A Preliminary Report on Plant Remains and Coal of the Sedimentary Section in the Central Range of the Horlick Mountains, Antarctica

• Main Author: Schopf, James M.
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Research Foundation and the Institute of Polar Studies, The Ohio State University. 1962
• Subjects: Horlick Mountains; Antarctica; Fossil wood; Fossil Plants; Carbonaceous Sediments; Coal; South Pole; Antarc*; South pole
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1811/52849

On cover: "RF 1132." The sedimentary section of the central range of the Horlick Mountains includes coal and carbonaceous sediments with a variety of plant fossils. These have been studied to provide information about (1) age of the deposits, (2) coal composition and metamorphism, and (3) general geologic inferences that may be based on the occurrence of coal and fossil plants five degrees from the South Pole. More than 20 types of spore and pollen microfossils have been described briefly. Fragments of fusinized wood are abundant and aid in characterization of the floral assemblage and sedimentary facies. Fossil wood is described in detail for evidence it provides about conditions of growth, woody degradation, and diagenetic mineralization. The wood shows thick annual growth rings which attest to the periodicity of climate and to favorable growth conditions. Fossil leaves and seeds provide further evidence of the nature of the flora and basis for general age determination. Coal has been chemically analyzed and is of semianthracitic rank. Studies of thin and surface sections of coal show features most similar to those of the bituminous coal deposits of Australia, India, and Africa. No evidence is in conflict with Permian age assignment for the Horlick Mountains coal, measures deposits, but further study is needed to provide a more detailed basis for correlation. National Science Foundation Grant No. G13590. Research Foundation, The Ohio State University, RF Project 1132.