Journal ArticleDOI
Biodiversity and terrestrial ecology of a mid-Cretaceous, high-latitude floodplain, Alexander Island, Antarctica
Reads0
Chats0
TLDR
In this paper, the biodiversity and terrestrial ecology of the Late Albian Triton Point Formation (Fossil Bluff Group), Alexander Island, Antarctica is analysed to improve our understanding of polar biomes during the mid-Cretaceous thermal optimum.Abstract:
The biodiversity and terrestrial ecology of the Late Albian Triton Point Formation (Fossil Bluff Group), Alexander Island, Antarctica is analysed to improve our understanding of polar biomes during the mid-Cretaceous thermal optimum. This formation was deposited on a high-latitude (75°S) floodplain and consists of two facies associations, a lower braided alluvial plain unit and an upper coastal meander-belt unit. Analysis of fossil plants in well exposed palaeosols reveals the existence of spatially complex plant communities. Braidplains supported patchy, low-density (91 trees/ha) stands of podocarp and taxodioid conifers on floodbasin substrates, and conifer–cycadophyte–fern–angiosperm thickets in riparian settings. Coastal meander-belts supported medium density (568 trees/ha) podocarp–araucarian conifer forests on mature floodbasin soils, and fern–angiosperm–ginkgo thickets in riparian settings. Growth-ring analysis indicates plants experienced stressful growing conditions on the braidplain characterized by high-frequency flood events, but more favourable growing conditions on the coastal plain. Additional vegetation disturbances were caused by arthropod–fungal attack, frost and wildfire. In terms of structure, composition, ecology and productivity these predominantly evergreen, broad-leafed conifer forests bear similarities to the extant temperate rainforests of New Zealand.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Ecological conservatism in the “living fossil” Ginkgo
TL;DR: P Paleoecological inferences based on both morphology and sedimentary environments support the idea that Ginkgo was displaced in riparian habitats by angiosperms with better adaptations to frequent disturbance.
OtherDOI
100 Million Years of Antarctic Climate Evolution: Evidence from Fossil Plants
Jane E. Francis,Allan C. Ashworth,David J. Cantrill,J. A. Crame,J. Howe,R.S. Stephens,A.-M. Tosolini,V.C. Thorn +7 more
TL;DR: The evolution of Antarctic climate from a Cretaceous greenhouse into the Neogene icehouse is captured within a rich record of fossil leaves, wood, pollen, and flowers from the Antarctic Peninsula and the Transantarctic Mountains as mentioned in this paper.
Journal ArticleDOI
Geology and Paleontology of the Upper Cretaceous Kem Kem Group of Eastern Morocco
Nizar Ibrahim,Paul C. Sereno,David J. Varricchio,David M. Martill,Didier B. Dutheil,David M. Unwin,Lahssen Baidder,Hans C. E. Larsson,Samir Zouhri,Abdelhadi Kaoukaya +9 more
TL;DR: The Kem Kem vertebrate assemblage, currently the best documented association just prior to the onset of the Cenomanian-Turonian marine transgression, captures the taxonomic diversity of a widespread northern African fauna better than any other contemporary assemblages from elsewhere in Africa.
Journal ArticleDOI
Vegetation‐induced sedimentary structures from fossil forests in the Pennsylvanian Joggins Formation, Nova Scotia
TL;DR: Vegetation-induced sedimentary structures (VISS) as discussed by the authors are primary structures formed by the interaction of detrital sediment with in situ plants, and they provide physical evidence of vegetation's fundamental role in mediating sediment accumulation and erosion in clastic depositional systems.
Journal ArticleDOI
Plant paleoecology in deep time
TL;DR: Study of plant-animal interaction, explicit consideration of phylogenetic information in assessing assemblage time-space dynamics, and examination of ecological structure in terms of developing metabolic scaling theory are all having direct impact on paleoecological as well as neoecological studies.
References
More filters
Book
Tree Rings and Climate
TL;DR: In this paper, a summary of basic dendrochronology, especially its application to Beams from these activities that various statistical methods such as they are covered, is given.
Book
Climate and plant distribution
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a survey of the distribution of taxa in the world of climate and vegetation in terms of the number of species in each taxa and the scale of the scale.
Book
Sedimentary Environments: Processes, Facies And Stratigraphy
TL;DR: A.G. Reading and J.D. Collinson as discussed by the authors discussed the effect of sedimentary rock record on the sedimentary record and proposed a method for controlling sedimentary geology.
Related Papers (5)
Influence of environmental factors on the wood structure of living and fossil trees
G. T. Creber,W. G. Chaloner +1 more