Exceptionally we ll-preserved Triassic and Early Jurassic floras from North

Summary During the IX. German Antarctic North Victoria Land Expedition, fossil plant material from a dozen newly discovered localities has been collected. These floras are of special interest, because compressions yield excellently preserved cuticles and also anatomically preserved material has been...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Victoria Land
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
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Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.507.3583
http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1047/ea/of2007-1047ea034.pdf
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Summary:Summary During the IX. German Antarctic North Victoria Land Expedition, fossil plant material from a dozen newly discovered localities has been collected. These floras are of special interest, because compressions yield excellently preserved cuticles and also anatomically preserved material has been found. Cuticle-bearing compression floras, which allow detailed systematic analyses and ecological interpretations, are extremely rare in the Antarctic. The floral succession from Dicroidium-dominated floras in the lower part to bennettitalean- and fern-dominated floras in the upper part of the sequence is well in accordance with previous age assessments, which assign a Triassic to Early Jurassic age to the sequence. The ongoing research project may contribute to a better understanding of the palaeoenvironmental characteristics in East Antarctica during the earliest phase of the Gondwana break-up.