Paleobotanical and paleoecological constraints on models of peat formation in the Late Carboniferous of Euramerica

DiMichele, William A.; Phillips, Tom

doi:10.1016/0031-0182(94)90004-3

Cited by 273 publications

(140 citation statements)

References 127 publications

(312 reference statements)

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“…Although these remains are not identifiable at a precise taxonomic level, they have consistent morphological features; they may penetrate vertically to a depth of several meters and comprise a network of Phillips, 1994) and the abrupt vegetation step change that occurred at the Middle-Upper Pennsylvanian boundary (see text for discussion). Plant groups (pale gray to black), left to right: lycopsids, cordaites, sphenopsids, pteridosperms, and ferns.…”

Section: Tropicaf Vegetation During Gfaciaf Phasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Global time scale (Gradstein et al, 2004) with cyclothem-calibrated dates for North American stratigraphy after Heckel (2008). branching rootlets terminating in fine root masses (DiMichele et al, 2010). Root systems with these characteristics are not known for any coal-forest plants ( DiMichele and Phillips, 1994), but occur in some cordaite trees of probable upland ecology (Falcon-Lang and Bashforth, 2004) and are generally suggestive of gymnosperms (pteridosperms, cordaites, and conifers; DiMichele et al, 2010). Further, deep roots are characteristic of plants growing on well-drained soils.…”

Section: Tropicaf Vegetation During Gfaciaf Phasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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What Happened to the Coal Forests During Pennsylvanian Glacial Phases?

Falcon-Lang

DiMichele

2010

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101

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Sequence stratigraphic analysis of Pennsylvanian coal-bearing strata suggests that glacial-interglacial fluctuations at high latitudes drove cyclic changes in tropical biomes. A literature review of plant assemblages in this paleoclimatic context suggests that coal forests dominated during humid interglacial phases, but were replaced by seasonally dry vegetation during glacial phases. After each glacial event, coal forests reassembled with largely the same species composition. This remarkable stasis implies that coal-forest refugia existed across the equatorial landscape during glacial phases, expanding to repopulate lowlands during and following deglaciation. One possibility is that refugia comprised small pockets of wetland forest strung out along valleys at some sites, but data are currently insufficient to test this hypothesis. The model presented here, if accepted, dramatically alters our understanding of the coal forests and helps explain aspects of their dynamics.

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Section: Tropicaf Vegetation During Gfaciaf Phasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Tropicaf Vegetation During Gfaciaf Phasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Happened to the Coal Forests During Pennsylvanian Glacial Phases?

Falcon-Lang

DiMichele

2010

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101

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“…Thus, lignin would have been of secondary importance in many Carboniferous peats where lycopsid periderm was the single most abundant component and could represent a straight majority of the preserved biomass (41)(42)(43). In these materials, lags of largely intact lycopsid periderm often can be found amid a matrix of highly degraded plant debris (44). The preferential preservation of these nonlignified tissues-in contrast to lignified tissues of other taxa and, indeed, the lignified wood of the same lycopsids-sharply conflicts with and argues against elevated lignin content and the temporal absence of efficient lignin-degrading fungi as the prime factors responsible for Late Paleozoic coal formation.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Carboniferous peat permineralizations (coal balls) generally contain low shoot:root ratios, suggesting decay of massive amounts of aerial plant tissue (34,44,80). This decay includes all tissue and organ types (61,(69)(70)(71), many decayed nearly to the point of unrecognizability, including wood.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Delayed fungal evolution did not cause the Paleozoic peak in coal production

Nelsen

DiMichele

Peters

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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113

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Organic carbon burial plays a critical role in Earth systems, influencing atmospheric O 2 and CO 2 concentrations and, thereby, climate. The Carboniferous Period of the Paleozoic is so named for massive, widespread coal deposits. A widely accepted explanation for this peak in coal production is a temporal lag between the evolution of abundant lignin production in woody plants and the subsequent evolution of lignin-degrading Agaricomycetes fungi, resulting in a period when vast amounts of lignin-rich plant material accumulated. Here, we reject this evolutionary lag hypothesis, based on assessment of phylogenomic, geochemical, paleontological, and stratigraphic evidence. Lignin-degrading Agaricomycetes may have been present before the Carboniferous, and lignin degradation was likely never restricted to them and their class II peroxidases, because lignin modification is known to occur via other enzymatic mechanisms in other fungal and bacterial lineages. Furthermore, a large proportion of Carboniferous coal horizons are dominated by unlignified lycopsid periderm with equivalent coal accumulation rates continuing through several transitions between floral dominance by lignin-poor lycopsids and lignin-rich tree ferns and seed plants. Thus, biochemical composition had little relevance to coal accumulation. Throughout the fossil record, evidence of decay is pervasive in all organic matter exposed subaerially during deposition, and high coal accumulation rates have continued to the present wherever environmental conditions permit. Rather than a consequence of a temporal decoupling of evolutionary innovations between fungi and plants, Paleozoic coal abundance was likely the result of a unique combination of everwet tropical conditions and extensive depositional systems during the assembly of Pangea.lignin | carbon cycle | wood rot | fungi | lignin degradation

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“…During interglacial phases (late transgressive to highstand systems tracts), climate was largely humid to subhumid, and tropical forests were dominated by lycopsids, pteridosperms, and tree ferns (DiMichele and Phillips, 1994;DiMichele et al, 2001DiMichele et al, , 2007. In contrast, at intervals approaching glacial maxima, climate was relatively drier and more seasonal, dominated by a variety of gymnosperms that included cordaitaleans, pteridosperms, and conifers (Falcon-Lang et al, 2009; Falcon-Lang and DiMichele, 2010).…”

Section: Glacial Cycles and Megafloral Biostratigraphymentioning

confidence: 99%

No Major Stratigraphic Gap Exists Near the Middle-Upper Pennsylvanian (Desmoinesian-Missourian) Boundary in North America

Falcon-Lang¹,

Heckel²,

DiMichele³

et al. 2011

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Interregional correlation of the marine zones of major cyclothems between North America and eastern Europe does not support assertions that a major stratigraphic gap exists between the traditional regional Desmoinesian and Missourian stages in North America. Such a gap was previously proposed to explain an abrupt change in megafloral assemblages in the northern Appalachian Basin and by extension across all of North America. Conodont-based correlation from the essentially complete low-shelf Midcontinent succession (distal from the highstand shoreline), through the mid-shelf Illinois Basin, to the high shelf of the Appalachian Basin (proximal to highstand shoreline) demonstrates that all major -400 kyr cyclothem groupings in the Midcontinent are recognizable in the Illinois Basin. In the Appalachian Basin, however, the grouping at the base of the Missourian is represented only by paleosols and localized coal. The immediately preceding grouping was removed very locally by paleovalley incision, as is evident at the 7-11 Mine, Columbiana County, Ohio, from which the original megafloral data were derived. At the few localities where incised paleodrainage exists, there may be a gap of -1000 kyr, but a gap of no more than ~600 kyr occurs elsewhere in the Appalachian Basin at that level and its magnitude progressively decreases westward into the Illinois (-300 kyr) and Midcontinent (<200 kyr) Basins. Thus, while a gap is present near the Desmoinesian-Missourian boundary in North America, it is typically more than an order of magnitude smaller than that originally proposed and is similar to the gaps inferred at sequence boundaries between cyclothems at many horizons in the Pennsylvanian of North America.

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Paleobotanical and paleoecological constraints on models of peat formation in the Late Carboniferous of Euramerica

Cited by 273 publications

References 127 publications

What Happened to the Coal Forests During Pennsylvanian Glacial Phases?

What Happened to the Coal Forests During Pennsylvanian Glacial Phases?

Delayed fungal evolution did not cause the Paleozoic peak in coal production

No Major Stratigraphic Gap Exists Near the Middle-Upper Pennsylvanian (Desmoinesian-Missourian) Boundary in North America

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