Paleoclimatic and Paleoecological Implications of a Paleocene-Eocene Fossil Leaf Assemblage, Chickaloon Formation, Alaska

Sunderlin, David; Loope, G. R.; Parker, Nancy E.; Williams, Christopher J.

doi:10.2110/palo.2010.p10-077r

Cited by 37 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Moreover, longer distances of transport would be expected to destroy a higher proportion of the unstable framework grains (i.e. plutonic fragments, feldspars, micas) that dominate the sampled strata, especially under the warm, humid paleoclimate conditions well‐documented in southern Alaska during late Paleocene–early Eocene time (Lecomte et al ., ; Sunderlin et al ., , b).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Sandstone‐conglomerate channels in the Chickaloon Formation are separated by higher proportions of finer‐grained floodplain mudstone and coal in comparison to the coarser‐grained fluvial strata of the Arkose Ridge Formation and Wishbone Formation (Clardy, ; Flores & Stricker, ; Neff et al ., ). Fossil leaf physiognomic analyses indicate that substantially warmer climate conditions characterized the MVTM basin during Paleocene–Eocene time compared to the present (Sunderlin et al ., , b).…”

Section: Regional Stratigraphy and Sediment Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…60 to 56 Ma (Figs and ; Idleman et al ., ). Diverse, well‐preserved fossil flora are consistent with a late Paleocene–Eocene depositional age (Lecomte et al ., ; Sunderlin et al ., , b).…”

Section: Regional Stratigraphy and Sediment Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Integrated provenance record of a forearc basin modified by slab‐window magmatism: detrital‐ zircon geochronology and sandstone compositions of the Paleogene Arkose Ridge Formation, south‐central Alaska

et al. 2013

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This study presents an integrated provenance record for ancient forearc strata in southern Alaska. Paleocene–Eocene sedimentary and volcanic strata >2000 m thick in the southern Talkeetna Mountains record nonmarine sediment accumulation in a remnant forearc basin. In these strata, igneous detritus dominates conglomerate and sandstone detrital modes, including plutonic and volcanic clasts, plagioclase feldspar, and monocrystalline quartz. Volcanic detritus is more abundant and increases upsection in eastern sandstone and conglomerate. U‐Pb ages of >1600 detrital zircons from 19 sandstone samples document three main populations: 60–48 Ma (late Paleocene–Eocene; 14% of all grains), 85–60 Ma (late Cretaceous–early Paleocene; 64%) and 200–100 Ma (Jurassic–Early Cretaceous; 11%). Eastern sections exhibit the broadest distribution of detrital ages, including a principal population of late Paleocene–Eocene ages. In contrast, central and western sections yield mainly late Cretaceous–early Paleocene detrital ages. Collectively, our results permit reconstruction of individual fluvial drainages oriented transverse to a dissected arc. Specifically, new data suggest: (1) Detritus was eroded from volcanic‐plutonic sources exposed along the arcward margin of the sampled forearc basin fill, primarily Jurassic–Paleocene magmatic‐arc plutons and spatially limited late Paleocene–Eocene volcanic centers; (2) Eastern deposystems received higher proportions of juvenile volcanic detritus through time from late Paleocene–Eocene volcanic centers, consistent with emplacement of a slab window beneath the northeastern part of the basin during spreading‐ridge subduction; (3) Western deposystems transported volcanic‐plutonic detritus from Jurassic–Paleocene remnant arc plutons and local eruptive centers that flanked the northwestern part of the basin; (4) Diagnostic evidence of sediment derivation from accretionary‐prism strata exposed trenchward of the basin fill is lacking. Our results provide geologic evidence for latest Cretaceous–early Paleocene exhumation of arc plutons and marine forearc strata followed by nonmarine sediment accumulation and slab‐window magmatism. This inferred history supports models that invoke spreading‐ridge subduction beneath southern Alaska during Paleogene time, providing a framework for understanding a mature continental‐arc/forearc‐basin system modified by ridge subduction. Conventional provenance models predict reduced input of volcanic detritus to forearc basins during progressive exhumation of the volcanic edifice and increasing exposure of subvolcanic plutons. In contrast, our results show that forearc basins influenced by ridge subduction may record localized increases in juvenile volcanic detritus during late‐stage evolution in response to accumulation of volcanic sequences formed from slab‐window eruptive centers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Regional Stratigraphy and Sediment Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Integrated provenance record of a forearc basin modified by slab‐window magmatism: detrital‐ zircon geochronology and sandstone compositions of the Paleogene Arkose Ridge Formation, south‐central Alaska

et al. 2013

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“…The Eocene is noted for warm climates that extended forest cover and a diverse fauna that included alligators as far north as northern Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic, and palms into Alaska (Greenwood and Wing 1995;Sunderlin et al 2011;Eberle and Greenwood 2012;West et al 2015). The warm climates of the Eocene are associated with higher than present day levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (Zachos et al 2008;Smith et al 2010;Royer et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eocene paleontology and geology of western North America

2016

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Western North America preserves a rich record of Eocene life and environments under globally warm climates, and represents an interval where significant coal and other minerals were deposited. The Eocene is of interest to biologists and paleontologists for its record of the appearance and rise to dominance of many plant, insect, and mammal groups now typical of the temperate forests of North America, admixed with groups now well represented in tropical areas or restricted to eastern Asia. This record is also of interest for its potential contribution to our understanding of interactions between climate, the biota, and the ecosystems they occupied, under atmospheric carbon dioxide levels much higher than today. Documentation of the Eocene in western North America offers insights into the effects of future greenhouse climates. A special symposium held at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America in Vancouver, British Columbia, brought together geologists, paleontologists, and biologists with an interest in these questions. This paper introduces the special issue that includes a selection of papers drawn from that symposium as well as on related topics, spanning the Early to Late Eocene, and geographically from British Columbia to Colorado. Résumé :Un riche registre fossile de la vie et des milieux éocènes est préservé dans l'ouest de l'Amérique du Nord, qui représente un intervalle où d'importants gisements de charbon et d'autres minéraux ont été déposés dans des conditions climatiques planétaires chaudes. L'Éocène présente un intérêt pour les biologistes et les paléontologues en raison du registre qu'il conserve de l'apparition et de la montée en puissance de nombreux groupes de plantes, d'insectes et de mammifères aujourd'hui typiques des forêts tempérées de l'Amérique du Nord, coexistant avec des groupes aujourd'hui bien représentés dans les régions tropicales ou limités à l'est de l'Asie. Ce registre est aussi intéressant pour la contribution qu'il peut apporter à la compréhension des interactions entre le climat, les organismes vivants et les écosystèmes occupés par ces derniers dans des conditions de concentrations atmosphériques de dioxyde de carbone beaucoup plus élevées que les concentrations actuelles. La documentation de l'Éocène dans l'ouest de l'Amérique du Nord permet d'en apprendre davantage sur les effets de climats de serre futurs. Un symposium spécial qui s'est tenu au congrès annuel de 2014 de la Geological Society of America à Vancouver (ColombieBritannique) a réuni des géologues, paléontologues et biologistes intéressés par ces questions. L'article présente le numéro spécial qui comprend une sélection d'articles tirée de ce symposium, ainsi que des articles sur des sujets connexes, couvrant l'Éocène précoce à tardif et, sur le plan géographique, des régions allant de la Colombie-Britannique au Colorado. [Traduit par la Rédaction]

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“…They studied 50 forests in North and South America and Africa, and derived a transfer function linking leaf size and precipitation (Wilf et al 1998). Because of the wide range of sampling regions and the high correlation (r 2 = 0.760), this function has been widely applied in palaeoprecipitation reconstructions (e.g., Gregory-Wodzicki 2002, Gayó et al 2005, Martinetto et al 2007, Greenwood et al 2010, Sunderlin et al 2011. Moreover, in equatorial Africa, the proportion of untoothed margin species is positively correlated with wet months precipitation provided that precipitation is not less than 5 cm per month, while leaf size, particularly in mesophyll size, most strongly correlate with wet months and annual precipitation (Jacobs 1999).…”

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confidence: 99%

Regional constraints on leaf physiognomy and precipitation regression models: a case study from China

Tao¹,

Spicer

Liu³

et al. 2013

Bull. Geosci.

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The relationship between leaf physiognomy and precipitation has been explored worldwide in regions under different climate conditions. Unlike the linear relationship established between the percentage of woody dicot species with entire margins and mean annual temperature, precipitation has been reported to correlate to different leaf physiognomic characters depending on the region where the correlation is studied. To investigate if precipitation can be calculated from leaf physiognomic characters on the basis of regional sample sites, data from 50 mesic to humid forests in China were analyzed in this study. With data from Chinese forests, the leaf-area analysis based on linear regression between natural logarithms of leaf size and mean annual precipitation (MAP) shows no significant correlation. Both single and multiple linear regression analyses fail to confirm the correlation between leaf physiognomy and precipitation, which may result from the similarity of modern spatial distribution of temperature and precipitation in China. Our results show that, due to variations in climatic conditions among sampling regions, leaf physiognomic characters that correlate to precipitation are not consistent worldwide, and applications of models without considering regional constraints could mislead our understanding of palaeoclimate. Therefore, when choosing a leaf physiognomic model for palaeoclimate reconstructions, it is important to determine if the leaf physiognomy of the palaeoflora lies within the leaf physiognomic spectrum of the model used.•

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Paleoclimatic and Paleoecological Implications of a Paleocene-Eocene Fossil Leaf Assemblage, Chickaloon Formation, Alaska

Cited by 37 publications

References 70 publications

Integrated provenance record of a forearc basin modified by slab‐window magmatism: detrital‐ zircon geochronology and sandstone compositions of the Paleogene Arkose Ridge Formation, south‐central Alaska

Integrated provenance record of a forearc basin modified by slab‐window magmatism: detrital‐ zircon geochronology and sandstone compositions of the Paleogene Arkose Ridge Formation, south‐central Alaska

Eocene paleontology and geology of western North America

Regional constraints on leaf physiognomy and precipitation regression models: a case study from China

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