Vegetation ecology of Early Pennsylvanian alluvial fan and piedmont environments in southern New Brunswick, Canada
TL;DR: In this article, fossil plant assemblages are described from well-drained alluvial fan/piedmont deposits in the uppermost Boss Point and Tynemouth Creek formations (late Yeadonian-Langsettian), southern New Brunswick.
About: This article is published in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.The article was published on 2006-04-04. It has received 47 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Alluvial fan & Alluvial plain.
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TL;DR: Lower-diversity worlds such as the late Paleozoic, with a rich spectrum of environmental variations, offer insights into relationships between organisms and environments that expand understanding of these phenomena and enlarge their sense of what is possible or probable as the authors look to the future.
Abstract: Premise of research. The Late Paleozoic Ice Age was the last extensive pre-Pleistocene ice age. It includes many climate changes of different intensities, permitting examination of many and varied biotic responses. The tropical Pennsylvanian Subperiod, usually visualized as one vast wetland coal forest, in fact also was dominated, periodically, by seasonally dry vegetation that, in turn, covered most of the central and western Pangean supercontinent. Equatorial wetland and dryland biomes oscillated during single glacial-interglacial cycles. This recognition changes understanding of the Coal Age tropics; examination of their spatiotemporal patterns indicates that these vegetation types responded differently to global environmental disturbances and long-term trends and points to potentially different underlying controls on evolutionary histories of their component lineages.Methodology. This study is based on the published literature and on examination of geological exposures and fossil floras, mainly from N...
147 citations
Cites background from "Vegetation ecology of Early Pennsyl..."
...Rare reports of autochthonous cordaitalean stumps still in place within seasonally dry paleosols fringing channels (Bashforth et al. 2014) and in alluvial fans (Falcon-Lang 2006) confirm large-sized trees in these habitats....
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...In the Early and early Middle Pennsylvanian, such areas, dominated by cordaitaleans, are documented mainly in Atlantic Canada in central Pangea (Falcon-Lang and Scott 2000; Falcon-Lang 2003b, 2006; Falcon-Lang and Bashforth 2004; Dimitrova et al. 2011; Bashforth et al. 2014)....
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...…in mountainous areas if the mountains are high enough and could account for background pollen rain from conifers into lower-elevation intermontane wetlands (Broutin et al. 1990; Dimitrova et al. 2005, 2011; Falcon-Lang 2006; Bashforth et al. 2011; Dolby et al. 2011; Opluštil et al. 2013b)....
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TL;DR: Fossil forests, buried in growth position in a geological instant (T 0 assemblages) are far more abundant in Pennsylvanian successions than in any other part of the geological record as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Fossil forests, buried in growth position in a geological instant (T 0 assemblages) are far more abundant in Pennsylvanian successions than in any other part of the geological record. In this review paper, we evaluate the fundamental controls on the origin of these phenomena, investigate the taphonomic biases that influence their composition, and summarize their palaeoecological significance. Following earlier workers, we highlight that high rates of burial and accommodation are essential for the formation and preservation of T 0 assemblages. Contexts especially favourable for their origin include ashfalls proximal to volcanic centres, coastal plains drowned by relative sea-level rise, and fluvial environments such as channel bars, crevasse splays, and distributary lobes. Long-term preservation requires high rates of subsidence. Consequently, the vast majority of Palaeozoic T 0 assemblages are confined to wetland settings at, or close to, sea level, whereas drylands are poorly represented and uplands rarely sampled, if ever. However, this is not the only major bias in the fossil record; taphonomic processes selectively preserve plants dependent on their anatomy and stature, and on groundwater chemistry. Thus, although T 0 assemblages offer unrivalled insights into the nature of ancient forests (whole-plant reconstructions, tree density, canopy height, productivity, plant hydraulics, cohort dynamics, spatial heterogeneity, ecological gradients, tree–sediment interactions, and animal–plant interactions, to name but a few), it is naive to believe they provide ‘photographic snapshots9 of palaeoecosystems. None the less, careful taphonomic analysis of T 0 assemblages offers the potential for a nuanced understanding of these evocative phenomena, and much remains to be learned from these important palaeoecological resources.
97 citations
Cites background from "Vegetation ecology of Early Pennsyl..."
...This has been described for Calamites (Dawson 1851; Lyell 1865; Gastaldo 1992) and tree ferns (Falcon-Lang 2006b)....
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...…that first shed light on the origin of coal; for example, the discovery of abundant horizons with upright fossil trees rooted in coal seams at Joggins, Nova Scotia (Brown & Smith 1829; Gesner 1836) convinced Lyell (1843) that coal was the product of a peaty soil (Calder 2006; Falcon-Lang 2006a)....
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...Cordaitaleans, if preserved as upright mud casts of hollow stumps forming after decay of the woody trunk (Falcon-Lang 2006c), also might be difficult to recognize definitively because they lack external features that clearly identify them....
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...In an interesting twist on such real-time patterns, plant remains can be found in ancient flashy discharge channels showing evidence of being swept by currents, and partially uprooted in floods before being buried by shifting channel bars (Falcon-Lang 2006c, fig....
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...This does not mean that these other groups are never preserved as stem casts, they are, and have been reported in upright position (e.g. Falcon-Lang 2005, 2006b, 2009)....
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TL;DR: DiMichele et al. as mentioned in this paper studied the Late Paleozoic pteridosperms, a paraphyletic group of seed plants that were prominent elements of tropical ecosystems, primarily those of wetlands or the wetter portions of seasonally dry environments.
Abstract: DiMichele, W. A. (Department of Paleobiology, NMNH, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560), T. L. Phillips (Department of Plant Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801), and H. W. Pfefferkorn (Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19106). Paleoecology of Late Paleozoic pteridosperms from tropical Euramerica. J. Torrey Bot. Soc. 133: 83–118. 2006.— Late Paleozoic pteridosperms are a paraphyletic group of seed plants that were prominent elements of tropical ecosystems, primarily those of wetlands or the wetter portions of seasonally dry environments. Because the group is more a tradition-based, historical construct than a well circumscribed phylogenetic lineage, the wide variance in ecological roles and ecomorphological attributes should not be surprising. Pteridosperms can be the dominant canopy trees in local habitats, prominent understory trees, scrambling ground cover, thicket-formers, or liana-like plants and vines. Some s...
93 citations
01 Dec 2014
TL;DR: In this article, a range of new fluvial planform and architectural styles came to prominence, including channelled-and island-braided systems, meandering and anabranching systems, and stable muddy floodplains.
Abstract: As vegetation evolved during the Palaeozoic Era, terrestrial landscapes were substantially transformed, especially during the ∼120 million year interval from the Devonian through the Carboniferous Early Palaeozoic river systems were of sheet-braided style – broad, shallow, sandbed rivers with non-cohesive and readily eroded banks Under the influence of evolving roots and trees that stabilised banks and added large woody debris to channels, a range of new fluvial planform and architectural styles came to prominence, including channelled- and island-braided systems, meandering and anabranching systems, and stable muddy floodplains River systems co-evolved with plants and animals, generating new ecospace that we infer would have promoted biological evolution By the end of the Carboniferous, most landforms characteristic of modern fluvial systems were in existence
91 citations
Cites background from "Vegetation ecology of Early Pennsyl..."
...…abundant in seasonally dry alluvial settings with periodically lowered water tables, and are represented by fragmentary records from redbeds that once were considered largely barren of plant life (Falcon-Lang, 2003, 2006; Falcon-Lang et al., 2009; DiMichele et al., 2010; Bashforth et al., 2014)....
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TL;DR: The spatial heterogeneity and community ecology of riparian vegetation preserved in fluvial deposits of the upper Asturian to middle (?) Cantabrian (upper Moscovian) Nýřany Member, Central and Western Bohemian Basin, Czech Republic is reconstructed in this article.
78 citations
Cites background or result from "Vegetation ecology of Early Pennsyl..."
...…landscape-scale gradients have been inferred for such disturbance-dominated regimes (Iwaniw, 1985; Bashforth, 2005; Martín-Closas and Galtier, 2005; Falcon-Lang, 2006a; Martín-Closas and Martínez-Roig, 2007; Charbonnier et al., 2008; Libertín et al., 2009b), and Bashforth et al. (2010) provided a…...
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...The basal flare and general outline are similar to those of cordaitalean trees (Falcon-Lang and Bashforth, 2004, 2005; Falcon-Lang, 2005, 2006a), but there is no septate pith (Artisia)....
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References
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TL;DR: The authors reviewed the highlights of the 1988 Symposium on Palaeozoic Biogeography and Palaeogeography, and presented a revised set of 20 base maps that incorporate much of the new data presented at the symposium.
Abstract: We review the highlights of the 1988 symposium on Palaeozoic Biogeography and Palaeogeography, and present a revised set of 20 Palaeozoic base maps that incorporate much of the new data presented at the symposium. The maps include 5 major innovations: (1) A preliminary attempt has been made to describe the motion of the Cathaysian terranes during the Palaeozoic; (2) a more detailed description of the events surrounding the Iapetus Ocean is presented; (3) an alternative apparent polar wandering path for Gondwana has been constructed using the changing distributions of palaeoclimatically restricted lithofacies; (4) new palaeomagnetic data have been incorporated that places Laurentia and Baltica at more southerly latitudes, and adjacent to Gondwana, during the Early Devonian; Siberia is also placed further south in the light of biogeographic data presented at the symposium; (5) Kazakhstan is treated as a westward extension of Siberia, rather than as a separate palaeocontinent. The relationships between climatic changes, sea level changes, evolutionary radiations and intercontinental migrations are discussed
1,105 citations
"Vegetation ecology of Early Pennsyl..." refers background in this paper
...This depocentre developed in Devonian times following the oblique convergence of Gondwana with Laurusia (Scotese and McKerrow, 1990)....
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Book•
01 Jan 2009
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an overview of the structure of terrigenous clastic clastic sedimentary rocks and their relationships with other types of clastic sediments.
Abstract: Preface. Acknowledgements. 1 Introduction: sedimentology and stratigraphy . 1.1. Sedimentary processes. 1.2 Sedimentary environments and facies. 1.3 The spectrum of environments and facies. 1.4 Stratigraphy. 1.5 The structure of this book. 2 Terrigenous clastic sediments: gravel, sand and mud . 2.1 Classification of sediments and sedimentary rocks. 2.2 Gravel and conglomerate. 2.3 Sand and sandstone. 2.4 Clay, silt and mudrock. 2.5 Textures and analysis of terrigenous clastic sedimentary rocks. 2.6 Terrigenous clastic sediments: summary. 3 Biogenic, chemical and volcanogenic sediments. 3.1 Limestone. 3.2 Evaporite minerals. 3.3 Cherts. 3.4 Sedimentary phosphates. 3.5 Sedimentary ironstone. 3.6 Carbonaceous (organic) deposits. 3.7 Volcaniclastic rocks. 4 Processes of transport and sedimentary structures . 4.1 Transport media. 4.2 The behaviour of fluids and particles in fluids. 4.3 Flows, sediment and bedforms. 4.4 Waves. 4.5 Mass flows. 4.6 Mudcracks. 4.7 Erosional sedimentary structures. 4.8 Teminology for sedimentary structures and beds. 4.9 Sedimentary structures and sedimentary environments. 5 Field sedimentology, facies and environments . 5.1 Field sedimentology. 5.2 Graphic sedimentary logs. 5.3 Palaeocurrents. 5.4 Collection of rock samples. 5.5 Description of core. 5.6 Interpreting past depositional environments. 5.7 Reconstructing palaeoenvironments in space and time. 5.8 Summary: facies and environments. 6 Continents: sources of sediment . 6.1 From source of sediment to formation of strata. 6.2 Mountain building processes. 6.3 Global climate. 6.4 Weathering processes. 6.5 Erosion and transport. 6.6 Denudation and landscape evolution. 6.7 Tectonics and denudation. 6.8 Measuring rates of denudation. 6.9 Denudation and sediment supply: summary. 7 Glacial environments . 7.1 Distribution of glacial environments. 7.2 Glacial ice. 7.3 Glaciers. 7.4 Continental glacial deposition. 7.5 Marine glacial environments. 7.6 Distribution of glacial deposits. 7.7 Ice, climate and tectonics. 7.8 Summary of glacial environments. 8 Aeolian processes . 8.1 Aeolian transport. 8.2 Deserts and ergs. 8.3 Characteristics of wind-blown particles. 8.4 Aeolian bedforms. 8.5 Desert environments. 8.6 Aeolian deposits outside deserts. 8.7 Summary. 9 Rivers and alluvial fans. 9.1 Fluvial and alluvial systems. 9.2 River forms. 9.3 Floodplain deposition. 9.4 Architecture of fluvial deposits. 9.5 Alluvial fans. 9.6 Fossils in fluvial and alluvial environments. 9.7 Soils and palaeosols. 9.8 Fluvial and alluvial fan deposition: summary. 10 Lakes . 10.1 Lakes and lacustrine environments. 10.2 Freshwater lakes. 10.3 Saline Lakes. 10.4 Ephemeral lakes. 10.5 Controls on lacustrine deposition. 10.6 Life in lakes and fossils in lacustrine deposits. 10.7 Recognition of lacustrine facies. 11 The marine realm: morphology and processes. 11.1 Divisions of the marine realm. 11.2 Tides. 11.3 Wave and storm processes. 11.4 Thermo-haline and geostrophic currents. 11.5 Chemical and biochemical sedimentation in oceans. 11.6 Marine fossils. 11.7 Trace fossils. 11.8 Marine environments: summary. 12 Deltas . 12.1 River mouths, deltas and estuaries. 12.2 Types of delta. 12.3 Delta environments and successions. 12.4 Variations in delta morphology and facies. 12.5 Deltaic cycles and stratigraphy. 12.6 Syn-depositional deformation in deltas. 12.7 Recognition of deltaic deposits. 13 Clastic coasts and estuaries . 13.1 Coasts. 13.2 Beaches. 13.3 Barrier and lagoon systems. 13.4 Tides and coastal systems. 13.5 Coastal successions. 13.6 Estuaries. 13.7 Fossils in coastal and estuarine environments. 14 Shallow sandy seas . 14.1 Shallow marine environments of terrigenous clastic deposition. 14.2 Storm-dominated shallow clastic seas. 14.3 Tide-dominated clastic shallow seas. 14.4 Responses to change in sea level. 14.5 Criteria for the recognition of sandy shallow marine sediments. 15 Shallow marine carbonate and evaporite environments. 15.2 Coastal environments. 15.3 Shelf environments. 15.4 Types of carbonate platform. 15.5 Evaporitic basins. 16 Deep marine environments . 16.1 Ocean basins. 16.2 Submarine Fans. 16.3 Slope aprons. 16.4 Contourites. 16. 5 Oceanic sediments. 16.6 Fossils in deep ocean sediments. 16.7 Recognition of deep ocean deposits: summary. 17 Volcanic environments . 17.1 Volcanic rocks and sediment. 17.2 Transport and deposition of volcaniclastic material. 17.3 Eruption styles. 17.4 Facies associations in volcanic successions. 17.5 Volcanic material in other environments. 17.6 Volcanic rocks in Earth history. 17.7 Recognition of volcanic deposits: summary. 18 Post-depositional structures and diagenesis . 18.1 Post-depositional modification of sedimentary layers. 18.2 Diagenetic processes. 18.3 Clastic diagenesis. 18.4 Carbonate diagenesis. 18.5 Post-depositional changes to evaporites. 18.6 Diagenesis of volcaniclastic sediments. 18.7 Formation of coal, oil and gas. 19 Stratigraphy: concepts and lithostratigraphy. 19.1 Geologic time. 19.2 Stratigraphic units. 19.3 Lithostratigraphy. 19.4 Applications of lithostratigraphy. 20 Biostratigraphy . 20.1 Fossils and stratigraphy. 20.2 Classification of organisms. 20.3 Evolutionary trends. 20.4 Biozones and zone fossils. 20.5 Taxa used in biostratigraphy. 20.6 Biostratigraphic correlation. 20.7 Biostratigraphy in relation to other stratigraphic techniques. 21 Dating and correlation techniques . 21.1 Dating and correlation techniques. 21.2 Radiometric dating. 21.3 Other isotopic and chemical techniques. 21.4 Magnetostratigraphy. 21.5 Dating in the Quaternary. 22 Subsurface stratigraphy and sedimentology. 22.1 Introduction to subsurface stratigraphy and sedimentology. 22.2 Seismic reflection data. 22.3 Borehole stratigraphy and sedimentology. 22.4 Geophysical logging. 22.5 Subsurface facies and basin analysis. 23 Sequence stratigraphy and sea level changes. 23.1 Sea level changes and sedimentation. 23.2 Depositional sequences and systems tracts. 23.3 Parasequences: components of systems tracts. 23.4 Carbonate sequence stratigraphy. 23.5 Sequence stratigraphy in non-marine basins. 23.6 Alternative schemes in sequence stratigraphy. 23.7 Applications of sequence stratigraphy. 23.8 Causes of sea level fluctuations. 23.9 Summary. 24 Sedimentary basins. 24.1 Controls on sediment accumulation. 24.2 Basins related to lithospheric extension. 24.3 Basins related to subduction. 24.4 Basins related to crustal loading. 24.5 Basins related to strike-slip plate boundaries. 24.6 Complex and hybrid basins. 24.7 The record of tectonics in stratigraphy. 24.8 Sedimentary basin analysis. 24.9 The sedimentary record. References. Index
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646 citations
TL;DR: In the coal-ball concretions from 32 coal seams in the eastern one-half of the United States and from several seams in western Europe and on spore assemblages from more than 150 seams as mentioned in this paper.
305 citations
"Vegetation ecology of Early Pennsyl..." refers background in this paper
...Being ecologically stressed, such regions provided a locus for allopatric speciation, and are implicated in abrupt turnovers seen in the basinal fossil record (Phillips et al., 1974, 1985; DiMichele and Aronson, 1992)....
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