William Chaloner obituary
by Andrew C Scott from on (#20PXN)
Authority on fossil plants who pioneered the use of growth rings to reconstruct ancient climates
William Chaloner, who has died aged 87, was one of the world's leading authorities on fossil plants. He pioneered new methods for their study and is considered one of the founders of the research field of palynology, which uses fossil pollen and spores from ancient rocks to interpret plant evolution and to reconstruct environments of the past.
His research was wide-ranging and included work on some of the earliest plants to colonise the land, fossil plants of the coal age, and the use of plant fossils to infer ancient climates and the composition of the atmosphere in the distant past.
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