Aalenian) of the Herdern-1, Berlingen-1 and Kreuzlingen-1 boreholes (northeastern Switzerland) is composed of a varying number of shallowing-upward claystone-sandstone parasequences. Each sandstone interval represents a thin sediment body (offshore bar or sand sheet). The parasequences are capped by rew...