Fern thickets from the Cretaceous of Alexander Island, Antarctica containing Alamatus bifarius Douglas and Aculea acicularis sp. nov

Within the Albian Fossil Bluff Group of Alexander Island, Antarctica, sheet flood deposits have preserved palaeosols within situfernsAlamatus bifariusDouglas andAculea acicularissp. nov. Reconstructed as upright ferns, with fronds arising from a creeping subterranean rhizome, they formed thickets up...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cretaceous Research
Main Author: Cantrill, David J.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Elsevier 1996
Subjects:
Online Access:http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/514940/
https://doi.org/10.1006/cres.1996.0013
Description
Summary:Within the Albian Fossil Bluff Group of Alexander Island, Antarctica, sheet flood deposits have preserved palaeosols within situfernsAlamatus bifariusDouglas andAculea acicularissp. nov. Reconstructed as upright ferns, with fronds arising from a creeping subterranean rhizome, they formed thickets up to 80 cm high. Analyses of the leaf litter suggest that the fern thickets developed between a patchy araucarian overstorey. Interspersed within the thickets there were rare podocarp shrubs and beneath this overstorey a ground layer of thalloid liverworts.