Geology and Minerals

Acritarch

Acritarchs (from Greek achritos 'uncertain' and arché 'origin') are organic microfossils, known from the Archean eon of the Precambrian to the present. The classification is a catch-all term used to refer to any organic microfossils that cannot be assigned to other groups. Their diversity reflects major ecological events such as the appearance of predation and the Cambrian explosion. Many acritarchs likely represent resting cysts of single-celled marine phytoplanktonic algae, similar to those produced by living dinoflagellates.

Also on this shelf

See also

• ▸Danakil Depression
• ▸Celtic coinage
• ▸Hecates Tholus

Uncatalogued shelf

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