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Distribution and palaeoecology of charophyte floras in Devonian coastal environments of the Central Taurides (Turkey)

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Abstract

Pinnoputamen erikfluegeli and Sycidium aff. volborthi magnum from Akkuyu (Southern Taurides) are the first Palaeozoic charophytes reported from Turkey, and their presence emphasises the world-wide distribution of Sycidiales during the Middle and Upper Devonian. Both species occur in the upper part of the Akkuyu Section of late Givetian through early Frasnian age, based on combined biostratigraphical data. The sedimentary sequence mainly consists of reefal limestones and silt-/sandstones, partly intercalated with shales. In these nearshore deposits, charophytes and open marine fossils, notably brachiopods and conodonts, are found associated. With reference to identical primordial structures of vegetative and reproductive organs both in extant and Palaeozoic forms, and account taken of the prerequisite environmental conditions (such as salinity, light intensity, and nature of substratum), the mode of life in Palaeozoic charophytes was certainly similar to that of modern ones. By a critical review of other fossil occurrences interpreted as marine, we conclude that an allochthonous origin is most probable for the charophytes of the Akkuyu Section.

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Acknowledgements

The following colleagues are thanked for age assignments by results of fossil groups for which they are specialists: Rainer Brocke (palynomorphs), Ulrich Jansen (brachiopods), Karsten Weddige (conodonts), all Senckenberg Frankfurt; Recep Özkan (foraminifers), TPAO Ankara; and Helga Groos-Uffenorde (some comments on ostracods), Göttingen. The Turkish-German research team is acknowledged for joint fieldwork in 2012 (Nihat Bozdoğan, Rainer Brocke, Ulrich Jansen, Ulf Linnemann, Recep Özkan, İsak Yılmaz). Michael Ricker, Jana Anger (both Senckenberg Frankfurt) and Torsten Janssen (Senckenberg am Meer Wilhelmshaven) are thanked for preparation of thin sections, assistance in photography, and conducting XRD samples, respectively. This study contributes to the project “Sedimentary cycles and signatures of global events in the Devonian at the Northern margin of Gondwana, Southern Turkey (DECENT)”, supported by TÜBİTAK (project DECENT 111Y179) and the International Bureau of the BMBF (project DECENT 01DL12036). We are grateful to Hans Martin Weber (Bergisch-Gladbach) for loan of specimens from the Refrath Formation. We acknowledge Brigitte Meyer-Berthaud (CIRAD Montpellier) for assistance in transmission microscopy and Chantal Cazevieille for her support in SEM. Thanks are also due to Richard Mc Court (Drexel University, Philadelphia) who linguistically improved parts of an early version of the manuscript. The reviewers Carlton Brett (Cincinatti) and Grzegorz Racki (Sosnowiec) are acknowledged for their helpful comments. This is a contribution to IGCP Project 499 “Devonian Land-Sea Interactions: Evolution of Ecosystems and Climate (DEVEC)”. Contribution ISEM 20188-278.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Université Montpellier 2, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier, France

    Monique Feist

  2. Engineering Faculty, Department of Geological Engineering, Çukurova University, Adana, Turkey

    Atike Nazik

  3. Department of Palaeontology and Historical Geology, Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt, Germany

    Eberhard Schindler

  4. Department of Marine Research, Senckenberg am Meer, Südstrand 40, 26382, Wilhelmshaven, Germany

    Achim Wehrmann

  5. Engineering Faculty, Department of Geological Engineering, Istanbul University, 34850, Istanbul, Turkey

    M. Namık Yalçın

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Feist, M., Nazik, A., Schindler, E. et al. Distribution and palaeoecology of charophyte floras in Devonian coastal environments of the Central Taurides (Turkey). Palaeobio Palaeoenv 99, 353–366 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-018-0355-y

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