Latest Cretaceous, Paleocene and Eocene floras from Patagonia: a critical piece of Gondwana's floral history comes into focus

Patagonia contains a rich and fairly continuous paleobotanical record from the late Maastrichtian to the middle Eocene, an interval known globally for mass extinction and significant climate changes. From this time interval, we have quantitatively collected and stratigraphically studied over 600 spe...

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Autores principales: Iglesias, Ari, Wilf, P., Cúneo, Néstor Rubén, Gandolfo, María A., Zamaloa, María del Carmen, Johnson, K. R., Slingerland, L. R.
Formato: Objeto de conferencia Resumen
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2010
Materias:
Acceso en línea:http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/16890
Aporte de:
id I19-R120-10915-16890
record_format dspace
institution Universidad Nacional de La Plata
institution_str I-19
repository_str R-120
collection SEDICI (UNLP)
language Inglés
topic Ciencias Naturales
Paleontología
Flora
Gondwana
spellingShingle Ciencias Naturales
Paleontología
Flora
Gondwana
Iglesias, Ari
Wilf, P.
Cúneo, Néstor Rubén
Gandolfo, María A.
Zamaloa, María del Carmen
Johnson, K. R.
Slingerland, L. R.
Latest Cretaceous, Paleocene and Eocene floras from Patagonia: a critical piece of Gondwana's floral history comes into focus
topic_facet Ciencias Naturales
Paleontología
Flora
Gondwana
description Patagonia contains a rich and fairly continuous paleobotanical record from the late Maastrichtian to the middle Eocene, an interval known globally for mass extinction and significant climate changes. From this time interval, we have quantitatively collected and stratigraphically studied over 600 species and 20000 specimens from eight wellpreserved compression macrofloras from north-west and central Patagonia. Cretaceous and early Paleocene floras are from coastal environments, whereas the Eocene floras are from volcaniclastic lake sediments. Several sites and stratigraphic levels in the early Paleocene Salamanca Formation show higher richness than comparable Northern Hemisphere floras, but they are relatively impoverished when compared to those of the upper Maastrichtian Lefipan Formation. Probable middle Paleocene floras from the Peñas Coloradas Formation share most species with the Salamanca Formation, but are preserved in fluvial facies. Bedded tuffs at the Eocene sites have yielded precise Ar- Ar dates of 54.24 ±0.45 Ma for the Pampa de Jones flora, 51.91 ±0.22 Ma for the extremely diverse Laguna del Hunco flora, and 47.46 ±0.05 Ma for the similarly rich Río Pichileufú flora. The history of Patagonian plant diversity in the early Paleogene could be linked to a relatively lower effect of the terminal Cretaceous event and high diversification and immigration during Eocene warming. Although the biogeographic signature of the floras is clearly Gondwanic, during the Paleocene there appears to be greater compositional distinctiveness from coeval Australasian floras than in the Eocene, suggesting some degree of endemism after the K-T. The Eocene floras include beautifully preserved examples of extant Australasian tree genera that are now extinct in South America, including Agathis, Papuacedrus, Dacrycarpus, Eucalyptus, Cassuarinaeceae, and Akaniaceae. Paleoclimate analyses based on the macrofloras indicate subtropical and moist growing conditions; during the Eocene there is evidence for true rainforest conditions. These results contribute a considerably improved framework to understanding the plant evolution in Gondwana.
format Objeto de conferencia
Resumen
author Iglesias, Ari
Wilf, P.
Cúneo, Néstor Rubén
Gandolfo, María A.
Zamaloa, María del Carmen
Johnson, K. R.
Slingerland, L. R.
author_facet Iglesias, Ari
Wilf, P.
Cúneo, Néstor Rubén
Gandolfo, María A.
Zamaloa, María del Carmen
Johnson, K. R.
Slingerland, L. R.
author_sort Iglesias, Ari
title Latest Cretaceous, Paleocene and Eocene floras from Patagonia: a critical piece of Gondwana's floral history comes into focus
title_short Latest Cretaceous, Paleocene and Eocene floras from Patagonia: a critical piece of Gondwana's floral history comes into focus
title_full Latest Cretaceous, Paleocene and Eocene floras from Patagonia: a critical piece of Gondwana's floral history comes into focus
title_fullStr Latest Cretaceous, Paleocene and Eocene floras from Patagonia: a critical piece of Gondwana's floral history comes into focus
title_full_unstemmed Latest Cretaceous, Paleocene and Eocene floras from Patagonia: a critical piece of Gondwana's floral history comes into focus
title_sort latest cretaceous, paleocene and eocene floras from patagonia: a critical piece of gondwana's floral history comes into focus
publishDate 2010
url http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/16890
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