Mid-Pliocene diatom and palynological assemblages north-northeast of Cape Adare, Antarctica ...

• Main Authors: Fleming, R Farley, Barron, John A
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 1996
• Subjects: Drilling/drill rig; Leg28; Glomar Challenger; Deep Sea Drilling Project DSDP; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.681805; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.681805

Microfossil assemblages in Pliocene sediments from DSDP Site 274 (68°59.81'S, 173°2564'E) provide data on the age of the sediments and suggest the presence of Nothofagus (southern beach) in Antarctica during the Pliocene. A suite of 17 samples was collected in an interval from Samples 28-274-6R-1, 83-87 cm to 28-274-11R-4, 73-77 cm (48.33-100.29 mbsf). Biostratigraphic study of the abundant diatom assemblages combined with published radiolarian data indicates that the sample interval ranges in age from 5.0 to 2.2 Ma, with an apparent unconformity between about 3.8 and 3.2 Ma. Nothofagidites (the genus for fossil pollen referable to Nothofagus) occurs throughout the interval, as well as pollen and spores with known stratigraphic ranges that unequivocally indicate reworking from older rocks. Species of Nothofagidites recovered include N. asperus, N. brachyspinulosus, N. flemingii, N. senectus, and N. sp. cf. N. lachlaniae; the latter form is previously known from the Sirius Group in the Transantarctic ... : Supplement to: Fleming, R Farley; Barron, John A (1996): Evidence of Pliocene Abthofagus in Antarctica from Pliocene marine sedimentary deposits (DSDP Site 274). Marine Micropaleontology, 27(1-4), 227-236 ...