Eocene Terrestrial Palynology of Seymour Island, Antarctica

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This award supports a study to document and interpret the spore and pollen assemblages recovered from the Eocene deltaic La Meseta Formation of Seymour Island, northeastern Antarctic Peninsula. These spores and pollen were derived from land plants growing on the Eocene Antarctic Peninsula, at a time when the land connections with the rest of Gondwana were severed. The Eocene spore and pollen assemblages reflect the vegetation during the last interval of south polar warmth in earth history - a time when evolutionary innovation was still apparent in the southern high latitudes. Of special interest are postulated paleoclimatic fluctuations during Eocene, and the floristic and paleoclimatic changes near the Eocene/Oligocene boundary which may be recorded in the uppermost La Meseta Formation.