A critical analysis of the higher Pennsylvanian megafloras of the Appalachian region

Wagner, Robert H.; Lyons, Paul C.

doi:10.1016/s0034-6667(96)00037-1

Cited by 68 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…pennsylvania: Oleksyshyn (1982), Wnuk (1985). west virginia: Wagner and Lyons (1997 REMARKS. This lycopsid genus encompasses specimens that lack a well-differentiated leaf scar.…”

Section: Stratigraphic and Geographic Distri-mentioning

confidence: 99%

Lycopsida from the lower Westphalian (Middle Pennsylvanian) of the Maritime Provinces, Canada

Álvarez-Vázquez

Wagner²

2014

atgeol

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A taxonomic revision of lycopsids is presented as part of a reassesment of lower to middle Westphalian adpression floras from the Maritime Provinces of Canada. Being elements of the swamp flora their record reflects sedimentary bias. Systematic collecting from the “Fern Ledges” at Saint John (New Brunswick) has yielded only a few lycopsid remains as a result of the allochthonous facies. Most records (mainly by W.A. Bell in the twentieth century) correspond to sporadic collecting by Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) personnel. Their specimens are kept in GSC Ottawa. Additional remains are in museums at Montréal (Quebec), Joggins (Nova Scotia) and Saint John (New Brunswick). We introduce a new species (Lepidodendron bellii), and reinstate another (Diaphorodendron decurtatum) described by Dawson in the 19th century. Altogether, 26 taxa are described, including stem and branch remains as well as roots, leaves, strobili and sporophylls. Three specimens are illustrated from localities outside Canada so as to clarify specific characters. A copy of Lindley and Hutton’s illustration of the type of Lepidodendron dilatatum (here recorded as Bergeria dilatata) is figured in the context of a redefinition of the genus Bergeria for stem remains with false leaf scars. Problems surrounding the morphological interpretation of arborescent lycopsids of Pennsylvanian age are discussed, and the stratigraphic and paleogeographic distribution are recorded for the different taxa. The identity of the Pennsylvanian flora of the Canadian Maritimes with that of the British Isles and western Europe in general is emphasized by the synonymies discussed. Paleogeographic proximity and a similar paleolatitude justify the identity of floras.

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“…pennsylvania: Oleksyshyn (1982), Wnuk (1985). west virginia: Wagner and Lyons (1997 REMARKS. This lycopsid genus encompasses specimens that lack a well-differentiated leaf scar.…”

Section: Stratigraphic and Geographic Distri-mentioning

confidence: 99%

Lycopsida from the lower Westphalian (Middle Pennsylvanian) of the Maritime Provinces, Canada

Álvarez-Vázquez

Wagner²

2014

atgeol

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“…This wetland flora is quite widespread, however, and has been found throughout the outcrop area, including in the redbed facies (Blake and Gillespie, 2011). The flora is diverse and includes many species characteristic of the latest Pennsylvanian (Gzhelian), quantitatively dominated by marattialean tree ferns (Blake et al, 2002;Darrah, 1975;Gillespie et al, 1975;Wagner and Lyons, 1997). There are also some taxa that, in Europe, had been considered characteristic of the Middle Pennsylvanian, specifically the pteridosperms Neuropteris ovata and Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri (see discussion in Darrah, 1975).…”

Section: Plant Fossils In Geologic Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Callipterids have been described from the immediate roof shales of a coal bed at only one place, the Brown's Bridge locality, by Fontaine and White (1880), and here they may actually have occurred in a clastic layer at the base of the Lower Washington Limestone (White, 1891). Other plants typical (but not diagnostic) of Permian-age floras have been reported from the Dunkard and older rocks in the Appalachian Basin including Taeniopteris, Plagiozamites, and conifers (Blake and Gillespie, 2011), including one collection from near the base of the Upper Pennsylvanian (McComas, 1988;Wagner and Lyons, 1997). These are reported from various horizons, including the Cassville Shale, above the Waynesburg coal, at the base of the Dunkard Group (Darrah, 1975;Fontaine and White, 1880;White, 1904White, , 1936.…”

Section: Plant Fossils In Geologic Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Callipterid peltasperms of the Dunkard Group, Central Appalachian Basin

DiMichele

Kerp

Sirmons

et al. 2013

International Journal of Coal Geology

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“…Specifically, they ' Corresponding author. suggested that most of the Cantabrian Substage (which straddles the Desmoinesian-Missourian boundary), all of Stephanian Substage A (Barruelian), Substage B, and much, if not all, of Substage C are absent in the Appalachian Basin and, as asserted later, throughout North America (Wagner, 2003;Wagner and Alvarez-Vazquez, 2010). Wagner and Lyons (1997) positioned their unconformity within the lowermost Conemaugh Group of the Appalachian Basin. Based on megafloral assemblages, they indicated that the roof shales of the Upper Freeport coal are of basal Stephanian (early Cantabrian) age, while the remainder of the Conemaugh Group is late Stephanian C or even early Autunian in age, similar to the lower Rotliegend of western Europe.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1; Heckel and Clayton, 2006). Under this system (Wagner and Lyons, 1997), the Appalachian Basin lacks megafloral remains typifying most of the Stephanian Stage (formerly Series) of western Europe (=Kasimovian-lower Gzhelian). Specifically, they ' Corresponding author. suggested that most of the Cantabrian Substage (which straddles the Desmoinesian-Missourian boundary), all of Stephanian Substage A (Barruelian), Substage B, and much, if not all, of Substage C are absent in the Appalachian Basin and, as asserted later, throughout North America (Wagner, 2003;Wagner and Alvarez-Vazquez, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

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

PALAIOS

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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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A critical analysis of the higher Pennsylvanian megafloras of the Appalachian region

Cited by 68 publications

References 5 publications

Lycopsida from the lower Westphalian (Middle Pennsylvanian) of the Maritime Provinces, Canada

Lycopsida from the lower Westphalian (Middle Pennsylvanian) of the Maritime Provinces, Canada

Callipterid peltasperms of the Dunkard Group, Central Appalachian Basin

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

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