Petrified Forest (Eocene to of Antarctica)

Where: King George Island, Antarctica (62.2° S, 58.5° W: paleocoordinates 62.1° S, 61.4° W)

• coordinate estimated from map

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Petrified Forest Member (Arctowski Cove Formation), Early/Lower Eocene to Early/Lower Eocene (55.8 - 23.0 Ma)

Environment/lithology: fluvial; conglomeratic sandstone and claystone

• Fresh-water sediments (clays, sandstones, conglomerates) with plant remains and brown-coal seams (Petrified Forest Member, maximum 30-50 m thick) occur as fill of an erosional channel cut into undelying andesite lavas. Lahar-type (debris-flow) coarse to very coarse andesite-basalt agglomerate passing to fanglomerate, sometimes with thin lava flows (Skua Cliff Member: 6-24 m), unconformably overlies either the Hala Member or the Petrified Forest Member (Birkenmajer, 1980).

Size class: microfossils

Preservation: original sporopollenin

Collected by Professor K. Birkenmajer in 1977-1978

Collection methods: chemical,

Primary reference: L. Stuchlik. 1981. Tertiary pollen spectra from the Ezcurra Inlet Group of Admiralty Bay, King George Island (South Shetland Islands, Antartica). In K. Birkenmajer (ed.), Studia Geologica Polonica (LXXII)109-131 [C. Jaramillo/C. Jaramillo/C. Jaramillo]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 167920: authorized by Carlos Jaramillo, entered by Carlos Jaramillo on 07.04.2015

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• Most of the taxons are classified into higuer units of the natural system, except for some spores of unknown botanical affinity, which are being classified according to morphographical system of Krutzsch (1959, 1962, 1967). The nomenclature of some sporomorphs may be subject to changes as a result of more detailed studies of other Tertiary sediments from Antarctica.
unclassified
  -
Concavisporites
  -
Concavisporites sp. Delcourt and Sprumont 1955
Pteridopsida
  -
Polypodiopsida
 Polypodiales - Polypodiidae
cf. Microlepia sp. Presl 1836
  - Polypodiaceae
Laevigatosporites sp. Ibrahim 1933
Punctatisporites
  -
Punctatisporites sp. PotoniƩ and Kremp 1954
Ginkgoopsida
 Ephedrales -
Ephedripites sp. Bolkhovitina and PotoniƩ 1958
Angiospermae
 Fagales - Nothofagaceae
 Rosales - Rhamnaceae
Rhamnaceae "sp. 1" Jussieu 1789 buckthorn
Rhamnaceae "sp. 2" Jussieu 1789 buckthorn
 Gunnerales -
Tricolpites verrucatus Stuchlik 1981
 Poales - Poaceae
Graminidites antarcticus Stuchlik 1981 bamboo