Abstract
The Pleistocene vegetation history of Iceland is closely linked to the onset of large scale northern hemisphere glaciations. The first regional glaciation in Iceland occurred at ca 2.5 Ma (Praetiglian), just before the deposition of the oldest Pleistocene plant-bearing sediments in Iceland (Brekkukambur Formation, 2.4–2.1 Ma). Both the macro- and microfloras of the Brekkukambur Formation are not very well preserved and do not allow detailed interpretations of the palaeoenvironment. However, based on plant and insect remains from the coeval Kap København Formation of northern Greenland, this time marked a last phase of global warmth with boreal forests extending as far north as 82°N. Younger plant-bearing sedimentary formations in Iceland investigated here are ca 1.7, 1.1, and 0.8 Ma in age. They were deposited during interglacials and their floras are very similar to the modern flora of Iceland. It is unclear at the moment whether and how frequently plants survived in Iceland during cold phases. Dispersal mechanisms of plant taxa found in interglacial deposits show that all of them are dispersed by wind or birds over long distances and hence Iceland could have been re-colonized within a rather short period after each cold phase. The composition of the modern flora of Iceland is the result of the dispersal modes and climatic tolerances (competitiveness) of its members. These general conditions appear to have controlled the flora and vegetation of Iceland in a similar way since more than 1.7 million years.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Akhmetiev, M. A., Bratzeva, G. M., Giterman, R. E., Golubeva, L. V., & Moiseyeva, A. I. (1978). Late Cenozoic stratigraphy and flora of Iceland. Transactions of the Academy of Sciences USSR, 316, 1–188.
Albertsson, K. J. (1976). K/Ar ages of Pliocene-Pleistocene glaciations in Iceland with special reference to the Tjörnes sequence, Northern Iceland. Ph.D. thesis, University of Cambridge, Cambridge. 268 pp.
Anderberg, A., & Anderberg, A.-L. (2010). Den virtuella floran. Accessed October 4, 2010, from http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/.
Áskelsson, J. (1938a). Kvartärgeologische Studien auf Island II. Interglaziale Pflanzenablagerungen. Meddelelser fra Dansk Geologisk Førening, 9(3), 300–319.
Áskelsson, J. (1938b). Um íslenzk dýr og jurtir frá jökultíma. Náttúrufræðingurinn, 8, 1–16.
Bárðarson, G. G. (1929). Nogle geologiske Profiler fra Snæfellsnes, Vest-Island. Det 18. Skandinaviske Naturforskermøde, 1929, 177–182.
Bennike, O. (1990). The Kap København Formation: stratigraphy and Palaeobotany of a Plio-Pleistocene sequence in Peary Land, North Greenland. Meddelelser om Grønland Geoscience, 23, 1–85.
Berggren, W., Kent, D. V., Swisher, C. C. III., & Aubry, M.-P. (1995). A revised Cenozoic geochronology and chronostratigraphy. In W. A. Berggren, D. V. Kent, M.-P. Aubry, & J. Hardenbol (Eds.), Geochronology, time scales and global stratigraphic correlation (pp. 129–212). Tulsa, Oklahoma: SEPM Special Publication 54.
Despres, L., Ibanez, S., Hemborg, A. M., & Godelle, B. (2007). Geographical and within-population variation in the globeflower-globeflower fly interaction: The costs and benefits of rearing pollinators larvae. Oecologia, 153, 69–79.
Einarsson, T. (1962). Upper tertiary and Pleistocene rocks in Iceland: A stratigraphic-paleomagnetic-morphologic-tectonic analysis. Rit Vísindafélags Íslendinga, 36, 1–197.
Einarsson, Þ. (1968). Jarðfræði. Saga bergs og lands. Reykjavík: Mál og menning. 335 pp.
Einarsson, Þ. (1971). Jarðfræði. Reykjavík: Heimskringla. 254 pp.
Einarsson, Þ. (1977). Um gróður á ísöld á Íslandi. In H. Guðmundsson, H. Ragnarsson, I. Þorsteinsson, J. Jónsson, S. Sigurðsson, & S. Blöndal (Eds.), Skógarmál (pp. 56–72). Reykjavík: Sex vinir Hákonar Bjarnarsonar.
Eiríksson, J. (2008). Glaciation events in the Pliocene – Pleistocene volcanic succession of Iceland. Jökull, 58, 315–329.
Everts, P., Koerfer, L. E., & Schwarzbach, M. (1972). Neue K/Ar-Datierungen isländischer Basalte. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Monatshefte, 5, 280–284.
Flora of North America Editorial Committee. (1997). Flora of North America North of Mexico, Magnoliophyta: Magnoliidae and Hamamelidae (Vol. 3). New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press. 616 pp.
Funder, S., Bennike, O., Böcher, J., Israelson, C., Petersen, K. S., & Símonarson, L. A. (2001). Late Pliocene Greenland – The Kap København Formation in North Greenland. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark, 48, 117–134.
Gibbard, P. L., & Cohen, K. M. (2009). Global chronostratigraphical correlation fort he last 2.7 million years. v. 2009. http://www.quaternary.stratigraphy.org.uk/charts/.
Harðarson, B. A. (1978). Brekkukambur-Bláskeggsá. Setlög. B.Sc. thesis, University of Iceland, Reykjavík. 34 pp.
Helgason, J. (2007). Skaftafell. Berggrunnskort. 1:25000. Reykjavík: Jarðfræðistofan Ekra.
Hjartarson, Á. (2003). The Skagafjörður unconformity North Iceland and its geological history. Ph.D. thesis, University of Copenhagen. 248 pp.
Hoek Ostende, L.W. van den. (2004). The Tegelen clay-pits: A hundred year old classical locality. In C. F. Winkler Prins, & S. K. Donovan (Eds.), VII International Symposium ‘Cultural Heritage in Geosciences, Mining and Metallurgy: Libraries – Archives – Museums’: “Museums and their collections”, Leiden (The Netherlands), 19–23 May 2003. Scripta Geologica Special Issue, 4, 127–141.
Hospers, J. (1953). Paleomagnetic studies of Icelandic rocks. Ph.D. thesis, University of Cambridge, 172 pp.
Jóhannesson, H., & Sæmundsson, K. (1989). Geological Map of Iceland. 1:500 000. Bedrock geology (1st ed.). Reykjavík: Icelandic Museum of Natural History and Icelandic Geodetic Survey.
Koerfer, L. E. (1974). Zur Geologie des Gebietes Hvammstangi – Bakkabrúnir – Blönduós (Nord-Island). Sonderveröffentlichungen des Geologischen Instituts der Universität Köln, 26, 1–127.
Kottek, M., Grieser, J., Beck, C., Rudolf, B., & Rubel, F. (2006). World map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification updated. Meteorologische Zeitschrift, 15, 259–263.
Kristinsson, S. G. (2009). Hvalfjarðarmegineldstöðin, upphleðsla, höggun og ummyndun. M.Sc. thesis, University of Iceland, 81 pp.
Landmælingar Íslands. (1990a). Uppdráttur Íslands. Blað 14, Breiðafjörður. Scale 1:100000.
Landmælingar Íslands. (1990b). Uppdráttur Íslands. Blað 87, Öræfajökull. Scale 1:100000.
Landmælingar Íslands. (1997). Uppdráttur Íslands. Blað 44, Grímstunga. Scale 1:100000.
Landmælingar Íslands. (2000a). Uppdráttur Íslands. Blað 36, Botnsheiði. Scale 1:100000.
Landmælingar Íslands. (2000b). Uppdráttur Íslands. Blað 43, Blönduós. Scale 1:100000.
Landmælingar Íslands. (2004). Uppdráttur Íslands. Blað 15, Snæfellsnes. Scale 1:100000.
Lang, G. (1994). Quartäre Vegetationsgeschichte Europas. Jena: Gustav Fischer. 462 pp.
Leifsdóttir, Ó. E. (1999). Ísaldarlög á norðanverðu Snæfellsnesi. Setlög og skeldýrafánur. M.S. thesis, Univeristy of Iceland, Reykjavík, 101 pp.
Leifsdóttir, Ó. E., & Símonarson, L. A. (2005). Skeldýraflakk á ísöld. Náttúrufræðingurinn, 73, 79–87.
Lieth, H., Berlekamp, J., Fuest, S., & Reidiger, S. (1999). Climate Diagram World Atlas (CD-Series: Climate and Biosphere). Leiden: Backhuys Publishers.
Líndal, J. H. (1935). Móbergsmyndanir í Bakkakotsbrúnum og steingervingar þeirra. Náttúrufræðingurinn, 5, 97–114.
Líndal, J. H. (1939). The interglacial formation in Viðidal, Northern Iceland. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, 95, 261–273.
Matthews, J. F., Jr., & Ovenden, L. E. (1990). Late tertiary plant macrofossils from localities in Arctic/Subarctic North America: A review of the data. Arctic, 43, 364–392.
Meusel, H., Jäger, E., & Weinert, E. (1965). Vergleichende Chorologie der Zentraleuropäischen Flora – Karten. Jena: VEB Gustav Fischer Verlag. 258 pp.
Nielsen, N., & Noe-Nygaard, A. (1936). Om den islandske “Palagonitformations” oprindelse. Geografisk Tidskrift, 39, 3–36.
Noe-Nygaard, A. (1953). Notes on the nature of some indurated moraines in South Iceland. Geografisk Tidskrift, 52, 222–231.
Pjetursson, H. (1904). Om forekomsten af skalførende skurstensler i Búlandshöfði, Snæfellsnes, Ísland. Oversigt over det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskabs Forhandlinger, 6, 375–396.
Reid, C., & Reid, E. M. (1907). The fossil flora Tegelen-sur-Meuse, near Venloo, in the Province of Limburg. Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam (tweede sectie), 13(6), 1–26.
Reid, C., & Reid, E. M. (1915). The Pliocene flora of the Dutch-Prussian border. Mededelingen van de Rijksopsporingdienst van Delfstoffen, 6, 1–178.
Richardson, R. (2006). The geological history of Svínafell, south-east Iceland. Ph.D. thesis, The University of Liverpool. 55 pp.
Robinson, M. M. (2009). New quantitative evidence of extreme warmth in the Pliocene Arctic. Stratigraphy, 6, 265–275.
Símonarson, L. A., & Leifsdóttir, Ó. E. (2007). Early Pleistocene molluscan migration to Iceland – Palaeoceanographic implication. Jökull, 57, 1–20.
Sjörs, H. (2004). Regionality. In B. Jonsell (Ed.), Flora Nordica. General volume (pp. 87–100). Stockholm: Bergianus Foundation, Royal Academy of Sciences.
Stefánsson, U. (1991). Haffræði 1. Reykjavík: Háskólaútgáfan. 413 pp.
Thompson, R. S., Anderson, K. H., & Bartlein, P. J. (1999). Atlas of relations between climatic parameters and distribution of important trees and shrubs in North America – Introduction and Conifers. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper, 1650-A, 1–269.
Thorarinsson, S. (1963). The Svínafell layers plant-bearing interglacial sediments in Öræfi, Southeast Iceland. In A. Löve & D. Löve (Eds.), North Atlantic Biota and their History (pp. 377–389). New York: Pergamon Press.
Thoroddsen, Th. (1891). Postglaciale marine Aflejringer, Kystterrasser og Strandlinier i Island. Geografisk Tidskrift, 11, 209–225.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Appendix 11.1
Appendix 11.1
Floristic composition of the Pleistocene floras of Iceland compared to contemporaneous northern hemispheric fossil assemblages at high latitudes.
Boldface indicates that the genus is present in the Pleistocene of Iceland. Grey shading indicates that the genus is present in the older Pliocene Tjörnes beds. 1 based on pollen, spores; 2 based on leaves and/or fruit/seed fossils; 3 based on leaf fossils
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Denk, T., Grímsson, F., Zetter, R., Símonarson, L.A. (2011). The Pleistocene Floras (2.4–0.8 Ma) – Shaping the Modern Vegetation of Iceland. In: Late Cainozoic Floras of Iceland. Topics in Geobiology, vol 35. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0372-8_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0372-8_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-0371-1
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-0372-8
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)