U–Pb age constraints on the Jurassic succession and paleoflora of Mount Flora, Antarctic Peninsula

Abstract The spectacular fossil plant assemblage preserved in the non-marine Mount Flora Formation of the northern Antarctic Peninsula represents the diverse Jurassic flora that once covered the Gondwanan continents at high paleolatitudes. The depositional facies of the formation play...

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Main Authors: Scasso, Roberto A., Ramezani, J., Escapa, I., Elgorriaga, A., Capelli, I.
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2022
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/141311
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author Scasso, Roberto A.
Ramezani, J.
Escapa, I.
Elgorriaga, A.
Capelli, I.
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Scasso, Roberto A.
Ramezani, J.
Escapa, I.
Elgorriaga, A.
Capelli, I.
author_sort Scasso, Roberto A.
collection MIT
description Abstract The spectacular fossil plant assemblage preserved in the non-marine Mount Flora Formation of the northern Antarctic Peninsula represents the diverse Jurassic flora that once covered the Gondwanan continents at high paleolatitudes. The depositional facies of the formation plays a key role in the tectonic interpretations and basin evolution models that attempt to reconcile large igneous province magmatism, continental break up, and magmatic arc development throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous. Limited U–Pb in situ geochronology reported from the Mount Flora Formation and adjacent units lack the necessary resolution to overcome ambiguous correlations and biostratigraphic discrepancies. We present two high-precision U–Pb zircon ages (CA-ID-TIMS method) from a distinct tuffaceous interval of the Mount Flora Formation at Hope Bay, which document a terminal Middle Jurassic age (Callovian Stage) for the formation and its paleoflora. In excess of 1400 new collected fossil plant specimens exhibit a highly diverse Jurassic plant association that dominated the Antarctic Peninsula nearly 17 million years after its disappearance from northern Patagonia. This suggests similar paleoecological conditions were established diachronously throughout basins of southern Gondwana, possibly facilitating floral migrations in response to local climate change. The depositional facies of the Mount Flora Formation, its age proximity to the marine Nordenskjöld Formation in the Antarctic Larsen Basin and its coincidence with a regional unconformity in the northern Patagonia point out to a complex interplay among magmatic arc development, tectonic extension and continental break up that dominated the geologic and paleoenvironmental evolution of southern Gondwana near the end of the Middle Jurassic.
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spelling mit-1721.1/1413112023-03-24T20:16:39Z U–Pb age constraints on the Jurassic succession and paleoflora of Mount Flora, Antarctic Peninsula Scasso, Roberto A. Ramezani, J. Escapa, I. Elgorriaga, A. Capelli, I. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Abstract The spectacular fossil plant assemblage preserved in the non-marine Mount Flora Formation of the northern Antarctic Peninsula represents the diverse Jurassic flora that once covered the Gondwanan continents at high paleolatitudes. The depositional facies of the formation plays a key role in the tectonic interpretations and basin evolution models that attempt to reconcile large igneous province magmatism, continental break up, and magmatic arc development throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous. Limited U–Pb in situ geochronology reported from the Mount Flora Formation and adjacent units lack the necessary resolution to overcome ambiguous correlations and biostratigraphic discrepancies. We present two high-precision U–Pb zircon ages (CA-ID-TIMS method) from a distinct tuffaceous interval of the Mount Flora Formation at Hope Bay, which document a terminal Middle Jurassic age (Callovian Stage) for the formation and its paleoflora. In excess of 1400 new collected fossil plant specimens exhibit a highly diverse Jurassic plant association that dominated the Antarctic Peninsula nearly 17 million years after its disappearance from northern Patagonia. This suggests similar paleoecological conditions were established diachronously throughout basins of southern Gondwana, possibly facilitating floral migrations in response to local climate change. The depositional facies of the Mount Flora Formation, its age proximity to the marine Nordenskjöld Formation in the Antarctic Larsen Basin and its coincidence with a regional unconformity in the northern Patagonia point out to a complex interplay among magmatic arc development, tectonic extension and continental break up that dominated the geologic and paleoenvironmental evolution of southern Gondwana near the end of the Middle Jurassic. 2022-03-21T12:30:17Z 2022-03-21T12:30:17Z 2022-01-11 2022-03-19T04:27:12Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/141311 Scasso, Roberto A., Ramezani, J., Escapa, I., Elgorriaga, A. and Capelli, I. 2022. "U–Pb age constraints on the Jurassic succession and paleoflora of Mount Flora, Antarctic Peninsula." en https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-021-02155-0 Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. Geologische Vereinigung e.V. (GV) application/pdf Springer Berlin Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg
spellingShingle Scasso, Roberto A.
Ramezani, J.
Escapa, I.
Elgorriaga, A.
Capelli, I.
U–Pb age constraints on the Jurassic succession and paleoflora of Mount Flora, Antarctic Peninsula
title U–Pb age constraints on the Jurassic succession and paleoflora of Mount Flora, Antarctic Peninsula
title_full U–Pb age constraints on the Jurassic succession and paleoflora of Mount Flora, Antarctic Peninsula
title_fullStr U–Pb age constraints on the Jurassic succession and paleoflora of Mount Flora, Antarctic Peninsula
title_full_unstemmed U–Pb age constraints on the Jurassic succession and paleoflora of Mount Flora, Antarctic Peninsula
title_short U–Pb age constraints on the Jurassic succession and paleoflora of Mount Flora, Antarctic Peninsula
title_sort u pb age constraints on the jurassic succession and paleoflora of mount flora antarctic peninsula
url https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/141311
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