Taphonomy and chemotaxonomy of Eocene amber from southeastern Australia

Coward, Andrew J.; Mays, Chris; Patti, Antonio F.; Stilwell, Jeffrey D.; O’Dell, Luke A.; Viegas, Pedro A.

doi:10.1016/j.orggeochem.2017.12.004

Cited by 10 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…The principal component analysis employed herein was inconclusive, as it failed to support a specific botanical affinity for Protodammara amongst the three analysed extant conifer families (Appendix 3). Coward et al (2018) demonstrated similar 13 C NMR spectra between 'fresh' unaltered Class Ib ambers and those which have undergone heavy visible alteration (e.g., colour alteration, fragmentation, powdering, increase in opacity) as a result of geological processes. As such, taphonomic alteration via geological processes (e.g., age, temperature, pressure, groundwater interaction) can be tentatively excluded as a cause of statistical variance in this sample of Class Ib amber.…”

Section: Chatham Amber Classification: 13 C Solid-state Nmrmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…Approximately, 25 mg of tubular resin fragments from B1471 were available for solid-state 13 C CP-MAS NMR (carbon-13 crosspolarisation-magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance) analysis. The NMR methods employed herein follow Coward et al (2018), with the following exceptions: (a) 50,000 scans were acquired; (b) teflon spacers were included in the rotor to centre the smaller amount of sample relative to the RF coil; and (c) extra line broadening (25 Hz) was applied to smooth the peaks. 13 C solid-state NMR data were collected from dispersed fossil resins of sample B1471, and the raw data are provided herein as Appendix 2.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Class Ib ambers (Group A) lack succinic acid but remain otherwise chemically equivalent to Class Ia (Lambert et al, 2008). Class Ib or Group A ambers are widespread, having been identified in both Northern and Southern hemispheres, including Australia, Zealandia, North America, Greenland, Europe and Asia (e.g., Lambert et al, 1988Lambert et al, , 1990Lambert et al, , 1993Coward et al, 2018), and recent preliminary evidence in sub-Saharan Africa (Perrichot et al, 2016). Class Ib ambers have been linked to both araucarian and cupressaceous sources (e.g., Lambert et al, 1993; Protodammara reimatamoriori, desiccated coalified fossil with in situ resin analysed in this study (arrows), scale = 2 mm, PL1228 (paratype).…”

Section: Chemotaxonomy Of Resins and Ambermentioning

confidence: 99%

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The botanical provenance and taphonomy of Late Cretaceous Chatham amber, Chatham Islands, New Zealand

Mays

Coward

O’Dell

et al. 2019

Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology

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Fossil resin (amber) has been recently reported as common, but small, sedimentary components throughout the lower Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian; 99-94 Ma) strata of the Tupuangi Formation, Chatham Islands, eastern Zealandia. From these deposits, resin has also been identified and obtained from well-preserved, coalified specimens of the conifer fossil Protodammara reimatamoriori Mays and Cantrill, 2018. Here, we employed attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) to both dispersed and in situ amber specimens. These resulted in very similar chemical signatures, indicating that these fossils are likely from the same or closely-related botanical sources. The FTIR data are typical of a conifer source within the 'cupressaceous resins' category of Tappert et al. (2011). Carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (13 C NMR) facilitated the probable identification of these ambers as 'Class Ib' (sensu Anderson et al. 1992). Based on these spectral data sets, the likely botanical sources of the amber were either Araucariaceae or Cupressaceae; both of these conifer families were common and widespread in the Southern Hemisphere during the Cretaceous. However, the morphology and anatomy of P. reimatamoriori support an affinity to the latter family, thus indicating that the Cretaceous amber of the Chatham Islands was generally produced by members of the Cupressaceae. Comparing the FTIR data to the published spectra of modern resins, we also identify a band ratio which may aid in distinguishing between the FTIR spectra of Araucariaceae and Cupressaceae, and outline the limitations to this approach. A high concentration of ester bonds in Chatham amber specimens, which exceeds typical Cupressaceae resins, is probably caused by taphonomic alteration via thermal maturation. The source of thermal alteration was likely preburial wildfires, conditions for which P. reimatamoriori was adapted to as part of its life cycle. A comparison of ambers of the Chatham Islands with modern resins and amber from various localities in Australasia reveals that, taphonomic influences aside, Chatham amber has a unique signature, suggesting that members of the basal Cupressaceae (e.g., Protodammara) were not major contributors to other documented Australasian amber deposits. The closest analogy to Chatham amber deposits appears to be the Upper Cretaceous Raritan Formation, USA, which is characterised by its rich amber, charcoal and Cupressaceae fossil assemblages. This study further supports the hypotheses that the early Late Cretaceous south polar forests were dominated by Cupressaceae, and regularly disturbed by wildfires.

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Section: Chatham Amber Classification: 13 C Solid-state Nmrmentioning

confidence: 81%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Chemotaxonomy Of Resins and Ambermentioning

confidence: 99%

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The botanical provenance and taphonomy of Late Cretaceous Chatham amber, Chatham Islands, New Zealand

Mays

Coward

O’Dell

et al. 2019

Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology

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“…The early Eocene Tasmanian amber represents Class 1b ambers sensu Anderson et al 35 . The botanic provenance of the amber is most likely to have been the conifer families Araucariaceae and/or Cupressaceae, as supported by FTIR and NMR analyses 36 , whilst macrofossils and pollen inclusions indicate the genera Agathis or Araucaria.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Both Class Ib and Class II ambers 35 were encountered at Anglesea. FTIR and NMR spectral data indicate that, as with the Tasmanian Macquarie Harbour Formation amber, Cupressaceae and/or Araucariaceae were primary botanical sources, but the Anglesea ambers also include one or more angiosperm groups with a chemical signature similar to Dipterocarpaceae 36 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Amber from the Triassic to Paleogene of Australia and New Zealand as exceptional preservation of poorly known terrestrial ecosystems

Stilwell

Langendam

Mays

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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the northern Hemisphere dominates our knowledge of Mesozoic and cenozoic fossilized tree resin (amber) with few findings from the high southern paleolatitudes of Southern Pangea and Southern Gondwana. Here we report new Pangean and Gondwana amber occurrences dating from ~230 to 40 Ma from Australia (Late triassic and paleogene of tasmania; Late cretaceous Gippsland Basin in Victoria; Paleocene and late middle Eocene of Victoria) and New Zealand (Late Cretaceous Chatham Islands). The Paleogene, richly fossiliferous deposits contain significant and diverse inclusions of arthropods, plants and fungi. These austral discoveries open six new windows to different but crucial intervals of the Mesozoic and early cenozoic, providing the earliest occurrence(s) of some taxa in the modern fauna and flora giving new insights into the ecology and evolution of polar and subpolar terrestrial ecosystems. Amber, or ancient tree resin, is valued most highly in science as an exceptional preservation medium for small organisms as fossil bioinclusions. In paleontology, diverse animals, plants and microorganisms have the potential of being preserved in three dimensions in the finest of detail. Worldwide, ambers have been recorded dominantly in upper Mesozoic to lower Cenozoic rocks from Northern Hemisphere and Northern Gondwana localities, but only one southern high latitude occurrence of microorganisms and microbe-like inclusions in amber has been published from the early Late Cretaceous (Turonian) in the Flaxman and Waarre formations of southern Victoria, Australia 1. Other Late Cretaceous ambers have recently been reported from the Chatham Islands, New Zealand 2 , representing internal plant resin canals (no exuded amber), and small to minute amber fragments have been reported from the early Paleogene (early Eocene) of western Tasmania 3 , mid-Paleogene of Victoria 4 and strandline deposits of the southern coast of Australia from Victoria to the west coast 5 (Fig. 1). However, no preserved animals or plants have yet been found. Neogene ambers have been reported from the Mio-Pliocene Australian Latrobe Valley Coal, cropping out near Yallourn, Allendale and also Lal Lal in Victoria in Australia 6,7 (Fig. 1). Earlier reports of Cretaceous amber sourced from the Wonthaggi Coal Mine 7 have proved to be anomalous and not from the Mesozoic or early Cenozoic 1. Amber from Cape York, far northern Queensland, Australia, is under study to establish if it is autochthonous or allochthonous (see discussion in Supplementary Text). New

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