A Late Triassic flora from east-central Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut, Canada

A new floral assemblage is described from the Fosheim Member of the Heiberg Formation on southern Axel Heiberg Island. The flora is relatively diverse, consisting of at least 10 different collected species and three field-identified species from a single small locality. The flora has some similariti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
Main Authors: Vavrek, Matthew J, Larsson, Hans C.E., Rybczynski, Natalia
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2007
Subjects:
General Earth and Planetary Sciences
Nunavut
Canada
Greenland
Scoresby
Heiberg
Axel Heiberg Island
Scoresby Sound
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e07-042
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e07-042
Description
Summary:A new floral assemblage is described from the Fosheim Member of the Heiberg Formation on southern Axel Heiberg Island. The flora is relatively diverse, consisting of at least 10 different collected species and three field-identified species from a single small locality. The flora has some similarities to other European–Sinian floras, such as those previously found on Axel Heiberg and Ellesmere islands and in Scoresby Sound of eastern Greenland. The largest difference from previously described floras is the dominance of the bennettitalean Pterophyllum astartense, suggesting a drier climate in contrast to the more humid one previously proposed. The presence of Lepidopteris ottonis places the flora within the Upper Triassic Lepidopteris zone, suggesting a Norian age.

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