Early Late Permian palynostratigraphy and palaeo-biogeography of Vestfjella, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica

Abstract

The preliminary results of a palynological investigation of 62 samples from the southern section of a sedimentary sequence exposed at Fossilryggen in the Vestfjella mountain range in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica are reported. The sequence, which is cut by dolerite dykes, is considered to have been deposited in a near-shore marine environment. Palynomorphs recovered show high degrees of thermal alteration and various states of preservation; 55 palynomorph taxa have been identified, including the stratigraphically important Didecitriletes ericianus, Microbaculispora villosa, M. trisina, Horriditriletes filiformis, Praecolpatites sinuosus, Weylandites lucifer, Protohaploxypinus rugatus, Striatopodocarpidites cancellatus and S. fusus. Also present are acritarchs, such as Peltacystia venosa, P. monile and Circulisporites sp., and prasinophycean algae, such as Cymatiosphaera gondwanensis. Palaeobiogeographically the palynoflora is typical for southern Gondwanaland and it is correlated primarily with assemblages of similar composition in Antarctica, South Africa and Australia. Comparisons are also made with assemblages from the northern margins of Gondwanaland and Eurameria, with which palynostratigraphical correlations are more difficult. No typical Euramerian taxa have been found in the palynoflora from Fossilryggen, which is assessed as no older than Australian Lower Stage 5b and 5c assemblages and is considered to be of early Late Permian (Ufimian) age.