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Integrating Paleobotanical, Paleosol, and Stratigraphic Data to Study Critical Transitions: A Case Study From The Late Cretaceous–Paleocene Of India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2017

Selena Y. Smith ,
Steven R. Manchester ,
Bandana Samant ,
Dhananjay M. Mohabey ,
Elisabeth Wheeler ,
Pieter Baas ,
Dashrath Kapgate ,
Rashmi Srivastava  and
Nathan D. Sheldon
Selena Y. Smith
Affiliation:
Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences and Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48019 USA
Steven R. Manchester
Affiliation:
Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 USA
Bandana Samant
Affiliation:
Postgraduate Department of Geology, Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, Nagpur-440001, India
Dhananjay M. Mohabey
Affiliation:
Ex. Geological Survey of India, C-3, HIG, Giripeth, Nagpur-440010, India
Elisabeth Wheeler
Affiliation:
Department of Forest Biomaterials, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Pieter Baas
Affiliation:
NCB Naturalis and National Herbarium, Leiden University, PO Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
Dashrath Kapgate
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, J.M. Patel College, Bhandara 441904-M.S., India
Rashmi Srivastava
Affiliation:
Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, 53 University Road, Lucknow 226 007, India
Nathan D. Sheldon
Affiliation:
Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48019 USA
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Abstract

During the Cretaceous and Paleogene, the Indian subcontinent was isolated as it migrated north from the east coast of Africa to collide with Asia. As it passed over the Reunion hotspot in the late Maastrichtian–early Danian, a series of lava flows extruded, known as the Deccan Traps. Also during this interval, there was a major mass-extinction event at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, punctuated by a meteorite impact at Chicxulub, Mexico. What were the biological implications of these changes in paleogeography and the extensive volcanism in terms of biodiversity, evolution, and biogeography? By combining chronostratigraphic, paleosol, and paleobotanical data, an understanding of how the ecosystems and climates changed and the relative contributions of the Chicxulub impact, Deccan Traps volcanism, and paleogeographic isolation can be gained. Understanding relative ages of paleobotanical localities is crucial to determining floristic changes, and is challenging because different methods (e.g., magnetostratigraphy, radiometric dating, vertebrate and microfossil biostratigraphy) sometimes give conflicting answers, or have not been done for paleobotanical localities. Climatic data can be obtained quantitatively by studying paleosol geochemistry, as well as qualitatively by examining functional traits and nearest living relatives of fossil plants. An additional challenge is revising macrofossil data, which includes some confidently identified taxa and others with uncertain affinities. This is important for understanding ecosystem composition both spatially and temporally, as well as the biogeographic implications of an isolated India.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Paleontological Society Papers , Volume 21: Earth-Life Transitions: Paleobiology in the Context of Earth System Evolution , October 2015 , pp. 137 - 166
Copyright
Copyright © 2015 by The Paleontological Society 

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