Need Advice: Processing Cretaceous Microfossils

[geojbb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Bret Bennington)]

I am currently working on a small project looking in detail at the
paleoecology and paleoenvironments of the Navesink Fm (Maastrichtian) of
the New Jersey coastal plain.  I have become quite adept at disaggregating
and sieving the sediment, which yields a mix of microfossils and glauconite
grains.  I am also getting pretty good at fishing for microfossils using a
moist paintbrush.  However, besides tabulating sample diversities, I would
also like to collect species abundance data, which requires that I random
sample hundreds of microfossils from each sample.  Does anyone have any
sage advice for how to go about this?  What is the best way to pick a
random sample?  Is there any way to concentrate forams relative to
glauconite grains to make picking any easier?

Thanks for the help!

J Bret Bennington
Department of Geology
114 Hofstra University
Hempstead, NY 11550-1090
516-463-5568
FAX: 516-463-6010
E-mail: GeoJBB@Hofstra.edu