Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-tj2md Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T09:43:17.678Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

7 - Fossil plant studies from late Early Miocene of the Santa Cruz Formation: paleoecology and paleoclimatology at the passive margin of Patagonia, Argentina

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2013

Sergio F. Vizcaíno
Affiliation:
Museo de La Plata, Argentina
Richard F. Kay
Affiliation:
Duke University, North Carolina
M. Susana Bargo
Affiliation:
Museo de La Plata, Argentina
Get access

Summary

Abstract

This chapter analyses plant fossils including phytoliths, carbonized wood, and leaf compressions, along with microcharcoal, chrysophycean stomatocysts, sponge spicules, and diatoms, recovered from the Estancia La Costa Member, Santa Cruz Formation (late Early Miocene), in the Atlantic margin of Patagonia, Argentina. The floristic composition and paleoclimatic inferences based on this fossil plants assemblage from the late Early Miocene are presented. The fossil flora is characterized by the presence of herbaceous components including chloridoid, panicoid, danthonioid, pooid, and festucoid grasses. The arboreal elements include members of the Araucariaceae, Lauraceae, Arecaceae, Nothofagaceae, Myrtaceae, Cunoniaceae, Fabaceae (Faboideae), and ?Proteaceae. The vegetation was a mixture of open temperate semi-arid forests and humid warm-temperate forests. The integrated analysis of multiple sets of proxy data suggests that southeastern Patagonia, during late Early Miocene, was characterized by a temperate to warm-temperate and semi-arid to humid climate, where seasonal low levels of precipitation served as a limiting factor for plant growth.

Type
Chapter
Information
Early Miocene Paleobiology in Patagonia
High-Latitude Paleocommunities of the Santa Cruz Formation
, pp. 104 - 128
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×