A new method of rock disintegration and foraminiferal extraction with the use of liquid nitrogen [LN2]. Do conventional methods lead to biased paleoecological and paleoenviromental interpretations?

An extremely fast, easy, and clean method of rock disintegration and foraminifera extraction from variously lithified porous rocks with the use of liquid nitrogen [LN2] is proposed. This method markedly limits the time of rock disintegration from days to only minutes, is safe for foraminifera, and does not require special chemical labs. In the experiment, the LN2 method was used to decompose rock samples and simultaneously to extract the foraminifera hidden within. The proposed method disintegrates the rocks to a finer fraction than conventional methods such as the Glauberʹs Salt method, allowing to collect more smaller planktonic and benthic foraminifera, resulting in marked changes in foraminiferal assemblages e.g., the planktonic/benthic ratio [P/B defined as P/P+B], leading to new conclusions. The comparison between the LN2 and Glauberʹs Salt [GS] methods and obtained results are provided.