Late Paleocene Flora of the Northern Alaska Peninsula: The Role of Transberingian Plant Migrations and Climatic Change

Moiseeva, M. G.; Herman, A. B. and Spicer, R. A. (2009). Late Paleocene Flora of the Northern Alaska Peninsula: The Role of Transberingian Plant Migrations and Climatic Change. Palaeontological Journal, 43(10) pp. 1298–1308.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030109100116

Abstract

For the first time, the Late Sagwon Flora is described from the upper beds of the Prince Creek Formation (Upper Paleocene) at the Sagavanirktok River (northern Alaska Peninsula). The flora is dominated by the angiosperm Tiliaephyllum brooksense Moiseeva et Herman sp. nov. and conifer Metasequoia occidentalis (Newb.) Chaney. The Late Sagwon Flora is most similar to the Danian or Danian-Selandian flora from the middle part of the Upper Tsagayan Subformation (Amur Region) and lower part of the Wuyun Formation (Heilongjiang Province, China). This similarity allows us to hypothesize that the genus Tiliaephyllum, which dominated in the Late Tsagayan Flora, migrated via the Bering Land Bridge from southern paleolatitudes of the Far East to high latitudes of the Arctic Pacific, due to the progressively warming climate of the Paleocene. Additional new angiosperm species are described from the Late Sagwon Flora: Archeampelos mullii Moiseeva et Herman sp. nov., Tiliaephyllum brooksense Moiseeva et Herman sp. nov., and Dicotylophyllum sagwonicum Moiseeva et Herman sp. nov.

Viewing alternatives

Download history

Metrics

Public Attention

Altmetrics from Altmetric

Number of Citations

Citations from Dimensions

Item Actions

Export

About

Recommendations