Abstract
A remarkable change is noticed in the 10 Ma floras of Iceland. In contrast to older floras, herbaceous elements become prominent in the palynological record, and, for the first time, small-leaved Ericaceae are encountered in the macrofossil record. The high number of pollen taxa recovered from sedimentary rock samples of the Tröllatunga-Gautshamar Formation account for the remarkable richness of this flora (ca 100 taxa). Pollen, spores, and macrofossils are all exquisitely preserved. Importantly, many taxa that were characteristic of the older Brjánslækur-Seljá Formation, 12 Ma, have not been recorded from any locality belonging to the 10 Ma and younger formations. Examples for such taxa are: Glyptostrobus, Cryptomeria, Sequoia (Cuppressaceae s. l.), and among the angiosperms Comptonia, Liriodendron, Magnolia, and Sassafras. At the same time, a number of warmth-loving taxa occur for the first time in the 10 Ma formation. Most spectacular among the new elements are Ginkgo and the extinct Fagaceae Trigonobalanopsis, both of which are documented by their pollen. Pseudotsuga and Decodon are other taxa that appear for the first time in Iceland. In this chapter, the taxonomic composition of the 10 Ma floras of Iceland has been investigated. In addition, floristic turnovers between 12 and 10 Ma, such as the massive appearance of herbaceous taxa, will be discussed in the context of northern hemisphere cooling and continuing land bridge accessibility during the late Middle and early Late Miocene of Iceland.
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Appendix 6.1
Appendix 6.1
Floristic composition of the 10 Ma sedimentary formation of Iceland compared to contemporaneous northern hemispheric mid- and high-latitude floras from North America and western Eurasia.
Tröllatunga-Gautshamar flora, Iceland [ca 65°37′N 21°41′W] 10–9 Ma This study | |
|---|---|
3 | Equisetum sp. |
1 | Lycopodium sp. |
1 | Huperzia sp. |
1,3 | Osmunda parschlugiana |
1 | Polypodiaceae gen. et spec. indet. 1 |
1 | Polypodiaceae gen. et spec. indet. 3 |
1 | Polypodiaceae gen. et spec. indet. 4 |
1 | Polypodiaceae gen. et spec. indet. 5 |
1 | Polypodium sp. 1 |
1 | Pteridophyta gen. et spec. indet. 1 |
1 | Sphagnum sp. |
1 | Ginkgo sp. |
1,3 | Larix sp. |
1,3 | Picea sect. Picea |
1 | Pinus sp. 1 |
1 | Pseudotsuga sp. |
1 | Sciadopitys sp. |
1 | Tsuga sp. 1 |
1-3 | Acer askelssonii |
1-3 | Acer crenatifolium subsp. islandicum |
1-3 | Alnus cecropiifolia |
1 | Anemone sp. |
1 | Apiaceae gen. et spec. indet. 1-4 |
3 | Arctostaphylos sp. |
1 | Artemisia sp. 1 |
1 | Artemisia sp. 2 |
1 | Asteraceae gen. et spec. indet. 1 |
1 | Asteraceae gen. et spec. indet. 2 |
1 | Asteraceae gen. et spec. indet. 3 |
1-3 | Betula islandica |
1 | aff. Calycanthaceae |
1 | Carpinus sp. |
1 | Caryophyllaceae gen et. spec. indet. 1 |
1 | Caryophyllaceae gen et. spec. indet. 2 |
1 | Caryophyllaceae gen et. spec. indet. 3 |
1 | Chenopodiaceae gen et. spec. indet. 1 |
1 | Chenopodiaceae gen et. spec. indet. 2 |
1 | Chenopodium sp. |
1 | Corylus sp. |
3 | Cyclocarya sp. |
3 | Cyperaceae gen. et spec. indet. A |
1 | Decodon sp. |
3 | Dicotylophyllum sp. B |
3 | Dicotylophyllum sp. C |
1 | Ericaceae gen. et spec. indet. 1 |
1 | Fagus sp. |
1 | Lemnaceae gen. et spec. indet. |
1 | Liliaceae gen. et spec. indet. 2 |
1 | Liliaceae gen. et spec. indet. 3 |
1 | Lonicera sp. 1 |
1 | Lonicera sp. 2 |
1 | Lonicera sp. 3 |
3 | cf. Nuphar sp. |
1 | Parthenocissus sp. |
1 | Platanus sp. |
1 | aff. Plantago lanceolata |
1 | Poaceae gen. et spec. indet. 1 |
1 | Pollen type 8 |
1 | Pollen type 9 |
1 | Pollen type 10 |
1 | Pollen type 11 |
1 | Pollen type 12 |
1 | Pollen type 13 |
1 | Pollen type 14 |
1 | Pollen type 15 |
1 | Pollen type 16 |
1 | Pollen type 17 |
1 | Pollen type 18 |
1 | Pollen type 19 |
1 | Pollent type 20 |
1 | Polygonum sect. Aconogonon sp. |
1,3 | Pterocarya sp. |
1 | Ranunculaceae gen. et spec. indet. 1 |
1 | Ranunculaceae gen. et spec. indet. 2 |
1 | Ranunculus sp. 1 |
1-3 | Rhododendron aff. ponticum |
1,3 | Rosaceae gen. et spec. indet. type A |
1 | Rumex sp. |
1,3 | Salix gruberi |
1 | Sanguisorba sp. |
3 | Smilax sp. |
1 | Thalictrum sp. 1 |
1 | Tilia sp. |
1 | Trigonobalanopsis sp. |
1 | Ulmus sp. |
3 | Vaccinium sp. |
Lignite Creek flora [ca 64°04′N 148°13′W]11.3–9.7 Ma (Leopold and Liu 1994; White et al. 1997) | |
|---|---|
1 | Cyathea sp. |
1 | Lycopodium cf. L. alopecuroides |
1 | Lycopodium cf. L. complanatum |
1 | Osmunda sp. |
1 | Selaginella sp. |
1 | Sphagnum sp. |
1 | Abies cf. A. grandis |
1 | Cedrus sp. |
1 | Larix/Pseudotsuga sp. |
1 | Picea sp. |
1 | Pinus sp. |
1 | Sciadopitys sp. |
1 | Tsuga cf. canadensis |
1 | Tsuga cf. heterophylla |
1 | Tsuga cf. mertensiana |
1 | Acer sp. |
1 | Alnus cf. firma |
1 | Alnus sp. |
1 | Ambrosia sp. |
1 | Araliaceae |
1 | Artemisia sp. |
1 | Betula sp. |
1 | Caprifoliaceae |
1 | Castanea sp. |
1 | cf. Crataegus sp. |
1 | Chenopodiineae |
1 | Compositae |
1 | Cornus sp. |
1 | Corylus sp. |
1 | Cyclocarya sp. |
1 | Diervilla/Weigelia |
1 | Elaeagnus sp. |
1 | Ericales indet. |
1 | Fraxinus sp. |
1 | Gramineae |
1 | Juglans sp. |
1 | Liquidambar sp. |
1 | Magnolia sp. |
1 | Melia sp. |
1 | Onagraceae |
1 | Ostrya/Carpinus sp. |
1 | Polygonum persicaria |
1 | Populus sp. |
1 | Prunus sp. |
1 | Pterocarya sp. |
1 | Pterocarya sp. |
1 | Rhus sp. |
1 | Rosaceae |
1 | Salix sp. |
1 | Sparganium sp. |
1 | Thalictrum sp. |
1 | Tilia sp. |
1 | Ulmus/Zelkova sp. |
Achldorf flora [48°25′N 12°21′E] MN8, MN9 (Unger 1986;Knobloch 1986; Gregor 1986; Schmitt 1986) | |
|---|---|
3 | Pinus sp. |
2 | Pinus aff. thomasiana |
3 | Taxodium dubium |
2 | Taxodium hantkei |
3 | ?Platanus leucophylla |
3 | Acer cf. ginnala |
3 | Acer integrilobum |
2 | Acer jurenaky vel pseudoplatanus |
2 | Acer cf. monspessulanum vel italium |
2,3 | Acer tricuspidatum |
2 | Acer sp. |
3 | Alnus alnoidea |
2 | Alnus kefersteinii |
3 | Alnus menzelii |
2 | Amentiferae |
3 | Betula subpubescens |
2 | Betula cf. longisquamosa |
2,3 | Carpinus cf. grandis |
2 | Carpinus kisseri |
3 | Carya aff. serraefolia |
3 | Carya minor |
2,3 | Carya sp. |
3 | Cephalotaxus cf. stockleinea |
2 | cf. Clematis vitalba |
2 | aff. Corylopsis urselensis |
3 | Crataegus cf. neckerae |
3 | Cyperaceae vel Poaceae |
3 | Daphnogene bilinica |
3 | Dicotylophyllum cf. oeningense |
3 | Dicotylophyllum sp. 1-7 |
3 | cf. Diospyros aff. pannonica |
3 | cf. Ficus truncata |
3 | Gleditsia lyelliana |
2 | Gleditsia knorrii |
3 | Hemiptelea vel Zelkova sp |
2 | Leguminocarpum sp. |
3 | Liquidambar europaea |
2 | Liquidambar cf. magniloculata |
3 | Myrica lignitum |
2 | Myrica ceriferiformis |
2 | Nymphaea sp. |
2 | Ostrya scholzii |
2 | Ostrya sp. |
2 | Paliurus thurmanni |
3 | Palirus tiliaefolius |
3 | Parrotia pristina |
2 | Pterocarya limburgensis |
2 | Quercus cerrisaecarpa |
3 | Quercus gregori |
3 | Quercus cf. kubinyi |
3 | Quercus kucerae |
3 | Quercus pontica-miocenica |
3 | Quercus pseudocastanea |
2 | Quercus sapperi |
3 | Quercus schoetzii |
3 | Quercus sp. |
3 | Robinia regeli |
2 | Rubus sp. |
3 | Salix sp. |
3 | Smilax sp. 1-2 |
2 | cf. Symplocos lignitarum |
2 | Trapa cf. heeri |
3 | Ulmus pyramidalis |
3 | Zelkova praelonga |
2 | Zelkova cf. ungeri |
2 | Zelkova sp. |
Boldface indicates that the genus is present in the Tröllatunga-Gautshamar Formation. Grey shading indicates that the genus is present in the older Brjánslækur-Seljá Formation (12 Ma) or the younger Skarðsströnd-Mókollsdalur Formation (9–8 Ma). 1 based on pollen, spores; 2 based on leaves and/or fruit/seed fossils; 3 based on leaf fossils.
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Denk, T., Grímsson, F., Zetter, R., Símonarson, L.A. (2011). The Early Late Miocene Floras – First Evidence of Cool Temperate and Herbaceous Taxa. In: Late Cainozoic Floras of Iceland. Topics in Geobiology, vol 35. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0372-8_6
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