TAPHONOMY OF PROSPECTIVE PLANT MACROFOSSILS IN A RIVER CATCHMENT ON SPITSBERGEN

Abstract

SummaryRepresentation of recent plant parts in fluvial sediments and in the vegetation of a braided‐river catchment on Spitsbergen was studied quantitatively in order to provide a model for taphonomy of plant macrofossils during cold stages of the British Pleistocene. The area studied on the Adventelva is in a region with continuous permafrost and on a river that has high (nival) peak discharges in early summer, features that were also present in the British lowlands during the Pleistocene cold stages.Deposition of ‘prospective macrofossils’ in silts of channels on the Adventelva floodplain occurred mainly during the decline from the early summer peak of discharge. Surface runoff overland was much the most important process by which ‘prospective macrofossils’ reached river channels, and this accounts for them giving a surprisingly even overall representation of the abundance of similar parts in the vegetation. Taxa having ‘prospective macrofossil parts’ that were under‐represented in the deposits had parts that were: (a) very small, (b) of soft or perishable texture, (c) firmly attached to stems, (d) neither deciduous nor renewed annually, or (e) they were plants growing on the river floodplain. Taxa with parts over‐represented in the deposits were: (a) those with parts that break into numerous identifiable fragments, or (b) they were plants growing in localized areas of late snow‐lie.