USGS Logo Geological Survey Professional Paper 294—K
The Rocks and Fossils of Glacier National Park: The Story of Their Origin and History

APPENDIX C: Classifications of fossil algae

[After Johnson, 1951]

Chasm Family Characteristic structures
Rhodophyta
(red algae)
Corallinaceae Rows of closely packed cells, rectangular in section. Spore cases or conceptacles.
Solenoperaceae Rows of closely packed cells with polygonal cross sections. Cross partitions present though frequently very thin.
Phaeophyta
(brown algae)
Laminariales and others Corded strands of parallel threads. Frond types.
Chlorophyta
(grass-green algae)
Charophyta Highly developed small bushy plants. Fossils usually consist of calcified, heavily ribbed, spherical reproductive organs and the whorled branches that bear them.
Dasycladaceae A central stalk, preserved as a tube or bulb, surrounded by tufts of leaves or leaf bases, preserved as knobs or brushlike protuberances.
Codiaceae Small tubes, loosely arranged so as to form segmented stems. Tubes round in cross section and branching.
Cyanophyta
(possibly Chlorophyta)
Porostromata Small tubes so loosely arranged as not to compress each other. No cross partitions visible.
Cyanophyta
(blue-green algae)
Spongiostroma1 Cellular structure rarely preserved. The lime is deposited as crusts on the outside of the colony or cell, or between the tissues, not in the cell wall. Classified on the basis of growth habit and form of colony.
Pyrrophyta
(yellow-green algae)
No known fossils
Chrysophyta
(golden-brown algae)
Bacillariophyceae Diatoms.

1Fossil algae of the Belt series belong to this group.



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Last Updated: 08-Jul-2008