A coniferous tree stump of late Early Jurassic age from the Ferrar Basalt, Coombs Hills, southern Victoria Land, Antarctica

Abstract

An upright, partly rooted tree stump preserved within a late Early Jurassic basalt flow of the Ferrar Group, Coombs Hills, is described from southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. The wood structure allows the tree to be identified as a conifer (possibly Podocarpaceae) that from the stump diameter of 35–40 cm was c. 24 m tall. The possibly transported tree may have survived the lava flow because the stump was waterlogged or already mineralised. Conifers of similar age (early Middle Jurassic) are known from fossil forests at Curio Bay and Kawhia Harbour in New Zealand, and this discovery extends the known distribution of forests living in moderately warm, humid climates at very high southern latitudes during the late Early Jurassic.