Abstract
This paper introduces a methodology which makes possible the visualization of the spatial distribution of plant fossils and applies it to the occurrences of the Gondwana Floristic Province present on the eastern border of the Brazilian portion of the Parana Basin during the Neopaleozoic. This province was chosen due to the existence of a large number of publications referring to their occurrence, so that a meta-analysis of their distribution could be based on ample information. The first step was the construction of a composite database including geographical location, geology, and the botanical systematics of each relevant fossil. The geographical locations were then georeferenced for translation into various maps showing various aspects of the distribution of the fossils. The spatial distribution of the fossil-housing outcrops shows that these are distributed along the area of deposition studied. Although some genera persisted for long periods of time, others lasted for only short intervals. As time passed, the fossil composition underwent a gradual change from the Late Carboniferous (Itarare Group) to the Late Permian (Rio do Rasto Formation), with the number of genera represented decreasing from 45 in the Itarare Group to 11 in the Rio do Rasto Formation.
Highlights
This paper was designed to provide a meta-analysis of the spatial and temporal distribution of late Paleozoic plant fossils in the Brazilian part of the Paraná Basin. It was based on the composite data reported in the specialized literature and the use of the tools of Geographic Information Systems (GIS, especially the software ArcGIS®), as this made it possible to determine some of the characteristic elements of this Gondwana floristic province
This paper provides a composite database about plant fossil occurrences reflecting a compilation of information furnished by three types of sources: (a) reports about Carboniferous and Permian macrophyte fossils found in a review of 100 years of bibliographic references; (b) information about geology supplied by the geologic map of Brazil, furnished by the Geological Service of Brazil (CPRM); and (c) information about altitude furnished by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) of the American National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
These fossils are overlain by those of the first subdivision of the Glossopteris Paleoflora, the Phyllotheca-Gangamopteris flora, which includes the first register of the genus Glossopteris, while Gangamopteris predominates
Summary
It was based on the composite data reported in the specialized literature and the use of the tools of Geographic Information Systems (GIS, especially the software ArcGIS®), as this made it possible to determine some of the characteristic elements of this Gondwana floristic province. The final results included 1,208 lines of data (each one about a single species in a specific location, found in a total of 281 outcrops), based on the information contained in the references consulted These data made it possible to obtain information about the spatial and temporal distribution of these fossil species, as well as identifying interrelationships between the genera and the location where they were found, providing a single valid interpretation for the large volume of information available. It is hoped that this will provide a more realistic idea of the evolution of Gondwana Floristic Province at the Paraná Basin, as well as identifying the more prevalent genera of the various time periods, spatial distribution and generating new information about their provenance
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