Alluvial and volcanic pathways to silicified plant stems (Upper Carboniferous–Triassic) and their taphonomic and palaeoenvironmental meaning

Matysová, Petra; Rößler, Ronny; Götze, Jens; Leichmann, Jaromı́r; Forbes, Gordon B.; Taylor, Edith L.; Sakala, Jakub; Grygar, Tomáš Matys

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.03.036

Cited by 75 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…cordaitaleans) preserved in growth position can be most precisely identified where they have been permineralized and retain diagnostic cellular anatomy (Grand'Eury 1877; Falcon-Lang 2003a,6, 2005, 2006c. Permineralization of erect trees appears most commonly in dryland settings (Mencl et al 2009) or where volcanic sediments are part of the landscape (Matysova et al 2010), and where abundant carbonate or silica is present in groundwater (Dawson 1877;Walton 1935). In such instances, a wide range of plants may be preserved, such as those entombed in the Early Permian volcanic ash deposits from Chemnitz, Germany (RoBler 2006).…”

Section: Anatomy Of Entombed Treesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In such instances, a wide range of plants may be preserved, such as those entombed in the Early Permian volcanic ash deposits from Chemnitz, Germany (RoBler 2006). Preservation of woody trees as silicifactions also may occur in seasonally dry to semi-arid environments, where intense evaporation leads to the development of highly alkaline, saline surface waters capable of dissolving and re-precipitating opaline silica (Matysova et al 2010). Such silicified trees are known from Pennsylvanian and Jurassic sabkha settings (Fig.…”

Section: Anatomy Of Entombed Treesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pennsylvanian ‘fossil forests' in growth position (T ⁰ assemblages): origin, taphonomic bias and palaeoecological insights

DiMichele

Falcon-Lang

2011

JGS

111

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Fossil forests, buried in growth position in a geological instant (T° assemblages) are far more abundant in Pennsylvanian successions than in any other part of the geological record. In this review paper, we evaluate the fundamental controls on the origin of these phenomena, investigate the taphonomic biases that influence their composition, and summarize their palaeoecological significance. Following earlier workers, we highlight that high rates of burial and accommodation are essential for the formation and preservation of T° assemblages. Contexts especially favourable for their origin include ashfalls proximal to volcanic centres, coastal plains drowned by relative sea-level rise, and fluvial environments such as channel bars, crevasse splays, and distributary lobes. Long-term preservation requires high rates of subsidence. Consequently, the vast majority of Palaeozoic T° assemblages are confined to wetland settings at, or close to, sea level, whereas drylands are poorly represented and uplands rarely sampled, if ever. However, this is not the only major bias in the fossil record; taphonomic processes selectively preserve plants dependent on their anatomy and stature, and on groundwater chemistry. Thus, although T° assemblages offer unrivalled insights into the nature of ancient forests (whole-plant reconstructions, tree density, canopy height, productivity, plant hydraulics, cohort dynamics, spatial heterogeneity, ecological gradients, tree-sediment interactions, and animal-plant interactions, to name but a few), it is naive to believe they provide 'photographic snapshots' of palaeoecosystems. None the less, careful taphonomic analysis of T° assemblages offers the potential for a nuanced understanding of these evocative phenomena, and much remains to be learned from these important palaeoecological resources.

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Section: Anatomy Of Entombed Treesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Anatomy Of Entombed Treesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pennsylvanian ‘fossil forests' in growth position (T ⁰ assemblages): origin, taphonomic bias and palaeoecological insights

DiMichele

Falcon-Lang

2011

JGS

111

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“…H 4 SiO 4°, H 3 SiO 4 À , their oligomers and polymers) into solution is also capable of silicifying plant material. This can be a volcanic tephra rich in glassy material (Murata, 1940;Karowe and Jefferson, 1987), a silica-rich hydrothermal solution from a hot spring (Rice et al, 2002;Channing and Edwards, 2010), or an immature sediment with abundant detrital feldspar (Jefferson, 1987;Weibel, 1996;Matysová et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The silicification of trees in volcanic ash - An experimental study

Ballhaus

Gee

Bockrath

et al. 2012

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

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“…Analysis and imaging were undertaken as described in Matysová et al (). Imaging was achieved through optical microscopy in normal (PPL), polarized (XPL), and reflected light (RL) at the Institute of Rock Structure and Mechanics AS CR.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Burial and preservation of a fossil forest on an early Permian (Asselian) volcano (Merangin River, Sumatra, Indonesia)

et al. 2017

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The Early Permian (Asselian) Mengkarang Formation of the western Jambi Province, Sumatra, is well exposed in the valley of the Merangin River. No consensus regarding the depositional environment of this section had been reached hitherto. This section preserves abundant evidence of a Permian forest, named the Merangin Fossil Forest herein, which grew at the foot of an active volcano, where pyroclastic flows often made way and destroyed the vegetation and where epiclastic reworked pyroclastics rapidly entombed the vegetation. The present assessment is based on a detailed study of three localities using multiple lines of evidence, including petrography, silica typing including hot cathodoluminescence microscopy and spectroscopy, and palynofacies analysis. In situ Agathoxylon was near enough to the volcanic slope to be buried rapidly, shallow enough to avoid extreme crystallization in the lumina, and far enough from the metamorphic centre not to get recrystallized. All these combined contingencies make this a most unique find that provides significant insights into a rarely studied palaeoecological setting from the Early Permian.

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Alluvial and volcanic pathways to silicified plant stems (Upper Carboniferous–Triassic) and their taphonomic and palaeoenvironmental meaning

Cited by 75 publications

References 60 publications

Pennsylvanian ‘fossil forests' in growth position (T ⁰ assemblages): origin, taphonomic bias and palaeoecological insights

Pennsylvanian ‘fossil forests' in growth position (T ⁰ assemblages): origin, taphonomic bias and palaeoecological insights

The silicification of trees in volcanic ash - An experimental study

Burial and preservation of a fossil forest on an early Permian (Asselian) volcano (Merangin River, Sumatra, Indonesia)

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Alluvial and volcanic pathways to silicified plant stems (Upper Carboniferous–Triassic) and their taphonomic and palaeoenvironmental meaning

Cited by 75 publications

References 60 publications

Pennsylvanian ‘fossil forests' in growth position (T 0 assemblages): origin, taphonomic bias and palaeoecological insights

Pennsylvanian ‘fossil forests' in growth position (T 0 assemblages): origin, taphonomic bias and palaeoecological insights

The silicification of trees in volcanic ash - An experimental study

Burial and preservation of a fossil forest on an early Permian (Asselian) volcano (Merangin River, Sumatra, Indonesia)

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Product

Resources

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Pennsylvanian ‘fossil forests' in growth position (T ⁰ assemblages): origin, taphonomic bias and palaeoecological insights

Pennsylvanian ‘fossil forests' in growth position (T ⁰ assemblages): origin, taphonomic bias and palaeoecological insights