Raw-data to morphometric investigations about the Neogene planktonic foraminifer Globorotalia menardii and related forms from ODP Hole 154-925B (Ceara Rise, western tropical Atlantic)

In the framework of "Evolutionary prospection in Neogene planktonic foraminifera", an initiative to study and document speciation patterns and biogeography in these microfossils, several morphometric investigations about the plexus around Globorotalia menardii and related forms during the past 8 Myrs were carried out (Knappertsbusch 2007; Brown 2007; Knappertsbusch 2011; Knappertsbusch and Mary 2012; Mary, 2013; Mary and Knappertsbusch 2013; Mary and Knappertsbusch 2015). The here presented archive is the raw data set of another investigation about the morphological variability of the G. menardii group from ODP Hole 925B (ODP Leg 154) on Céara Rise in the eastern tropical Atlantic. It comprises the full set of digital images and morphometric data generated from them from Hole 925B. A description of the details from this investigation, its rationale, materials and methods, age determinations, discussion and results is given in a separate publication by the author. Closely related to this research is the development of a special motorized and automated device called AMOR, which allows to efficiently and automatically orientate specimens for imaging in a preferred orientation such as keel (profile) view, and then save the images as grey-level images in Tif format. The development of this robot accompanied the above mentioned morphometric investigations of menardiform globorotalids. A first stable version of AMOR is described in Knappertsbusch et al. (2009), which was improved with time while experience with morphometric problems in menardiform globorotalids and the required automation tasks advanced. The images from ODP Site 925 were thus generated with several versions of AMOR, starting from AMOR v. 3.10, but the majority of images were collected with improved AMOR v. 3.17 and AMOR v. 3.28 with extended functions. Processing of the collected images to morphometric data was carried out with the help of standard software like Photoshop, the public domain software ImageJ, and a suite of customized fortran programs (MorphCol) written by the author. The MorphCol programs are available and documented in Knappertsbusch (2015). All materials and slide preparations from ODP Hole 925B are deposited in the collections of the Micropaleontological Reference Center (MRC) of the DSDP and ODP curated at the Natural History Museum in Basel. The description given below is meant as an aid to navigate through the data set.