What is Palynology?
A. Hyde and Williams (1944) coined the word Palynology. “Palyn” comes from a Greek word that means ‘I sprinkle’ which is also a cognate of the Latin word “Pollen” which mens ‘dust’ or ‘fine flour’. “Ology” means to study. Hyde and Williams meant to apply the word “Palynology” tp the study of spores and pollen grains from embryo-producing plants. B. Palynology expanded in application to all microfossils that survive the extractions procedures applied to rocks and other sediments. These are microfossils that are composed of very resistant organic molecules. These microfossils are called “palynomorphs”. They are usually composed of: 1. Chitin 2. Sporopollenin 3. Psuedochitin C. In size, palynomorphs range in size from 5 microns to 500 microns, with a few types that range even larger. D. Palynomorphs are distinct from nannofossils (the specialty of that most illustrious researcher, Dave Watkins). Nannofossils are smaller that palynomorphs (lest than 5 micron according to texts, sorry Denis
