Eocene-Oligocene coals of the Gippsland and Australo-Antarctic basins – Paleoclimatic and paleogeographic context and implications for the earliest Cenozoic glaciations
Australia's Gippsland Basin contains a semi-continuous Eocene-Oligocene (41.5–28.4 Ma) near-coastal coal record that formed adjacent to Pacific Ocean. Traralgon and Morwell Formation brown coals include 4 main seams (T2, T1, T0, M2). Coal seam palynology records show late Middle Eocene (T2) coa...
Published in: | Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
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Elsevier B.V.
2017
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Online Access: | http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/155426 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.01.035 |
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ftfederationuniv:vital:11262 2023-05-15T13:58:40+02:00 Eocene-Oligocene coals of the Gippsland and Australo-Antarctic basins – Paleoclimatic and paleogeographic context and implications for the earliest Cenozoic glaciations Holdgate, Guy Sluiter, Ian Taglieri, Jessica 2017 http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/155426 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.01.035 unknown Elsevier B.V. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology Vol. 472, no. (2017), p. 236-255 http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/155426 vital:11262 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.01.035 ISSN:0031-0182 Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. This metadata is freely available under a CCO license 0403 Geology 0602 Ecology 0603 Evolutionary Biology Brown coal Eocene-Oligocene palaeoclimates Palynology Southern Australia Fagus Gymnospermae Magnoliophyta Nothofagus Text Journal article Review 2017 ftfederationuniv https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.01.035 2022-12-01T18:59:13Z Australia's Gippsland Basin contains a semi-continuous Eocene-Oligocene (41.5–28.4 Ma) near-coastal coal record that formed adjacent to Pacific Ocean. Traralgon and Morwell Formation brown coals include 4 main seams (T2, T1, T0, M2). Coal seam palynology records show late Middle Eocene (T2) coals formed under megathermic conditions characterized by high-gymnosperm contents, Late Eocene (T1) coals formed under mesothermic conditions characterized by reduced-gymnosperm contents and earliest indications of palaeoclimate cooling. Earliest Oligocene T0 coal record (33.9–31.5 Ma) contains high-gymnosperm palynology profile, very similar to the T2 coals. The earliest indication of cooler climes only begins after this coal formed as indicated by low-gymnosperm high-Nothofagus (southern beech) pollen proportions. We suggest in Gippsland the earliest evidence for major glacial cooling (by inference the Oi1 event) be placed immediately above the T0 coal seam where Early to Late Oligocene Morwell Formation sands, clays and coals contain low counts of gymnosperms (< 10%) but high average proportions of Nothofagus (50%). This is the main definitive indicator that palaeoclimates had cooled between the Eocene and Oligocene. This agrees with the current ocean drilling position of the earliest (Oi1) glacial event shortly above the Eocene-Oligocene boundary. A number of contemporaneous Middle to Late Eocene brown coals occurred in near-coastal settings across 1200 km of southern Australia. Palaeogeographically, all these coal basins faced the Australo-Antarctic Gulf and have a much lower gymnosperm proportion (< 10%), low Nothofagus proportion (< 10%), but very high (non-Nothofagus) angiosperms proportion. This suggests a different climatic regime separated a cooler and wetter Gippsland Basin flora that responded to the cooler Proto-Ross Sea Gyre rotating around a wide Pacific Ocean, and a warm-wet climate associated with a warm proto-Leeuwin current of the Australo-Antarctic Gulf. © 2017 Elsevier B.V. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Ross Sea Federation University Australia: Federation ResearchOnline Antarctic Ross Sea Pacific Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 472 236 255 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Federation University Australia: Federation ResearchOnline |
op_collection_id |
ftfederationuniv |
language |
unknown |
topic |
0403 Geology 0602 Ecology 0603 Evolutionary Biology Brown coal Eocene-Oligocene palaeoclimates Palynology Southern Australia Fagus Gymnospermae Magnoliophyta Nothofagus |
spellingShingle |
0403 Geology 0602 Ecology 0603 Evolutionary Biology Brown coal Eocene-Oligocene palaeoclimates Palynology Southern Australia Fagus Gymnospermae Magnoliophyta Nothofagus Holdgate, Guy Sluiter, Ian Taglieri, Jessica Eocene-Oligocene coals of the Gippsland and Australo-Antarctic basins – Paleoclimatic and paleogeographic context and implications for the earliest Cenozoic glaciations |
topic_facet |
0403 Geology 0602 Ecology 0603 Evolutionary Biology Brown coal Eocene-Oligocene palaeoclimates Palynology Southern Australia Fagus Gymnospermae Magnoliophyta Nothofagus |
description |
Australia's Gippsland Basin contains a semi-continuous Eocene-Oligocene (41.5–28.4 Ma) near-coastal coal record that formed adjacent to Pacific Ocean. Traralgon and Morwell Formation brown coals include 4 main seams (T2, T1, T0, M2). Coal seam palynology records show late Middle Eocene (T2) coals formed under megathermic conditions characterized by high-gymnosperm contents, Late Eocene (T1) coals formed under mesothermic conditions characterized by reduced-gymnosperm contents and earliest indications of palaeoclimate cooling. Earliest Oligocene T0 coal record (33.9–31.5 Ma) contains high-gymnosperm palynology profile, very similar to the T2 coals. The earliest indication of cooler climes only begins after this coal formed as indicated by low-gymnosperm high-Nothofagus (southern beech) pollen proportions. We suggest in Gippsland the earliest evidence for major glacial cooling (by inference the Oi1 event) be placed immediately above the T0 coal seam where Early to Late Oligocene Morwell Formation sands, clays and coals contain low counts of gymnosperms (< 10%) but high average proportions of Nothofagus (50%). This is the main definitive indicator that palaeoclimates had cooled between the Eocene and Oligocene. This agrees with the current ocean drilling position of the earliest (Oi1) glacial event shortly above the Eocene-Oligocene boundary. A number of contemporaneous Middle to Late Eocene brown coals occurred in near-coastal settings across 1200 km of southern Australia. Palaeogeographically, all these coal basins faced the Australo-Antarctic Gulf and have a much lower gymnosperm proportion (< 10%), low Nothofagus proportion (< 10%), but very high (non-Nothofagus) angiosperms proportion. This suggests a different climatic regime separated a cooler and wetter Gippsland Basin flora that responded to the cooler Proto-Ross Sea Gyre rotating around a wide Pacific Ocean, and a warm-wet climate associated with a warm proto-Leeuwin current of the Australo-Antarctic Gulf. © 2017 Elsevier B.V. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Holdgate, Guy Sluiter, Ian Taglieri, Jessica |
author_facet |
Holdgate, Guy Sluiter, Ian Taglieri, Jessica |
author_sort |
Holdgate, Guy |
title |
Eocene-Oligocene coals of the Gippsland and Australo-Antarctic basins – Paleoclimatic and paleogeographic context and implications for the earliest Cenozoic glaciations |
title_short |
Eocene-Oligocene coals of the Gippsland and Australo-Antarctic basins – Paleoclimatic and paleogeographic context and implications for the earliest Cenozoic glaciations |
title_full |
Eocene-Oligocene coals of the Gippsland and Australo-Antarctic basins – Paleoclimatic and paleogeographic context and implications for the earliest Cenozoic glaciations |
title_fullStr |
Eocene-Oligocene coals of the Gippsland and Australo-Antarctic basins – Paleoclimatic and paleogeographic context and implications for the earliest Cenozoic glaciations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Eocene-Oligocene coals of the Gippsland and Australo-Antarctic basins – Paleoclimatic and paleogeographic context and implications for the earliest Cenozoic glaciations |
title_sort |
eocene-oligocene coals of the gippsland and australo-antarctic basins – paleoclimatic and paleogeographic context and implications for the earliest cenozoic glaciations |
publisher |
Elsevier B.V. |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/155426 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.01.035 |
geographic |
Antarctic Ross Sea Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Ross Sea Pacific |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Ross Sea |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Ross Sea |
op_relation |
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology Vol. 472, no. (2017), p. 236-255 http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/155426 vital:11262 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.01.035 ISSN:0031-0182 |
op_rights |
Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. This metadata is freely available under a CCO license |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.01.035 |
container_title |
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |
container_volume |
472 |
container_start_page |
236 |
op_container_end_page |
255 |
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1766267017577365504 |