Gibson, Martha Elizabeth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7351-078X (2020) Palaeoecology and Palaeoenvironments of the Late Permian Zechstein Sea and its Hinterlands. PhD thesis, University of Sheffield.
Abstract
Vegetation reconstructions for the Late Permian of Europe have previously been hampered due to the
lack of suitable exposures. However, the limited evidence suggests a conifer-dominated vegetation
that gradually declined as environmental conditions deteriorated approaching the Permian-Triassic
boundary.
The Zechstein Sea was a semi-isolated inland sea that dates from the late Wuchiapingianearly
Changhsingian (~258 Ma) to the Permian-Triassic boundary (~252 Ma). It underwent 5-7
evaporation-replenishment cycles leaving behind a sequence of stacked carbonates and evaporites.
The macrofossil record shows that a conifer-dominated gymnospermous flora inhabited the seas
hinterlands.
New boreholes have enabled the first extensive palynological sampling of the entire Zechstein
sequence of northeast England. Palynomorph assemblages have been recovered from all five of the
evaporation-replenishment cycles (EZ1-EZ5). These assemblages are dominated by pollen grains,
with rare trilete spores, and even rarer marine forms such as acritarchs and foraminifera test linings.
Pollen grain assemblages are of low diversity (35 species) and dominated by taeniate and non-taeniate
bisaccates. The assemblages vary to only a limited extent both within and between cycles EZ1-EZ5,
although some minor variations and trends are documented that reflect taphonomic effects.
Based on the composition of the dispersed spore-pollen assemblages, and previous work on
the Zechstein megaflora, the hinterland vegetation is interpreted as being dominated by conifers,
inhabiting a semi-arid to arid landscape. The new pollen data indicate that the vegetation was little
changed, both within cycles and between cycles, and persisted until the demise of the Zechstein Sea
in the latest Permian-earliest Triassic, perhaps in fragmented upland refugia. At this time desert
sedimentation commenced, which yields no evidence for terrestrial vegetation until the early Triassic
(Induan) when evidence for a radically different flora appears. These observations suggest that
vegetation loss at the Permian-Triassic boundary was rapid and catastrophic rather than representing
the culmination of a slow decline.
Metadata
Supervisors: | Wellman, Charles |
---|---|
Related URLs: | |
Keywords: | Palynology; Permian; Lopingian; Palaeoeology; Palaeoenvironment |
Awarding institution: | University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Animal and Plant Sciences (Sheffield) |
Identification Number/EthosID: | uk.bl.ethos.826821 |
Depositing User: | Miss Martha Elizabeth Gibson |
Date Deposited: | 28 Mar 2021 14:14 |
Last Modified: | 01 May 2021 09:54 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:etheses.whiterose.ac.uk:28623 |
Downloads
Final eThesis - complete (pdf)
Filename: Martha Gibson_Thesis.pdf
Description: Thesis
Licence:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Supplementary Material
Filename: Appendix A Chapter 1 tables.xlsx
Licence:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Supplementary Material
Filename: Appendix B Chapter 1 palaeobotany plates.docx
Licence:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Supplementary Material
Filename: Appendix C Fieldwork reports.docx
Licence:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Supplementary Material
Filename: Appendix D Sirius Minerals Core Store Reports.docx
Licence:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Supplementary Material
Filename: Appendix E R Code for rarefying data.docx
Licence:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Supplementary Material
Filename: Appendix F Lithostratigraphical and facies descriptions.docx
Licence:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Supplementary Material
Filename: Appendix G Location and stratigraphic range.xlsx
Licence:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Supplementary Material
Filename: Appendix H BH samples.xlsx
Licence:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Supplementary Material
Filename: Appendix I OC samples.xlsx
Licence:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Supplementary Material
Filename: Appendix J Raw count data.xlsx
Licence:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Supplementary Material
Filename: Appendix K Cluster analysis.xlsx
Licence:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Supplementary Material
Filename: Appendix L Fungi Raw Count.xlsx
Licence:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Supplementary Material
Filename: Appendix M Evaporite palynology raw data.xlsx
Licence:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Supplementary Material
Filename: Appendix N TD18_0291 MG 1312.24 SMII.pdf
Licence:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Supplementary Material
Filename: Appendix N TD18_0292 MG 1328.76 SMII.pdf
Licence:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Supplementary Material
Filename: Appendix N TD18_0293 MG 1332.15 SMII.pdf
Licence:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Supplementary Material
Filename: Appendix N TD18_0294 MG 1334.10 SMII.pdf
Licence:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Supplementary Material
Filename: Appendix N TD18_0295 MG 1406.86 SMII.pdf
Licence:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Supplementary Material
Filename: Appendix O Fungi GLM outputs.xlsx
Licence:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Supplementary Material
Filename: Guide to Appendices.xlsx
Licence:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Export
Statistics
You do not need to contact us to get a copy of this thesis. Please use the 'Download' link(s) above to get a copy.
You can contact us about this thesis. If you need to make a general enquiry, please see the Contact us page.