Pollen and spores in marine Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary sediments at mid-Waipara River, North Canterbury, New Zealand
(2003) In New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 46(2). p.255-273- Abstract
- Terrestrial pollen and spores in late Maastrichtian to early Paleocene marine strata at mid-Waipara, New Zealand, permit reconstruction of contemporary vegetation and paleoclimates. During the latest Cretaceous, spore-pollen assemblages reflect a temperate rainforest with a prominent podocarp and tree ferns component, angiosperm pollen being mainly represented by Nothofagus and Proteaceae. Disruption of the vegetation at the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary is recorded by an increase in fern spores, reduction in gymnosperm pollen, and temporary loss of angiosperm pollen both in mid Waipara and in the terrestrial sections of Moody Creek Mine and Compressor Creek. Following an interval of fern dominance, gymnosperms and later angiosperms... (More)
- Terrestrial pollen and spores in late Maastrichtian to early Paleocene marine strata at mid-Waipara, New Zealand, permit reconstruction of contemporary vegetation and paleoclimates. During the latest Cretaceous, spore-pollen assemblages reflect a temperate rainforest with a prominent podocarp and tree ferns component, angiosperm pollen being mainly represented by Nothofagus and Proteaceae. Disruption of the vegetation at the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary is recorded by an increase in fern spores, reduction in gymnosperm pollen, and temporary loss of angiosperm pollen both in mid Waipara and in the terrestrial sections of Moody Creek Mine and Compressor Creek. Following an interval of fern dominance, gymnosperms and later angiosperms return to the palynological record. The floral turnover at the K/T boundary is comparable to palynological records from North America and Japan, indicating that disruption of vegetation was global. Fern dominance is estimated to have lasted several thousands of years, based on foraminiferal biostratigraphy of immediate post-K/T boundary strata. This is orders of magnitude greater than seen in normal seral successions following deforestation. We suggest that the observed vegetation succession is due to a prolonged period of low ambient light levels, sufficient for photosynthesis but favouring plants already adapted to these levels (such as forest ground stratum), accompanied by a moderate temperature and moisture regime. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/303794
- author
- Vajda, Vivi LU and Raine, JI
- organization
- publishing date
- 2003
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- fern spike, K/T boundary, Conway Formation, Paleocene, palynology, Late Cretaceous, paleoclimate, impact-winter
- in
- New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics
- volume
- 46
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 255 - 273
- publisher
- Royal Society of New Zealand
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000184770600008
- scopus:0043180463
- ISSN
- 0028-8306
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 31eb7fa9-4846-4297-8c8b-03495a4ba79f (old id 303794)
- alternative location
- http://www.rsnz.org/publish/nzjgg/2003/017.php
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 16:37:13
- date last changed
- 2022-04-22 23:18:07
@article{31eb7fa9-4846-4297-8c8b-03495a4ba79f,
abstract = {{Terrestrial pollen and spores in late Maastrichtian to early Paleocene marine strata at mid-Waipara, New Zealand, permit reconstruction of contemporary vegetation and paleoclimates. During the latest Cretaceous, spore-pollen assemblages reflect a temperate rainforest with a prominent podocarp and tree ferns component, angiosperm pollen being mainly represented by Nothofagus and Proteaceae. Disruption of the vegetation at the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary is recorded by an increase in fern spores, reduction in gymnosperm pollen, and temporary loss of angiosperm pollen both in mid Waipara and in the terrestrial sections of Moody Creek Mine and Compressor Creek. Following an interval of fern dominance, gymnosperms and later angiosperms return to the palynological record. The floral turnover at the K/T boundary is comparable to palynological records from North America and Japan, indicating that disruption of vegetation was global. Fern dominance is estimated to have lasted several thousands of years, based on foraminiferal biostratigraphy of immediate post-K/T boundary strata. This is orders of magnitude greater than seen in normal seral successions following deforestation. We suggest that the observed vegetation succession is due to a prolonged period of low ambient light levels, sufficient for photosynthesis but favouring plants already adapted to these levels (such as forest ground stratum), accompanied by a moderate temperature and moisture regime.}},
author = {{Vajda, Vivi and Raine, JI}},
issn = {{0028-8306}},
keywords = {{fern spike; K/T boundary; Conway Formation; Paleocene; palynology; Late Cretaceous; paleoclimate; impact-winter}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{255--273}},
publisher = {{Royal Society of New Zealand}},
series = {{New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics}},
title = {{Pollen and spores in marine Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary sediments at mid-Waipara River, North Canterbury, New Zealand}},
url = {{http://www.rsnz.org/publish/nzjgg/2003/017.php}},
volume = {{46}},
year = {{2003}},
}