Salzmann, Ulrich, Riding, James, Nelson, Anna and Smellie, John (2011) How likely was a green Antarctic peninsula during warm Pliocene interglacials? A critical reassessment based on new palynofloras from James Ross Island. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 309 (1-2). pp. 73-82. ISSN 0031-0182
Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)Abstract
The question whether Pliocene climates were warm enough to support a substantial vegetation cover on Antarctica is of great significance to the ongoing controversial debate on the stability or dynamism of Antarctic ice sheets during Neogene warm periods. Here we present a systematic palynological comparison of pollen and dinoflagellates assemblages of Pliocene diamictites from the northern Antarctic Peninsula. The sedimentary sequences are exceptionally well dated using a combination of 40Ar/39Ar and 87Sr/86Sr on interbedded lavas and pristine bivalve molluscs. The pollen bearing sediments were most probably deposited during warm and seasonally ice-free conditions. Pollen assemblages are dominated by Nothofagidites spp., Podocarpidites spp. and Cyathidites spp., suggesting contamination with older, pre-Neogene material. In order to distinguish between reworked and in-situ palynomorphs, we applied different methods, including fluorescence microscopy, which were used in previous publications to reconstruct potential Neogene vegetation. Our results indicate a purely Cretaceous and early Tertiary origin of pollen and spores and challenge previously published reconstructions of a Pliocene tundra vegetation on Antarctica.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Pliocene; Antarctica; Vegetation, pollen, Dinoflagellate, Neogene, Antarctic Peninsula |
| Subjects: | F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences |
| Department: | Faculties > Engineering and Environment > Geography and Environmental Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Helen Pattison |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Apr 2012 12:14 |
| Last Modified: | 13 Oct 2019 00:31 |
| URI: | http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/6358 |
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