Where: New Zealand (45.5° S, 170.2° E: paleocoordinates 50.9° S, 178.0° W)
• coordinate stated in text
When: Spinitricolpites latispinosus pollen zone, Foulden Hills Diatomite Formation, Early/Lower Miocene (23.0 - 16.0 Ma)
• In this paper we present a detailed record of pollen, spores and fresh-water algae from 26 samples from a 183 m long drill core through the biogenic diatomaceous and volcaniclastic sediments of Foulden Maar, providing an unparalleled glimpse into the rich terrestrial biota of early Miocene New Zealand.
•
•Samples from 135.10 - 119.25 m (3 samples).
•
•Based on palynology the age of the site is latest uppermost Rhoipites waimumuensis Zone to lower early Proteacidites isopogiformis Zone (New Zealand local stages, late Waitakian–early Otaian, ~23 Ma), agreeing with radiometric dates.
• bed-level stratigraphic resolution
Environment/lithology: crater lake; lithified diatomite and mudstone
•
•The deep crater formed in Otago Schist basement of Jurassic age and is surrounded by schist and remnants of volcanic plugs, dikes, and flows of the Waipiata Volcanic Field that was active in the area during the early to middle Miocene (Nemeth and White, 2003; Coombs et al., 2008). Foulden Maar contains laminated, biogenically varved diatomite (Lindqvist and Lee, 2009) deposited under a warm temperate to subtropical climatic regime evidenced by the presence of environmentally significant taxa and analysis of leaf morphology (e.g., Pocknall and Mildenhall, 1984; Mildenhall and Pocknall, 1989; Reichgelt et al., 2013).
•
•Samples from 135.10 - 119.25 m (3 samples) were collected from breccia horizons between the basal mass flow deposits and the overlying laminated diatomite and likely represent fragments of a pre-eruptive swamp deposit at the eruption site.
Size class: microfossils
Preservation: original sporopollenin
Collected in 2009
Collection methods: chemical,
• All palynology samples taken from the FM2 core have been assigned the NZ FRF number I43/f116 (NZ Map Grid Infomap I43 reference 927162: 45.5300° S, 170.2195° E).
•
• In 2009, eight samples were collected at irregular intervals from one of two new drill cores (Foulden Maar 2 FM2) in the diatomite to determine vegetation changes from the time of inception of the lake to the top of the eroded section. Subsequently, a further 18 samples were collected from FM2 to determine the extent of pollen, algal and charcoal distribution detected in the original drill core samples. Finally, a series of eight outcrop samples were collected from alternate dark and light layers towards the top of the sec- tion to investigate whether differences in pollen deposition occurred between suspected summer and winter couplets.
Primary reference: D. C. Mildenhall, E. M. Kennedy, D. E. Lee, U. Kaulfuss, and J. M. Bannister. 2014. Palynology of the early Miocene Foulden Maar, Otago, New Zealand: Diversity following destruction. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology (204)27-42 [C. Jaramillo/C. Jaramillo]more details
Purpose of describing collection: paleoecologic analysis
PaleoDB collection 169165: authorized by Carlos Jaramillo, entered by Carlos Jaramillo on 08.05.2015
Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)
Taxonomic list
| Magnoliopsida | |
| Angiospermae | |
|
Nothofagus "Brassospora" Blume 1850 | |
| Dicotyledoneae | |
|
Ericipites longisulcatus heather | |
Podosporites brevisaccatus, Parvisaccites catastus, Podocarpidites spp., Microalatidites spp., Dacrydium type
Podosporites brevisaccatus podocarp
Parvisaccites catastus Stover and Partridge 1973 podocarp
Podocarpidites spp. Cookson 1947 podocarp
Microalatidites spp. Mildenhall 1989 podocarp
Dacrydium type podocarp | |
| Algae | |
|
Botryococcus spp. Kutzing 1849 | |