Bondarenko O.V., Utescher T., Blokhina N.I., Evstigneeva T.A., Kezina T.V.
В журнале Botanica Pacifica: a journal of plant science and conservation
Год: 2020 Том: 9 Номер: 2 Страницы: 13-35
Paleocene climate and vegetation evolution in the Amur Region (Far East of Rus- sia) are quantitatively studied for the first time in detail, based on a palaeobotanical record. Palaeobotanical data for this time interval were obtained from a total of 25 palynofloras from Core 154 drilled in the Erkovetskii Brown Coal Field. In this first integrative study we apply the Coexistence Approach (CA) for quantification of palaeoclimate, the Plant Functional Types (PFT) approach and Integrated Plant Record (IPR) vegetation analysis for quantification of palaeovegetation. Our inves tigation documents the persistence of warm to cool temperate, overall humid climate conditions throughout the Paleocene. The reconstructed temperature records indicate relatively cool conditions for the early Paleocene part of the succession near the K-T boundary combined with distinctly seasonal conditions. The late Pa leocene samples reveal a distinct warming trend and a tendency to more equal cli mate conditions that can be correlated with declining oxygen isotope values observed in marine archives. Our climate data indicate a relatively strong seasonality in precipitation suggesting the existence of a proto-monsoon in the Amur Region during the Paleocene. Vegetation data as reconstructed are in good agreement with the climate evolution. Based on PFT diversity spectra, our data indicate the preva- lence of mixed evergreen-deciduous forests of warm temperate character. Based on the IPR method, plant biomes varied from the mixed mesophytic forest / mixed broadleaved evergreen forest ecotone in the warmer parts to the broadleaved deci duous forest / mixed mesophytic forest ecotone in the cooler parts of the studied sedimentary succession.
