Recycled Cretaceous and Tertiary pollen and spores in Antarctic marine sediments

Abstract

Phytogeographic information provided by palynomorphs in recycled assemblages is limited by a lack of time control; the pollen and spores are products of reworking of sedimentary rocks of diverse ages. Nevertheless, the reworked microfossils provide a valuable list of taxa that flourished on Antarctica; this list supplements the scarce information available from in situ palynological assemblages, and from macrofossils. In the Early Cretaceous, the recycled record expands the diveristy of fern, conifer, hepatic and lycopod taxa known previously. It suggests a diversity of Schizaeceae, Lycopodiaceae and Selaginellaceae. It adds Coptospora types to known hepatic spores, and Asteropollis to the early angiosperms. In the Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary interval, the recycled spores and pollen add a number of taxa to those previously known from Antarctica. Ericipites pollen types suggest Ericales, and pollen of Euphorbiaceae, Sparganiaceae and Bestionaceae are recorded for the first time. The tribe Cupaniae of the Sapindaceae is also a new record. There is also in the recycled material a much clearer indication of diversity within the Proteaceae than was hitherto evident.-from Current Antarctic Literature Show more