Mesozoic Biotas of Scandinavia and its Arctic Territories

Scandinavia and its Arctic territories of Svalbard and Greenland represent geographical regions with a long history of Mesozoic palaeontology. However, the last few decades have witnessed a surge of new discoveries. Especially famous are the Triassic and Late Jurassic Lagerstätten of East Greenland and Spitsbergen in the Svalbard Archipelago, together with the Late Cretaceous strata of southern Sweden and the UNESCO World Heritage locality at Stevns Klint in Denmark. The latter records one of the most complete terminal Mesozoic rock successions known globally. Collectively, these deposits encompass the spectrum of Mesozoic biotic evolution, including the explosive radiation of marine faunas after the Permian–Triassic extinction, seminal specialization of amniotes for life in the sea, Late Triassic–Jurassic domination of the land by dinosaurs and the Cretaceous development of modern terrestrial floras and marine ecosystems. This volume, authored by leading experts in the field, encapsulates key aspects of the latest research and will provide a benchmark for future investigations into the Scandinavian Mesozoic world.
Disrupted vegetation as a response to Jurassic volcanism in southern Sweden
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Published:January 01, 2016
Abstract
Central Skåne (Scania) in southern Sweden hosts evidence of extensive Jurassic volcanism in the form of mafic volcanic plugs and associated volcaniclastic deposits that entomb well-preserved macro-plant and spore–pollen assemblages. Palynological assemblages recovered from the Höör Sandstone are of Hettangian–Pliensbachian age and those from the overlying lahar deposits are dated as Pliensbachian–early Toarcian (?). Palynomorph assemblages from these units reveal significantly different ecosystems, particularly with respect to the gymnospermous components that represented the main canopy plants. Both palynofloras are dominated by osmundacean, marattiacean and cyatheacean fern spore taxa but, whereas the Höör Sandstone hosts abundant Chasmatosporites spp. pollen produced...
- annual variations
- assemblages
- chemical composition
- depositional environment
- environmental effects
- Europe
- fossil wood
- fossilization
- geochronology
- growth rates
- Gymnospermae
- intrusions
- Jurassic
- lahars
- Lower Jurassic
- mass movements
- Mesozoic
- microfossils
- microscope methods
- miospores
- morphology
- paleobotany
- paleoenvironment
- palynomorphs
- Plantae
- plugs
- pollen
- pollen analysis
- preservation
- Pteridophyta
- relative age
- Scandinavia
- sedimentary rocks
- sensitivity analysis
- Skane Sweden
- spectra
- Spermatophyta
- spores
- Sweden
- tree rings
- vegetation
- volcaniclastics
- volcanism
- Western Europe
- X-ray fluorescence spectra
- Hoor Sandstone
- Korsarod Sweden
- Central Skane volcanic province
- Stenskogen Sweden
- Hoor Sweden