Climatically-driven cyclicity and peat formation in fluvial setting of the Moscovian – Early Kasimovian Cracow Sandstone Series, Upper Silesia (Poland)

Wetlands are important to continental evolution, providing both arenas and refugia for emerging and declining biotas. This significance and the high preservation potential make the resulting fossiliferous deposits essential for our understanding of past and future biodiversity. We reconstruct the trophic structure and age of the early Permian Manebach Lake ecosystem, Germany, a thriving wetland at a time when the tropical biosphere faced profound upheaval in the peaking Late Palaeozoic Icehouse. Nine excavations, high‐resolution spatiotemporal documentation of fossils and strata, and U–Pb radioisotopic dating of tuffs allow us to distinguish autogenic and allogenic factors shaping the limnic biocoenosis. The Manebach Lake was an exorheic, oxygen‐stratified, perennial water body on the 101–102 km2 scale, integrated into the catchment draining much of the European Variscides. Lake formation paralleled an Asselian regional wet climatic interval and benefited from rising base level due to post‐Variscan half‐graben tectonics. Stromatolite‐forming cyanobacteria, bivalves, several crustaceans, amblypterids and xenacanthid sharks formed a differentiated biocoenosis in the lake. Fossil stomach remains and teeth prove the rare presence of acanthodians, branchiosaurs and large amphibians. The results indicate woody‐debris‐bearing lake littorals devoid of semi‐aquatic and aquatic plants as places suitable for stromatolites to grow, underpin the model of declining freshwater‐shark diversity in most Permian Variscan basins, demonstrate fish/amphibian ratios in limnic assemblages to measure lake perenniality and reveal taphonomic biases in lake taphocoenoses. Our outcomes call for more knowledge about the diversity, ecology and fossilization pathways of past limnic biotas, particularly microorganisms and actinopterygian fishes, to reconstruct deep‐time continental ecosystems.

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“…2015; Opluštil et al . 2019; Trümper et al . 2022), of which the described Thuringian Forest formations documented the million year scale.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decoding the drivers of deep‐time wetland biodiversity: insights from an early Permian tropical lake ecosystem

et al. 2023

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“…They contain economical coal seams of a thickness ranging up to 2.05 m. The thickness of the Orzesze beds is about 910 m. It is homogeneous and highlighted primarily by the dominance of fine clastic rocks (Jureczka and Kotas, 1995). The Krakow Sandstone Series is characterized by a uniform structure throughout the area of occurrence, consisting predominantly of coarse sediment (Kędzior et al, 2019;Opluštil et al, 2019). The maximum thickness of the series is 1140 m and there are only a few coal seams with a large thickness (up to 6-7 m).…”

Section: Updatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution of Selected Critical Elements in the Carboniferous Coal‐bearing Series of the Upper Silesian and Lublin Coal Basins (Poland)

Krzeszowska

Kokowska-Pawłowska

Krzeszowski

2022

Acta Geologica Sinica (Eng)

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The distribution of selected critical elements in the sedimentary rocks of the Carboniferous coal‐bearing series within the Polish Coal Basins is presented. Critical elements such as Be, Mg, Si, P, Sc, V, Co, Y, Nb, In, Sb, La, Ce, Hf, Ta, W, Bi were analysed using inductively‐coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP/MS). Concentrations of elements such as Sb, Bi, In and, to a slightly lesser extent, Nb, as well as Sc, show average concentrations higher than those from the upper continental crust. The average concentrations of elements like Hf, Mg, P, Y, La, and Ce are slightly lower than in the upper continental crust. Other elements, such as Be, Co, Si, Ta, W and V have average concentrations that are similar, but slightly enriched or slightly depleted, relative to the upper continental crust. The research showed enrichment of some critical elements in the analysed samples, but not high enough that extraction would be economically viable. Statistical methods, which include correlation coefficients between elements and cluster analysis, reveal a strong positive correlation between elements like Be, Bi, Nb, Sc, Ta, W and V. Very high, almost total, positive correlation is also noted between La and Ce.

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“…Coals of this age in the Ruhr (Jasper et al 2010, Hartkopf-Fröder 2015, Saar (Peppers 1996), Pennines (Smith & Butterworth 1967), South Wales (Dimitrova et al 2005), Upper Silesia (Górecka 1968(Górecka , 1969Górecka & Górecka-Nowak 1990;Bek 2008), Dobrogea (Dimitrova & Cleal 2007), Zonguldak-Amasra (Ergönül 1960, Opluštil et al 2018 and Polish part of the Intra-Sudetic basins (Nowak & Górecka-Nowak 1999) are also dominated by spores of arborescent lycopsids, mainly by Lycospora. Although the precise percentage of palynomorphs produced by major plant groups may differ spatially and temporarily, the available data suggest an ecologically stable cond ition during the humid part of glacial/interglacial cycles, which supported the formation of extensive peat swamps across most of tropical Pangea (Falcon-Lang & DiMichele 2010, Cecil et al 2014, DiMichele 2014, Opluštil et al 2019. There is, however, a change from the Peppers (1996) scenario for the Appalachian and Interior coalfields of the USA at the Middle-Late Pennsylvanian boundary.…”

Section: Vegetation Patterns Estimated From Quantitative Palynological Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Pennsylvanian to early Permian (Bashkirian-Asselian) miospore and pollen assemblages of the Czech part of the Intra-Sudetic Basin

Bek¹,

Opluštil²

2021

Bull. Geosci.

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Unpublished data resulting from extensive palynological investigation of coal and carbonaceous rocks from more than thirty boreholes, drilled in the Czech sector of the Intra-Sudetic Basin in the second half of the 20 th century, were taxonomically upgraded and analysed for stratigraphic and systematic evaluation. In total 78 genera and 322 miospore and pollen species have been recorded within a radioisotopically constrained ~21 Ma long interval from middle Bashkirian to early Asselian times, i.e. between 318 and 297 Ma. The miospore and pollen assemblages of coal seams are characteristic by the occurrence of stratigraphically important genera (e.g. Waltzispora, Radiizonates, Tripartites, Kosankeisporites, Gillespieisporites, Cadiospora, Angulisporites, Latensina, Lueckisporites, Spinosporites) and taxa recorded only within each member with the combination of quantitative data. Five new palynozones of the basin are recognised. All miospore and pollen taxa are divided into categories based on their plant affinity for the comparison of palynological and macrofloral records in terms of the diversity and vegetation patterns based on the combination of unpublished palynological and freshly published plant fossil records. • Key words: palynology, spores and pollen, Intra-Sudetic Basin, Pennsylvanian.Bek, J. & Opluštil, S. 2021. Early Pennsylvanian to early Permian (Bashkirian-Asselian) miospore and pollen assemblages of the Czech part of the Intra-Sudetic Basin. Bulletin of Geosciences 96(3), 341-379 (15 figures, 3 tables, appendix, electronic supplement). Czech Geological Survey, Prague.

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Climatically-driven cyclicity and peat formation in fluvial setting of the Moscovian – Early Kasimovian Cracow Sandstone Series, Upper Silesia (Poland)

Cited by 22 publications

References 65 publications

Decoding the drivers of deep‐time wetland biodiversity: insights from an early Permian tropical lake ecosystem

Decoding the drivers of deep‐time wetland biodiversity: insights from an early Permian tropical lake ecosystem

Distribution of Selected Critical Elements in the Carboniferous Coal‐bearing Series of the Upper Silesian and Lublin Coal Basins (Poland)

Early Pennsylvanian to early Permian (Bashkirian-Asselian) miospore and pollen assemblages of the Czech part of the Intra-Sudetic Basin

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