A new charophyte flora from the Upper Triassic of Skåne (Sweden) and implications on biostratigraphy, taphonomy and the palaeoenvironment

Abstract

The record of fossil charophytes from Sweden was previously restricted to the Ladinian-earliest Carnian Falsterbo Formation. Here, we present a charophyte assemblage from the Upper Triassic Kågeröd Formation exposed at the Bälteberga Gorge (Skåne, southern Sweden) from the perspectives of taxonomy, taphonomy, palaeoecology and biostratigraphy. The microfossils originate from an interval of reddish sandy mudstone and are represented by rare fossil thalli, calcium carbonate encrustations of thalli and numerous calcified fructifications, called gyrogonites. The assemblage is relatively diverse, comprising six species belonging to four genera of the family Porocharaceae (Auerbachichara cf. rhaetica, Porochara sp., Stellatochara germanica, Stellatochara aff. subsphaerica, Stenochara aff. donetziana, Stenochara aff. kisielevskyi). Both the sedimentological context and the preservation of the charophyte remains point to an autochthonous origin for the charophyte-bearing strata. An autochthonous origin together with the habitat of modern charophytes, infer that the charophyte interval was deposited in shallow ephemeral pond or lake in a terrestrial setting. Their occurrence is also indicative of low amount of nutrients and the numerous thalli encrustations suggest a rather alkaline water composition. Some of the described species (Auerbachichara cf. rhaetica and Stellatochara aff. subsphaerica) are useful for biostratigraphical correlations which attributes the assemblage to the Auerbachichara rhaetica Range zone (sensu Bilan, 1991) in the proposed Germanic Triassic charophyte zonation. This range zone is assigned to a latest Carnian to late Norian age, strengthened by an interlayering with rocks containing a characteristic assemblage of palynomorphs (Corollina meyeriana subzone a and b) in the Upper Triassic of the Polish part of the Germanic Basin. The findings of the first Triassic thalli further strengthen the suggestion that the early Mesozoic fossil record of charophytes is not solely composed of oospores and gyrogonites. A better understanding of vegetative fossil remains (silicified thalli and encrustations) of charophytes may provide important future palaeoecological implications and links between recent and extinct forms. Our findings also provide evidence that charophyte occurrences in the Kågeröd Formation are strictly controlled by palaeoenvironmental factors.