Palaeoenvironments, palaeoecology and palaeobiogeography of Late Cretaceous (Campanian) faunas from the Kristianstad Basin, southern Sweden, with applications for science education
Paleomiljö, paleoekologi och paleobiogeografi över Kristianstadsbassängens fauna från sen Kritaperiod (campan), med tillämpningar för undervisning i naturvetenskapliga ämnen
Author
Summary, in English
This thesis is thematically divided into two sections: Part
1 presents studies related to the palaeoenvironments,
palaeoecology and palaeobiogeography of the Late
Cretaceous (Campanian) faunas from the Kristianstad
Basin of southern Sweden; Part 2 reports on applications
of palaeontological research for science education in
schools.
Part 1 was based on personally conducted fieldwork
and biostratigraphical analysis at various Santonian-
Campanian localities throughout Skåne. However, the
most complete section at Åsen provided the primary data
source and was systematically excavated with a team of
volunteers, who employed wet-sieving methods to extract
bulk fossil material from each bed within the sequence. A
series of globally correlated temperature-induced changes
was detected in the stepwise declining abundance
and disappearance of rudists, sclerorhynchids and the
rajiforms Rhinobatos and Squatirhina, as well as marine
crocodilians, various mosasaurid lizard taxa. A range
of local palaeoenvironments were also reconstructed,
including estuaries, rocky coastlines, sandy beaches,
drowned river valleys, shallow neritic settings, and
deeper offshore conditions. An archipelago bordering the
Fennoscandian landmasses also supported continental
ecosystems comprising ferns, conifers and early flowering
plants, with dinosaurs, pterosaurs and non-marine turtles.
Trophic levels within the marine system incorporated
red algae and dinoflagellates as primary producers, with
corals, brachiopods, bivalves, echinoids, barnacles and
decapod crustaceans as benthos, and belemnites within
the water column. Actinopterygian fish, sharks, rays and
chimaeroids, chelonioid sea turtles, marine crocodilians,
polycotylid and elasmosaurid plesiosaurians, various
mosasaurids and aquatic hesperornithiform birds
collectively represented middle level and apex predators.
Herbivorous and carnivorous dinosaurs, lizards and softshelled
tryonichid turtles evidence elements of terrestrial
island communities. The palaeobiogeographical
relationships and dispersal of these local assemblages
was probably influenced by marine transgressions and
regressions. These would have affected habitat availability
and connectivity via changing water depths.
Part 2 presents three school education projects aimed at
increasing awareness of geoscience and natural history in
schools. The better integration of geological time concepts
and geosciences into the Swedish school curriculum is
also discussed. The first study described a project whereby
fossils were found in the sandboxes in preschools, and
their use as a tool for learning about dinosaurs, fossils
and natural history. A survey of teachers and children
found that both increased their knowledge base through
this approach, and that the local context of the fossils
in particular generated interest about the subject. The
concepts of geological time was similarly addressed in the
second study, which utilized timescale projects and other
hands-on activities to create memory triggers for children
and students, and to demonstrate how the perspective of
‘deep time’ is relevant for understanding large-scale Earth
processes, such as evolution and environmental change.
The integration of geosciences into the Swedish school
curriculum is currently inadequate. Therefore, the final
paper in this sequence discusses how geosciences form
an interdisciplinary bridge between school subjects and
can be used to teach geography and biology at all school
levels.
1 presents studies related to the palaeoenvironments,
palaeoecology and palaeobiogeography of the Late
Cretaceous (Campanian) faunas from the Kristianstad
Basin of southern Sweden; Part 2 reports on applications
of palaeontological research for science education in
schools.
Part 1 was based on personally conducted fieldwork
and biostratigraphical analysis at various Santonian-
Campanian localities throughout Skåne. However, the
most complete section at Åsen provided the primary data
source and was systematically excavated with a team of
volunteers, who employed wet-sieving methods to extract
bulk fossil material from each bed within the sequence. A
series of globally correlated temperature-induced changes
was detected in the stepwise declining abundance
and disappearance of rudists, sclerorhynchids and the
rajiforms Rhinobatos and Squatirhina, as well as marine
crocodilians, various mosasaurid lizard taxa. A range
of local palaeoenvironments were also reconstructed,
including estuaries, rocky coastlines, sandy beaches,
drowned river valleys, shallow neritic settings, and
deeper offshore conditions. An archipelago bordering the
Fennoscandian landmasses also supported continental
ecosystems comprising ferns, conifers and early flowering
plants, with dinosaurs, pterosaurs and non-marine turtles.
Trophic levels within the marine system incorporated
red algae and dinoflagellates as primary producers, with
corals, brachiopods, bivalves, echinoids, barnacles and
decapod crustaceans as benthos, and belemnites within
the water column. Actinopterygian fish, sharks, rays and
chimaeroids, chelonioid sea turtles, marine crocodilians,
polycotylid and elasmosaurid plesiosaurians, various
mosasaurids and aquatic hesperornithiform birds
collectively represented middle level and apex predators.
Herbivorous and carnivorous dinosaurs, lizards and softshelled
tryonichid turtles evidence elements of terrestrial
island communities. The palaeobiogeographical
relationships and dispersal of these local assemblages
was probably influenced by marine transgressions and
regressions. These would have affected habitat availability
and connectivity via changing water depths.
Part 2 presents three school education projects aimed at
increasing awareness of geoscience and natural history in
schools. The better integration of geological time concepts
and geosciences into the Swedish school curriculum is
also discussed. The first study described a project whereby
fossils were found in the sandboxes in preschools, and
their use as a tool for learning about dinosaurs, fossils
and natural history. A survey of teachers and children
found that both increased their knowledge base through
this approach, and that the local context of the fossils
in particular generated interest about the subject. The
concepts of geological time was similarly addressed in the
second study, which utilized timescale projects and other
hands-on activities to create memory triggers for children
and students, and to demonstrate how the perspective of
‘deep time’ is relevant for understanding large-scale Earth
processes, such as evolution and environmental change.
The integration of geosciences into the Swedish school
curriculum is currently inadequate. Therefore, the final
paper in this sequence discusses how geosciences form
an interdisciplinary bridge between school subjects and
can be used to teach geography and biology at all school
levels.
Department/s
Publishing year
2018
Language
English
Publication/Series
Litholund theses
Issue
32
Full text
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Document type
Dissertation
Publisher
Lund University, Faculty of Science, Department of Geology, Lithosphere and Biosphere Science
Topic
- Geology
- Pedagogical Work
Keywords
- palaeoenvironments
- palaeoecology
- palaeobiogeography
- Campanian
- Kristianstad Basin
- Teaching and Learning
Status
Published
Supervisor
- Benjamin P Kear
- Vivi Vajda
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1651-6648
- ISBN: 978-91-87847-36-3
- ISBN: 978-91-87847-37-0
Defence date
29 March 2018
Defence time
13:15
Defence place
Lecture hall “Pangea”, Geocentrum II, Sölvegatan 12, Lund
Opponent
- Jesper Milàn (Dr.)