A late triassic flora from east-central Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut, Canada

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
• Main Authors: Vavrek, M.J. (Matthew J.), Larsson, H.C.E. (Hans C. E.), Rybczynski, N. (Natalia)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2007
• Subjects: Nunavut; Canada; Greenland; Scoresby; Heiberg; Axel Heiberg Island; Scoresby Sound
• Online Access: https://ir.library.carleton.ca/pub/23180; https://doi.org/10.1139/E07-042

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.