Marine palynology in progress

One of the things which the Second International Conference on Palynology (held in Utrecht, August 29-September 3, 1966) revealed, was the rapid expansion which marine palynological research has undergone in recent years. This was the main stimulus to organize this special issue of Marine Geology. It is good to have a number of valuable contributions to marine palynology together under one cover. It is also most useful that a wide range of marine geo-scientists are supplied with an evaluation and exemplary problems demonstrating some of the possibilities and limitations of pollen analysis of marine sediments. It need hardly be said that the palynological analysis of marine sediments should preferably be used together with other kinds of investigations, such as mineralogical, sedimentological and geochemical analyses, studies of zoomicrofossils, radioactive-age determinations, etc. Combined studies always give a more reliable and detailed picture. The Editor is grateful to all contributors to this issue for their pleasant cooperation. It is hoped that many readers, comprising both palynologists and marine geologists, will find the final product enlightening and stimulating. We will be happy to receive any comments, additional data and criticism that may arise from the reading of this special issue. We will be pleased to include a discussion of these in one of the subsequent issues of this journal