Taxonomia e contexto geológico da tafoflora da Ilha Dufayel, Ilha King George, Península Antártica

Abstract

Plant remains preserved in levels deposited between the end of Cretaceous to the beginning of Neogene are common in the northern Antarctic Peninsula areas, been found both in the marine and transitional paleonvironments of the back-arc basins and in the corresponding arc and fore-arc subareal environments from the continental Peninsula and adjacent islands. Those floras have a critical role in the establishment of the paleoclimate and paleogeographic events occurred in this strategic area of the Gondwana land and to the understanding of the origin and distribution of modern southern hemisphere vegetation. King George Island, the northernmost South Shetland Islands, was formed in a fore-arc geological context and their successions and fossil were deeply affected by tectonic and magmatic events that marked its genesis. In this work the taphoflora identified in a 4 meters tick tephra deposit intercalated in an expressive volcanic and aglomerate pile at Dufayel Island, central area of KGI, was reviewed and discussed in terms of their taxonomic affinities and relationship to lithologies. It is compared with other plant fossil assemblages knowing from expositions of the island, with those knowing from Antarctic Peninsula, and from other southern basins, looking for its consistency with the K-Ar absolute ages of 57 and 52 Ma proposed to the lower and upper lava beds, given the possibility of rejuvenation in age of the lithologies dated by this method. Forty two samples were analyzed showing only impressions of leaves from 20 different morphotypes, some of them capable of to be established in its taxonomic affinities. Overall leaf material shows a very poor preservation, where often lacks the marginal characters and venation of higher order, that incentivates their treatment by morphological groups and occasionally the proposition of familiar and generic relations. The taphocenosis shows to be dominated by micro to mesophilic leaves of Nothofagus, accompanied by types related with Myrtaceae, including the section Leptospermoidea, Sapindaceae, Anacardiaceae, Monimiaceae, Lauraceae, Celastraceae and Malvaceae. Conifers and ferns, common in other fossil assemblages of King George Island and suggested in the previous works with this flora were not confirmed. The composition of the paleoflora is comparable with those present in the lower levels of La Meseta Formation, at James Ross basin, and some other floras identified in the southern basins from Chile, Argentina, with a Lower Eocene age. Also corresponds to the assemblages found in New Zealand, during the Upper Paleocene until Miocene. Those data gives support to the Lower Eocene (Ypresian) age proposed by the absolute methods obtained in the volcanic associated lithologies. Subtropical to temperate humid forests with a comparable composition grows today in Valdivian region of Chile, between 35o and 45º of latitude, and in areas of southern Australia and New Zealand, over thin and volcanic soils, suggesting similar conditions for its growth in the Antarctic Peninsula area during the Paleogene. Their disjunct modern distribution and its dispersion to more northern land masses seem to be a result of the definitive breakup of Gondwanaland and the arriving of severe and cold climates.