Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-2023

Publication Title

Data in Brief

Volume

50

Pages

1-8

Publisher Name

Elsevier

Abstract

Phytoliths are opal silica particles formed within plant tissues. Diatoms are aquatic, single-celled photosynthetic algae with silica skeletons. Phytolith and diatom morphotypes vary depending on local environmental and climatic conditions and because their silicate structures preserve well, the study of phytolith and diatom morphotypes can be used to better understand paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental dynamics and changes. This article presents original data from an 820cm-deep stratigraphy excavated at the Hazen diatomite deposits, a high-elevation desert paleolake in the Fernley District, Northern Nevada, USA. The site has been studied for an assemblage of fossilized threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus doryssus, that reveal adaptive evolution. For this study, a total of 157 samples were extracted at 20 cm intervals covering approximately 24,500 years. After extraction, the samples were mounted on slides and viewed under 400-1000x light microscopy, enabling classification of 14 phytolith and 45 diatom morphotypes. Our data support paleoenvironmental reconstructions of the Hazen Miocene paleolake.

Comments

Author Posting © The Authors, 2023. This is an open access article posted in Data in Brief, Volume 50, October 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2023.109519

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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