University of Otago Geology Seminar
Making and keeping a shell: the challenges of changing oceans presented by Professor Liz Harper, University of Cambridge, England
Marine animals have been secreting shells for over 500 million years – but they need to do it against a backdrop of oceans that change both in terms of their physical properties (e.g. temperature, pH) and a changing cast of other organisms that interact with shells (e.g., predators, endolithic organisms that bore into them). I will look at the composite shells of molluscs to explore the patterns in microstructure and mineralogy. The oceans are constantly changing – how have shell producers such as molluscs and brachiopods responded to changing biological pressures and physical parameters over different timescales (from years to millions of years) and what of their futures given predicted changes in pH and temperature? My examples will include work that I have done or just started in New Zealand.
Benson Common Room (Gn9, Geology Building), Geology Department and Zoom: https://bit.ly/otagogeology