Paleoclimatic and paleoecological implications of a Paleocene-Eocene fossil leaf assemblage, Chickaloon Formation, Alaska

Downloadable Content

Download this item
Abstract
  • New collections of a leaf compression-impression paleoflora preserved in fluvio-lacustrine sediments of the upper Chickaloon Formation, south-central Alaska, United States, provide leaf physiognomic climate estimates for the early Eocene in southern Alaska and rare data on plant-insect interactions from a subarctic setting. Thirty-nine broadleaf angiosperm morphotypes occur in a parautochthonous assemblage along with Metasequoia shoots and trunks, compressions of a diverse suite of seeds, monocotyledonous aquatic plants, freshwater gastropods, and inclusion-bearing dispersed amber. Leaf-character derived mean annual temperature estimates (11-14.6 degrees C) are significantly warmer than Alaska at present and indicate warm temperate conditions at the time of deposition. Leaf-derived mean annual precipitation estimates of similar to 110-160 cm/annum are comparable to those from similar-age paleofloras in Arctic Canada and indicate wetter conditions than nearly coeval paleofloras further south in the North American mid-latitudes. Leaf herbivory is rare in the Chickaloon assemblage (similar to 9% of leaf fragments) as compared to other, lower latitude Eocene assemblages, but exhibits four of the main leaf-damage guilds (hole feeding, margin feeding, surface feeding, and skeletonization). These data provide a rare glimpse at a high-latitude terrestrial forested ecosystem during a global hothouse climate phase and thus have implications in understanding how biogeographic patterning and ecological systems respond to non-analog, warm high-latitude environmental conditions.
TitlePaleoclimatic and paleoecological implications of a Paleocene-Eocene fossil leaf assemblage, Chickaloon Formation, Alaska
CreatorParker, N. E.
Loope, G.
Williams, C. J.
Sunderlin, David
PublisherPalaios
Academic DepartmentGeology & Environmental Geosciences
DivisionNatural Sciences
OrganizationLafayette College
Date IssuedJune 2011
Date Available2011-09-12T14:21:02Z
TypeArticle
LanguageEnglish
Bibliographic CitationSunderlin, D., et al. (2011). "Paleoclimatic and paleoecological implications of a Paleocene-Eocene fossil leaf assemblage, Chickaloon Formation, Alaska." Palaois 26 (6): 335–345.
Standard IdentifierHandle 10385/839
DOI 10.2110/palo.2010.p10-077r
Permalinkhttp://hdl.handle.net/10385/839
Rights Statement In Copyright In Copyright
Rights HoldersSEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology)
Contains
File Sunderlin-Palaios-vol26-no6-2011.pdf Uploaded 2019-10-20 Public Download

Member of Collection

Faculty Publications

View Collection