The taphonomy of a remarkable leaf bed assemblage from the Late Oligocene-Early Miocene Gore Lignite Measures, southern New Zealand
- Author(s)
- Norbert Vávra, David-Kay Ferguson, Reinhard Zetter, Dallas Mildenhall
- Abstract
A diverse assemblage of fossil leaves showing cellular detail is reported from the Late Oligocene-Early Miocene Gore Lignite Measures, southern New Zealand. The leaf-remains include at least five conifers, such as the genera Agathis, Dacrycarpus. Phyllocladus and Dacrydium, as well as a number of angiosperms including Gymnostoma, Nothofagus Subgenus Brassospora, Phormium, Protaceae, Sapindaceae and Ericaceae. A parallel palynological study has identified a number of the same elements. The leaf layers represent litter horizons laid down in pools on the surface of a subtropical ombrotrophic forest mire that formed on an extensive low-lying coastal plain. Highly acidic water ponded in tree-fall depressions prevented microbial decay of the foliage. Taxa represented by both leaves and pollen are considered to have been components of
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Palaeontology
- External organisation(s)
- Geological and Nuclear Sciences
- Journal
- International Journal of Coal Geology
- Volume
- 83
- Pages
- 173-181
- No. of pages
- 9
- ISSN
- 0166-5162
- Publication date
- 2010
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 1060 Biology, 1051 Geology, Mineralogy
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/a304ec44-cd7a-4467-bb7d-7cfb44a6e42f