In the Collection at Leeds Museums Discovery Centre we have some microscope slides of foramineferas collected from various scientific cruises between 1868-1876. Samples include those from the North Atlantic, West Of the Shetland Isles (HMS Porcupine 1869) and some from Fiji in the Pacific Ocean (HMS Challenger 1876).
We can use microscope slides in museum collections as a source of ‘baseline data’ – data used to compare with foraminifera found today. This is very valuable as it can help chart the effects of environmental change. Scientific research has shown that the shells of foraminifera found in the sea today are up to 76% thinner than those found in 1876. Evidence points towards the acidification of the oceans as being the major cause for this shell thinning as the change in seawater chemistry makes it more difficult for the foraminifera to produce calcium carbonate. Acidification of the oceans has been increasing since the early Industrial Revolution (1750 – 1900) largely due to an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide gas being released into the atmosphere through human activity. This atmospheric carbon dioxide then dissolves into the ocean, lowering the pH of the water and making it more acidic.
The foraminifer specimens stored in museum collections enable all kinds of scientific research to take place, research that wouldn’t be able to happen without the collections. What might look like an insignificant microscope slide can actually play an incredibly important part in helping scientists understand the impact of human activities on the planet.