Early Holocene land floras and faunas from Edgeøya, eastern Svalbard

Early Holocene, near-shore marine sediments from Visdalen, Edgeøya, eastern Svalbard contain locally abundant allochthonous remains of land plants, notably bryophytes. Wetland species indicative of mineral rich and calcareous soils are frequent, but upland plants are also well represented. The fossi...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar Research
Main Authors: Bennike, Ole, Hedenäs, Lars
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Norwegian Polar Institute 1995
Subjects:
Online Access:https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/1947
https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v14i2.6663
Description
Summary:Early Holocene, near-shore marine sediments from Visdalen, Edgeøya, eastern Svalbard contain locally abundant allochthonous remains of land plants, notably bryophytes. Wetland species indicative of mineral rich and calcareous soils are frequent, but upland plants are also well represented. The fossil assemblages are indicative of ecological and climatic conditions similar to those on Edgeøya today. The sediments contain one of the first fossil beetles reported from Svalbard. Apparently, the modern flora of Svalbard was already established in the earliest Holocene, probably following immigration from northern Europe. A few Armeria scabra remains are believed to be derived from interglacial deposits.