Wildfires during the Paleogene (late Eocene–late Oligocene) of the Neuwied Basin (W-Germany)

Abstract

Macro-charcoal from late Eocene–late Oligocene deposits of the Neuwied Basin in W-Germany provides evidence for the occurrence of palaeo-wildfires in three different time-slices in this region. (Par-)Autochthonous macro-charcoal from lignites of the late Eocene Bubenheim Formation of the locality Koblenz-Metternich can best be compared to the genus Doliostroboxylon Dolezych, the wood of the extinct conifer genus Doliostrobus Marion. Small, unidentifiable charcoal fragments from the early Oligocene Maifeld Formation of the locality Kärlich have been discovered in limnic/brackish deposits. Due to the small size of the fragments, as well as their general bad preservation it is not possible to provide any meaningful interpretation of the source vegetation. Macro-charcoal from a lignitic lens within the late Oligocene Kärlich Formation of the locality Koblenz-Schmidtenhöhe can be assigned to taxodioid? Cupressaceae. Like other late Oligocene charcoals assigned to this plant group from the nearby Westerwald region, these remains exhibit marked growth rings, pointing to some kind of seasonality. These findings, together with previous records of charcoal from adjacent areas, demonstrate that wildfires, an important source of disturbance in terrestrial ecosystems since the late Silurian, were part of late Eocene to late Oligocene ecosystems in the Neuwied Basin and/or its direct vicinity.