| Summary: | In this study, xeromorphy ratios were calculated for Acer L. (maple) fossil woods in order to infer
the precipitation conditions in the Miocene at the sites of the fossils, based on a comparison with the xeromorphy
ratios of selected extant Acer species. The four studied petrified wood samples came from three localities of the
Galatean Volcanic Province in Turkey: Kozyaka village (Bolu Province, Seben District), İnözü Valley (Ankara
Province, Beypazarı District), and Kıraluç precinct between Nuhhoca and Dağşeyhler villages (Ankara Province,
Beypazarı District). The calculated xeromorphy ratios ranged from 3 to 18 for the present-day wood and from
13 to 19 for the early Miocene wood. Values over 10 (11–18) represent xeric conditions; the lower values (3–7)
indicate mesic conditions in modern Acer woods. The xeromorphy ratios of the Miocene wood indicate xeric conditions;
we conclude that the sites of the fossil Acer woods were xeric, very similar to the modern Acer woodlands
of central and southern Anatolia.
|
|---|