Vegetation history across the Permian–Triassic boundary in Pakistan (Amb section, Salt Range)Show others and affiliations
2015 (English)In: Gondwana Research, ISSN 1342-937X, E-ISSN 1878-0571, Vol. 27, p. 911-924Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Hypotheses about the Permian–Triassic floral turnover range from a catastrophic extinction of terrestrial plant communities to a gradual change in floral composition punctuated by intervals indicating dramatic changes in the plant communities. The shallow marine Permian–Triassic succession in the Amb Valley, Salt Range, Pakistan, yields palynological suites together with well-preserved cuticle fragments in a stratigraphically well-constrained succession across the Permian–Triassic boundary. Palynology and cuticle analysis indicate a mixed Glossopteris–Dicroidium flora in the Late Permian. For the first time Dicroidium cuticles are documented from age-constrained Upper Permian deposits on the Indian subcontinent. Close to the Permian–Triassic boundary, several sporomorph taxa disappear. However, more than half of these taxa reappear in the overlying Smithian to Spathian succession. The major floral change occurs towards the Dienerian. From the Permian–Triassic boundary up to the middle Dienerian a gradual increase of lycopod spore abundance and a decrease in pteridosperms and conifers are evident. Synchronously, the generic richness of sporomorphs decreases. The middle Dienerian assemblages resemble the previously described spore spikes observed at the end-Permian (Norway) and in the middle Smithian (Pakistan) and might reflect a similar ecological crisis.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier , 2015. Vol. 27, p. 911-924
Keywords [en]
Dicroidium, Glossopteris, Pakistan, Permian–Triassic, Vegetation turn-over
National Category
Other Earth and Related Environmental Sciences
Research subject
The changing Earth
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:nrm:diva-1602DOI: 10.1016/j.gr.2013.11.007OAI: oai:DiVA.org:nrm-1602DiVA, id: diva2:884958
Projects
VR 2014-5232 The evolutionary history of ferns
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2014-52322015-12-172015-12-172017-12-01Bibliographically approved