This proposal seeks funds to acquire a research microscipe,computer, and digitizer to continue research into siliceous microfossils. The equipment will be used initailly for a shore-based study associated with Ocean Drilling Program Leg 138 to the east Pacific to study silcoflagellates and minor microorganism groups. Emphasis on the research project will be onchanges in silicoflagellate skeletal morphology during the Miocene and Plisocene, which will be compared to changes in the surrounding environment. Research on other siliceous microfossil groups, such as sponge spicules, will be conducted by undergraduate students under the principle investigator'ssupervision.
