Paleoenvironments and Age of the Wasatch Formation (Eocene), Powder River Basin, Wyoming

Pocknall, David T.

doi:10.2307/3514762

Cited by 25 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…7a, b) indicating the development of waterlogged, nutrient-limited conditions. This is consistent with other early Paleogene, peat-forming environments where Sphagnumtype spores proliferate following changes in basin subsidence and drainage (Pocknall, 1987). Ulminite, which forms in wet, low pH conditions within forested peatlands or raised bogs (Sýkorová et al, 2005), correlates with the relative abundance of Sphagnum-type spores throughout the top of Seam 1 (Fig.…”

Section: Environmental Controls On Sphagnum Occurrence Within Seam 1supporting

confidence: 78%

Ecological and biogeochemical change in an early Paleogene peat-forming environment: Linking biomarkers and palynology

Inglis

Collinson

Riegel

et al. 2015

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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Sphagnum moss is the dominant plant type in modern boreal and (sub)arctic ombrotrophic bogs and is of particular interest due to its sensitivity to climate and its important role in wetland biogeochemistry. Here we reconstruct the occurrence of Sphagnum moss -and associated biogeochemical change -within a thermally immature, early Paleogene (~55 Ma) lignite from Schöningen, NW Germany using a high-resolution, multi-proxy approach. Changes in the abundance of Sphagnum-type spores and the C 23 /C 31 n-alkane ratio indicate the expansion of Sphagnum moss within the top of the lignite seam. This Sphagnum moss expansion is associated with the development of waterlogged conditions, analogous to what has been observed within modern ombrotrophic bogs. The similarity between biomarkers and palynology also indicates that the C 23 /C 31 n-alkane ratio may be a reliable chemotaxonomic indicator for Sphagnum during the early Paleogene. The δ 13 C value of bacterial hopanes and mid-chain n-alkanes indicates that a rise in water table is not associated with a substantial increase in aerobic methanotrophy. The absence of very low δ 13 C values within the top of the seam could reflect either less methanogenesis or less efficient methane oxidation under waterlogged sulphate-rich conditions.

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Section: Environmental Controls On Sphagnum Occurrence Within Seam 1supporting

confidence: 78%

Ecological and biogeochemical change in an early Paleogene peat-forming environment: Linking biomarkers and palynology

Inglis

Collinson

Riegel

et al. 2015

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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“…Samples from the Bighorn Basin, Powder River Basin (both Wyoming) and Williston Basin (North Dakota) are from published accounts [24][25][26][27] and represent relative abundance count data for the US western interior. Other datasets from the Arctic, North America and Europe (electronic supplementary material) are all dated to the Early Eocene [24][25][26][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]. In most cases, the dating is just to the Early Eocene based on bio-and lithostratigraphy.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arctic plant diversity in the Early Eocene greenhouse

Harrington

Eberle

LePage³

et al. 2011

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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For the majority of the Early Caenozoic, a remarkable expanse of humid, mesothermal to temperate forests spread across Northern Polar regions that now contain specialized plant and animal communities adapted to life in extreme environments. Little is known on the taxonomic diversity of Arctic floras during greenhouse periods of the Caenozoic. We show for the first time that plant richness in the globally warm Early Eocene (approx. 55 -52 Myr) in the Canadian High Arctic (768 N) is comparable with that approximately 3500 km further south at mid-latitudes in the US western interior (44 -478 N). Arctic Eocene pollen floras are most comparable in richness with today's forests in the southeastern United States, some 5000 km further south of the Arctic. Nearly half of the Eocene, Arctic plant taxa are endemic and the richness of pollen floras implies significant patchiness to the vegetation type and clear regional richness of angiosperms. The reduced latitudinal diversity gradient in Early Eocene North American plant species demonstrates that extreme photoperiod in the Arctic did not limit taxonomic diversity of plants.

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“…However, grains similar to these types are also found in pre-Neogene sediments (e.g. Pocknall, 1987;Traverse, 1988) and therefore a more detailed quantitative and descriptive palynological analysis of the underclay assemblage presented here, in conjunction with the analysis of samples taken through the entire SBb sequence, will need to be done. This work will add significantly to our understanding of the floristics, vegetation, and climate of the SBb paleoenvironment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…48o, is also questionably attributed to Betulaceae as this type is very similar to the Myricaceae and Casuarinaceae (e.g. Pocknall, 1987). Alnus includes both 5-and 4-porate types (Fig.…”

Section: Palynomorphsmentioning

confidence: 98%

New observations on the Middle Fork Eel River coal-bearing beds, Mendocino County, California, USA

Bartley

Bartley²,

Springer

et al. 2010

International Journal of Coal Geology

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Paleoenvironments and Age of the Wasatch Formation (Eocene), Powder River Basin, Wyoming

Cited by 25 publications

References 10 publications

Ecological and biogeochemical change in an early Paleogene peat-forming environment: Linking biomarkers and palynology

Ecological and biogeochemical change in an early Paleogene peat-forming environment: Linking biomarkers and palynology

Arctic plant diversity in the Early Eocene greenhouse

New observations on the Middle Fork Eel River coal-bearing beds, Mendocino County, California, USA

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