Abstract Detail

Paleobotany

Boonchai, Nareerat [1].

Tropical Pleistocene forest from Tak province, northern Thailand: fossil trees and their implications on past climate.

Petrified trunks (2 to 22 meters long) were discovered in the late Middle Pleistocene gravel deposits during water reservoir expansion in Doi Soi Malai National Park, Tak Province, Thailand in 2017. We investigated nineteen petrified wood samples including small fragments and large trunks. Wood anatomical features indicate four families, Fabaceae, Moraceae or Anacardiaceae, and Sapotaceae. Seventeen samples represent Fabaceae including canopy-emergent legume trees similar to modern wood characters of Koompassia, Intsia, and possibly other taxa. One sample represents the modern wood of Moraceae or Anacardiaceae. Another sample belongs to Sapotaceae, similar to Nyatoh wood, which has never been reported as fossil wood from Thailand. These woods suggest a tropical lowland forest paleoenvironment due to indistinct growth rings and wide vessels at low densities. The past climate was similar to modern-day tropical rainforests (Af) in southern Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia including Borneo. The modern vegetation in the petrified forest park is a dry dipterocarp forest and modern climate is tropical wet and dry (Aw) according to the Köppen climate classification. This research provides evidence of substantial climatic change in northern area of Thailand.

Related Links:
This project is supported by a grant from National Geographic.
For more information about the petrified forest in Tak Province, Thailand

1 - Mahasarakham University, Palaeontological Research and Education Centre, Kham Riang Subdistrict, Kantharawichai, Maha Sarakham, 44150, Thailand

Keywords:
petrified wood
Fabaceae
Sapotaceae
Pleistocene
Southeast Asia.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: PAL5, Paleobotany V: Neogene Paleobotany
Location: San Ignacio/Starr Pass
Date: Wednesday, July 31st, 2019
Time: 1:45 PM
Number: PAL5002
Abstract ID:213
Candidate for Awards:None