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Proterozoic and Paleozoic Palynology of Antarctica: A Review

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Antarctic Paleobiology

Abstract

This chapter provides a summary account of the occurrence and significance of spores, pollen grains, and other palynomorphs that have been recorded from pre-Mesozoic Antarctic sequences ranging in age from Proterozoic (possibly Riphean) to Permian. Occurrences of Paleozoic palynomorphs recycled into younger materials, especially seafloor glacial sediments of the Antarctic continental shelf, are also reviewed. Palynological research on Antarctic pre-Mesozoic palynofloras began some three decades ago and has been directed toward four main ends: (1) stratigraphie correlation and dating of the host sediments that are often devoid of other fossils or at least of age-diagnostic forms; (2) elucidation of the past vegetational and climatic history of the continent; (3) especially for the late Paleozoic, assessment of the extent of floristic similarity with sequences of other southern landmasses to help establish predrift plate juxtapositions within Gondwana; and (4) where encountered as recycled components, allowing inferences to be made concerning the geographic position, age, and metamorphic/ maturation level of the (often now hidden) rock sequences from which they derived as erosion products. How far these objectives have presently been realized will be evident from the geochronologically arranged text that follows.

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Authors
  1. Geoffrey Playford
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Byrd Polar Research Center and Deparment of Botany, The Ohio State University, 43210, Columbus, Ohio, USA

    Thomas N. Taylor  & Edith L. Taylor  & 

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Playford, G. (1990). Proterozoic and Paleozoic Palynology of Antarctica: A Review. In: Taylor, T.N., Taylor, E.L. (eds) Antarctic Paleobiology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3238-4_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3238-4_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-7929-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-3238-4

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