Where: Portugal (32.8° N, 16.9° W: paleocoordinates 32.8° N, 17.0° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Piacenzian to Piacenzian (3.6 - 1.8 Ma)

• Three different formations belonging to MVC2, MVC3 and UVC1 stratigraphical units crop out on the valley slopes. The Sao Jorge outcrop could either belong to the Penha d’Aguia (MVC2) or to the Curral das Freiras (MVC3) units, the formations exposed in the lower slopes of the valley (Brum da Silveira et al. 2010a). According to the most recent geological map (Brum da Silveira et al. 2010c) and comparison with the map and plates of Ziegler (1856) published in the nineteenth century, the fossiliferous sediments of Sao Jorge probably correspond to an outcrop of MVC3 or MVC2 (>1.8 Ma). Some authors consider the leaf bed to be approximately 2 Ma in age (e.g. Sziemer 2010; Fernandez Palacios et al. 2011), or, according to the stratigraphy given by Geldmacher et al. (2000), younger than 3.8 Ma, possibly between 3 and 0.7 Ma (Anderson et al. 2009). Based on the volcano stratigraphy established by Brum da Silveira et al. (2010c) and the nineteenth century descriptions, we suggest that the fossiliferous sediments can be included in the Curral das Freiras (MVC3) or Penha d’Aguia (MVC2) units of the Middle Volcanic Complex. The age of the leaf bed must be older than 1.8 Ma, taking into account the upper age limit for the Middle Volcanic Complex.

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: terrestrial; lithified, volcaniclastic siliciclastic sediments

Size class: macrofossils

Preservation: adpression

Collection methods: Repository: Plants are at ETH (Zurich), but insect not found in collection

Primary reference: O. Heer. 1857. Ueber die fossilen Pflanzen von St. Jorge in Madeira. Neue Denkschriften der Allgemeinen Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für die Gesammten Naturwissenschaften 15(2):1-40 [M. Clapham/M. Clapham]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 176316: authorized by Matthew Clapham, entered by Matthew Clapham on 07.02.2016

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)