Late Paleozoic (Stephanian) Terrestrial Floras in Offshore Marine Environments

近海海洋环境中的晚古生代（斯蒂芬纪）陆地植物群

• 批准号: 9117700
• 负责人: Royal Mapes
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Ohio University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1992
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1992-01-15 至 1995-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9117700&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Late; Paleozoic; Stephanian; Terrestrial; Floras

Late Carboniferous (Stephanian B-C) collections at Ohio University include over 7,000 three-dimensional, cellularly preserved plant fossils from North American midcontinent cyclothems. This is the best preserved and most stratigraphically complete collection of Stephanian plant fossils in the world. The plants from each cyclothem are preserved in offshore marine shales and constitute an assemblage from a diverse suite of terrestrial environments. Systematic analysis using thin sectioning, peel techniques and scanning electron microscopy to document the cellular features will determine which Stephanian plant groups are present and identify new taxa. Typically, very few offshore marine units contain well preserved terrestrial plant debris. The taphonomic constraints influencing preservation of these Stephanian plants deposited in cyclothem beds of middle to outer shelf offshore marine environments have not been fully determined. Marine organism interaction with the transported plant debris and an understanding of the depositional conditions will resolve the taphonomic pathways involved. This combined research on plant systematics and marine taphonomic constraints is significant because it allows the first extensive documentation and analysis of terrestrial floras in the offshore marine environment. This data base will allow detailed comparison with rare Stephanian floral communities from coal swamps and the drier upland environments.

俄亥俄大学的晚石炭纪（斯蒂芬纪B-C）藏品包括7000多个三维的、细胞保存的植物化石，这些化石来自北美大陆中部的环脉。这是世界上保存最完好、地层最完整的斯蒂芬纪植物化石。每个循环中的植物都保存在近海海洋页岩中，构成了不同陆地环境的组合。利用薄切片、剥皮技术和扫描电子显微镜记录细胞特征的系统分析将确定哪些Stephanian植物群存在并识别新的分类群。通常，很少有近海海洋单位含有保存完好的陆生植物残骸。影响这些沉积在中陆架到外陆架环流床中的斯蒂芬属植物保存的地理限制因素尚未完全确定。海洋生物与搬运的植物碎屑的相互作用以及对沉积条件的了解将解决所涉及的埋藏学途径。这项结合植物系统学和海洋地层学限制的研究具有重要意义，因为它允许对近海海洋环境中的陆生植物区系进行首次广泛的记录和分析。这个数据库将允许与煤沼泽和干旱高地环境中罕见的斯蒂芬植物群落进行详细的比较。