In addition to providing information about ancient environments and macroevolution, microfossils can be used to correlate the absolute ages of rocks. Following the development of biostratigraphy from classical origins into petroleum exploration and deep-ocean drilling, this survey explores in depth the surprisingly wide application of biostratigraphic methods. The book will be essential reading for students and researchers working in basin analysis, sequence stratigraphy, palaeoceanography, palaeobiology and related fields.