Abstract Detail

Paleobotany

De Benedetti, Facundo [1], Zamaloa, Maria Del Carmen [2], Gandolfo, Maria [3], Cuneo, Nestor [4].

Maastrichtian palynoflora from north-central Patagonia, Argentina.

During the Late Cretaceous, Southern South America was covered by extensive shallow epicontinental seas that gave place to a series of coastal plain sedimentary deposits representing estuaries, deltas, and lagoon/barrier complexes that, so far, are still poorly floristically understood. Among them, the La Colonia Formation deposits that outcrop in north-central Patagonia are providing abundant and critical information on the paleoenvironments and paleoclimate based on their paleobotanical and palynological components. The La Colonia paleoflora developed in freshwater coastal environments (lagoons or oxbow small lakes) featuring sporadic fine-grained sand beds associated with coastal sand bars. In this contribution, we report, for first time, a comprehensive palynological study of the La Colonia Fm. Among the most relevant palynomorphs are Quadraplanus brossus, Tubulifloridites lilliei, and Grapnelispora evansii that are representative of the Southern Hemisphere Proteacidites/Nothofagidites Province. We also identified the species Gabonisporis vigourouxii and Spinizonocolpites pollen-type which are distinctive species of the Late Cretaceous paleotropical Palmae Province. The presence of these taxa not only confirms the Maastrichtian age of the sediments but also allow the identification of the northern Patagonian Region within the Late Cretaceous Transitional (Mixed) Province. The composition of the La Colonia palynoflora (including palm pollen and other thermophilous taxa) supports humid, warm climatic conditions for the area during time of deposition.

1 - Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, Avenida Fontana 140, Trelew, U, 9100, Argentina
2 - Universidad De Buenos Aires, Ecologia, Genética Y Evolucion, Ciudad Universitaria. Pab 2. Piso 4, Buenos Aires, 1428, Argentina
3 - Cornell University, L.H. Bailey Hortorium, Section Of Plant Biology, 410 Mann Library Building, Ithaca, NY, 14853.0, United States
4 - MEF, Av. Fontana 140, Trelew-Chubut, U, 9100, Argentina

Keywords:
Palynoflora
Maastrichtian
Patagonia
Paleoecology
Biostratigraphy.

Presentation Type: Poster
Session: P, Paleobotany Posters
Location: Arizona Ballroom/Starr Pass
Date: Monday, July 29th, 2019
Time: 5:30 PM This poster will be presented at 5:30 pm. The Poster Session runs from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. Posters with odd poster numbers are presented at 5:30 pm, and posters with even poster numbers are presented at 6:15 pm.
Number: PPB003
Abstract ID:612
Candidate for Awards:None