Early land plant spore assemblages from the Late Silurian of Skane, Sweden

[en] A palynological study based on sedimentary rocks (mainly calcareous siltstones and mudstones with minor carbonate beds) from the upper Silurian Öved-Ramsåsa Group in the Klinta 1 and Bjärsjölagård 2 drillcores, Skåne, Sweden, reveals a rich assemblage of well-preserved spores produced by early land plants. Thirty-four spore taxa belonging to 19 genera, including the new species Scylaspora klintaensis sp. nov., were identified. The palynoflora is characterized by cryptospores and trilete spores. The dominant spore species are the cryptospores Gneudnaspora plicata followed by Gneudnaspora divellomedia. Based on the presence of biostratigraphically important spore species such as Hispanaediscus lamontii, Artemopyra radiata, Emphanisporites neglectus, Synorisporites cf. libycus and Synorisporites tripapillatus, the age of the studied strata is interpreted to be of a Late Silurian age. Although the palynological assemblages are strongly dominated by miospores and other land plant fragments, marine microfossils are also present and the sedimentary succession is interpreted to have been deposited in a nearshore marine environment.

Disciplines :

Earth sciences & physical geography

Author, co-author :

Mehlqvist, K.

Vajda, V.

Steemans, Philippe ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de géologie > Paléobiogéologie - Paléobotanique - Paléopalynologie (PPP)

Language :

English

Title :

Early land plant spore assemblages from the Late Silurian of Skane, Sweden

Publication date :

2012

Journal title :

Geologiska Foreningens i Stockholm Forhandlingar

ISSN :

0016-786X

Publisher :

Swedish Science Press, Sweden

Volume :

134

Issue :

Pages :

133-144

Peer reviewed :

Peer reviewed

Available on ORBi :

since 26 April 2012

Statistics

Number of views

69 (3 by ULiège)

Number of downloads

243 (6 by ULiège)

More statistics

Scopus citations^®

Scopus citations^®
without self-citations

OpenCitations

OpenAlex citations

Bibliography

Allen, K.C. 1965. Lower and Middle Devonian spores of North and Central Vestspitsbergen. Palaeontology, 8: 687-748.
Balme, B. 1988. Miospores from Late Devonian (early Frasnian) strata, Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia. Palaeontographica, 209: 109-166.
Breuer, P., Al-Ghazi, A., Al-Ruwaili, M., Higgs, K.T., Steemans, P. and Wellman, C.H. 2007. Early to Middle Devonian miospores from northern Saudi Arabia. Revue de Micropaléontologie, 50: 27-57.
Burgess, N.D. 1991. Silurian cryptospores and miospores from the type Llandovery area, south-west Wales. Palaeontology, 34: 575-599.
Burgess, N.D. and Richardson, J.B. 1991. Silurian cryptospores and miospores from the type Wenlock area, Shropshire, England. Palaeontology, 34: 601-628.
Burgess, N.D. and Richardson, J.B. 1995. Late Wenlock to Early Přídolí cryptospores and miospores from south and southwest Wales, Great Britain. Palaeontographica, 236: 1-44.
Cramer, F.H. 1966. Palynology of Silurian and Devonian rock in northwest Spain. Boletín del Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, 77: 223-286.
Dufka, P. 1995. Upper Wenlock miospores and cryptospores derived from a Silurian volcanic island in the Prague Basin (Barrandian area, Bohemia). Journal of Micropalaeontology, 14: 67-79.
Edwards, D. 2000. The role of Mid-Paleozoic mesofossils in the detection of early bryophytes. Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences, 355(1398): 733-755.
Edwards, D. and Richardson, J.B. 2004. Silurian and Lower Devonian plant assemblages from the Anglow-Welsh Basin: a palaeobotanical and palynological synthesis. Geological Journal, 39: 375-402.
Edwards, D. and Wellman, C.H. 2001. "Embryophytes on land: the Ordovician to Lochkovian (Lower Devonian) Record". In Plants invade the land, Edited by: Gensel, P.G. and Edwards, D. 3-28. New York: Columbian University Press.
Gray, J. 1984. Ordovician-Silurian land plants: the interdependence of ecology and evolution. Special Papers in Palaeontology, 32: 281-2895.
Gray, J. 1989. Adaptative radiation of early land plants. 28th international geological congress,: I-582-I-583. Abstract Vol. 1
Gray, J. 1993. Major Paleozoic land plant evolutionary bio-events. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology and Palaeoecology, 104: 153-169.
Gray, J. and Boucot, A.J. 1971. Early Silurian spore tetrads from New York: earliest New World evidence for vascular plants. Science, 173: 918-921.
Gray, J. and Boucot, A.J. 1972. Palynological evidence bearing on the Ordovician-Silurian paraconformity in Ohio. Bulletin, Geological Society of America, 83: 1299-1314.
Gray, J., Laufeld, S. and Boucot, A.J. 1974. Silurian trilete spores and spore tetrads from Gotland: their implications for land plant evolution. Science, 185: 260-263.
Hagström, J. 1997. Land-derived palynomorphs from the Silurian of Gotland, Sweden. GFF, 119: 301-316.
Hagström, J. and Mehlqvist, K. 2012. The dawn of terrestrial ecosystems on Baltica: first report on land plant remains and arthropod coprolites from the Upper Silurian of Gotland, Sweden. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology and Palaeoecology, 317-318C: 162-170.
Hoffmeister, W.S. 1959. Lower Silurian plant spores from Libya. Micropaleontology, 5: 331-334.
Jeppsson, L., Eriksson, M.E. and Calner, M. 2006. A latest Llandovery to latest Ludlow high-resolution biostratigraphy based on the Silurian of Gotland-a summary. GFF, 128: 109-114.
Jeppsson, L. and Laufeld, S. 1986. The Late Silurian Öved-Ramsåsa Group in Skåne, southern Sweden. Sveriges Geologiska Undersökning, Serie Ca, 58: 1-45.
Johnson, N.G. 1985. Early Silurian palynomorphs from the Tuscarora Formation in central Pennsylvania and their paleobotanical and geological significance. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 45: 307-360.
Le Hérissé, A. 1989. Acritarches et kystes d'algues prasinophycées du Silurien de Gotland, Suède. Palaeontographia Italica, 76: 57-302.
Lele, K.M. and Streel, M. 1969. Middle Devonian (Givetian) plant microfossils from Goé (Belgium). Annales de la Société Géologique de Belgique, 92: 89-121.
McGregor, D.C. 1961. Spores with proximal radial pattern from the Devonian of Canada. Bulletin, Geological Survey of Canada, 76: 1-11.
McGregor, D.C. 1973. Lower and middle Devonian spores of eastern Gaspe, Canada. I. Systematics. Palaeontographica. Abteilung B: Palaeophytologie, 142: 1-74.
Mizusaki, A.M., Melo, J.H.G., Lelarge, M.L. and Steemans, P. 2002. Vila Maria Formation, Paraná Basin, Brazil-an example of integrated geochronological and palynological datings. Geological Magazine, 139(4): 453-463.
Naumova, S.N. 1953. Spore-pollen complexes of the Upper Devonian of the Russian Platform and their stratigraphic value. Akademiia nauk SSSR, Geologicheskiy instiut. Geologicheskiy seriya, 60: 1-154. (In Russian)
Nielsen, A.T. 2004. "Ordovician sea level changes: a Baltoscandian perspective". In The Great Ordovician Diversification Event, Edited by: Webby, B.D., Paris, F., Droser, M. and Percival, I. 84-93. New York: Columbia University Press.
Potonié, R. and Kremp, G. 1954. Die Gattungen der palaozoischen Sporae dispersae und ihre Stratigraphie. Geologisches Jahrbuch, 69: 11-194.
Richardson, J.B. 1965. Middle Old Red Sandstone spore assemblages from the Orcadian Basin, north-east Scotland. Palaeontology, 7: 559-605.
Richardson, J.B. 1988. "Late Ordovician and Early Silurian cryptospores and miospores from northeast Libya". In Subsurface palynostratigraphy of northeast Libya, Edited by: El-Arnaut, A., Owens, B. and Thusu, B. 89-109. Bengahzi, Libya: Garyounis University Publications.
Richardson, J.B. 1996a. Taxonomy and classification of some new early Devonian cryptospores from Britain. Special Papers in Palaeontology, 55: 7-40.
Richardson, J.B. 1996b. "Paleozoic spores and pollen. 18A-lower and middle Palaeozoic records of terrestrial palynomorphs". In Palynology: principles and applications, Edited by: Jansounius, J. and McGregor, D.C. Vol. 2, 555-574. Salt Lake City, UT: American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists Foundation. Publishers Press.
Richardson, J.B. and Ioannides, N.S. 1973. Silurian palynomorphs from the Tanezzuft and Acacus formations, Tripolitania, North Africa. Micropalaeontology, 19: 257-307.
Richardson, J.B. and Lister, T.R. 1969. Upper Silurian and Lower Devonian spore assemblages from the Welsh Borderland and South Wales. Palaeontology, 12: 201-252.
Richardson, J.B. and Mcgregor, D.C. 1986. Silurian and Devonian spore zones of the Old Red Sandstone continent and adjacent regions. Bulletin, Geological Survey of Canada, 364: 1-73.
Richardson, J.B., Rodriguez, R.M. and Sutherland, S.J.E. 2001. Palynological zonation of Mid-Palaeozoic sequences from the Cantabrian Mountains, NW Spain: implications for inter-regional and interfacies correlation of the Ludford/Přídolí and Silurian/Devonian boundaries, and plant dispersal patterns. Bulletin of the Natural History Museum, London (Geology), 57(2): 115-162.
Rubinstein, C.V., Gerrienne, P., de la Puente, G.S., Astini, R.A. and Steemans, P. 2010. Early Middle Ordovician evidence for land plants in Argentina (eastern Gondwana). New Phytologist, 188: 365-369.
Rubinstein, C. and Steemans, P. 2002. Miospore assemblages from the Silurian-Devonian boundary, in borehole A1-61, Ghadamis Basin, Libya. Review of Paleobotany and Palynology, 118: 397-421.
Scotese, C.R., 2003: Paleomap project.http://www.scotese.com/Default.htm
Smelror, M. 1987. Llandovery and Wenlock miospores and spore-like microfossils from the Ringerike district, Norway. Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift, 67: 143-150.
Smith, A.H.V. and Butterworth, M.A. 1967. Miospores in the coal seams of the Carboniferous of Great Britain. Special Papers in Palaeontology, 1: 1-324.
Steemans, P. 1995. Silurian and Lower Emsian spores in Saudi Arabia. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 89: 91-104.
Steemans, P., 1996: Palynology of the Ludlovian Burgsvik Formation of Gotland, Sweden. pp. 151, Abstract IX IPC Meeting, Houston, Texas, USA. June 23-28
Steemans, P. 2001. Ordovician cryptospores from the Oostduinkerke borehole, Brabant Massif, Belgium. Geobios, 34(1): 3-12.
Steemans, P., Higgs, K.T. and Wellman, C.H. 2000. "Cryptospores and Trilete Spores from the Llandovery Nuayyim-2 Borehole, Saudi Arabia. 92-115". In Stratigraphic Palynology of the Palaeozoic of Saudi Arabia, Edited by: Al-Hajri, S. and Owens, B. 231Bahrain: GeoArabia Special Publication 1.
Steemans, P., Le Hérissé, A. and Bozdogan, N. 1996. Ordovician and Silurian cryptospores and miospores from southeastern Turkey. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 93: 35-76.
Steemans, P., Le Hérissé, A., Melvin, J., Miller, M.A., Paris, F., Verniers, J. and Wellman, C.H. 2009. Origin and Radiation of the Earliest Vascular Land Plants. Science, 324: 353
Steemans, P., Lepot, K., Marshall, C.P., Le Hérissé, A. and Javaux, E.J. 2010. FTIR characterisation of the chemical composition of Silurian miospores (cryptospores and trilete spores) from Gotland, Sweden. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 93: 35-76.
Steemans, P. and Pereira, E. 2002. Llandovery miospore biostratigraphy and stratigraphic evolution of the Paraná Basin, Paraguay-palaeogeographic implications. Bulletin de la Société géologique de France, 5: 407-414.
Steemans, P., Rubinstein, C. and Melo, J.H.G. 2008. Siluro-Devonian miospore biostratigraphy of the Urubu River area, western Amazon Basin, northern Brazil. Geobios, 41: 263-282.
Streel, M. 1964. Une association du Givétien inférieur de la Vesdre à Goé (Belgique). Annales de la Société Géologique de Belgique, 87: 1-30.
Strother, P.K. 1991. A classification for the cryptospores. Palynology, 15: 4-20.
Strother, P.K. and Traverse, A. 1979. Plant microfossils from Llandoverian and Wenlockian rocks of Pennsylvania. Palynology, 3: 1-22.
Taylor, W.A. 1996. Ultrastructure of lower Paleozoic dyads from southern Ohio. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 92: 269-279.
Vecoli, M., Delabroye, A., Spina, A. and Hints, O. 2011. Cryptospore assemblages from Upper Ordovician (Katian-Hirnantian) strata of Anticosti Island, Québec, Canada, and Estonia: palaeophytogeographic and palaeoclimatic implications. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 166: 76-93.
Vigran, J. 1964. Spores from Devonian deposits, Mimerdalen, Spitsbergen. Norsk Polarinstitutt, 132: 1-32.
Wellman, C.H. 1993. A land plant microfossil assemblage of Mid Silurian age from the Stonehaven Group, Scotland. Journal of Micropalaeontology, 12: 47-66.
Wellman, C.H. and Gray, J. 2000. The microfossil record of early land plants. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. London. B, 355: 717-732.
Wellman, C.H., Osterloff, P.L. and Mohiuddin, U. 2003. Fragments of the earliest land plants. Nature, 425: 282-285.
Wellman, C.H. and Richardson, J.B. 1993. Terrestrial plant microfossils from Silurian inliers of the Midland Valley of Scotland. Palaeontology, 36: 155-193.
Wellman, C.H. and Richardson, J.B. 1996. "Sporomorph assemblages from the 'Lower Old Red Sandstone' at Lorne, Scotland". In Special Papers in Palaeontology 55 41-101.
Wigforss-Lange, J. 1999. Carbon isotope 13C enrichment in Upper Silurian (Whitcliffian) marine calcareous rocks in Scania, Sweden. GFF, 121: 273-279.
Wigforss-Lange, J. 2007. Tidal facies in the Upper Silurian Öved Ramsåsa Group of Scania, Sweden: linkages of radial and cerebroid ooids and evaporite tracers to subtidal lagoonal environment. GFF, 129: 8-15.