摘要
Previous studies of the surface sediment composition of marine diatoms are reviewed. The review includes stratigraphic subdivision and comparisons, the reconstruction of ancient geography, sea level and coastline changes, and the latest advances in foreign research, such as taxonomy and stratigraphy of diatom resting spore fossils and molecular phylogenetics for the past 40 years. The authors summarized the research progress of marine sediment diatoms in China. The genus-species composition and assemblage feature of surface diatoms were identified at the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea and South China Sea in China.