Depositional setting, fossil flora, and paleoenvironment of the Early Eocene Falkland site, Okanagan Highlands, British Columbia

2009 ◽  
Vol 46 (11) ◽  
pp. 811-822 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Y. Smith ◽  
James F. Basinger ◽  
David R. Greenwood
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Fossil Flora ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Leaf Margin ◽  
Early Eocene ◽  
Similarity Coefficients ◽  
Okanagan Highlands ◽  
Depositional Setting

The fossil flora and depositional setting of the Early Eocene Falkland site in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada, is reported in detail for the first time, using a census sampling approach. The Falkland site is part of the series of Okanagan Highlands fossil localities in British Columbia and Washington State that represent relatively cool upland environments within the context of the greenhouse world of the Early Eocene, providing microthermal (mean annual temperature (MAT) < 13 °C) climatic conditions for the establishment of cool-adapted plants geographically adjacent to subtropical elements from lowland floras. Plant community composition of the Falkland flora is most similar to the Republic (Washington) and McAbee (British Columbia) floras based on high Sørenson similarity coefficients, together forming a southern cluster of Okanagan Highlands sites. The site is a lacustrine deposit that formed in a volcanically active landscape. Paleoclimate reconstructions based on leaf physiognomy characterize the site as microthermal (MAT 8.9 ± 2.0 °C by leaf margin analysis or 11.9 ± 2.0 °C by climate leaf analysis multivariate program (CLAMP)), mesic (mean annual precipitation (MAP) 114 [Formula: see text]cm/year), and equable (cold month mean temperature (CMMT) 3.0 ± 2.0 °C). Paleoelevation of the site is estimated to be similar to or slightly higher than modern levels (>1.3 km) during the Early Eocene. The Falkland locality adds new data to the temporal, latitudinal, and altitudinal gradients of the Okanagan Highlands series, reflecting the regional landscape of northwestern North America during the warmest period of the Cenozoic.

scholarly journals Paleoenvironment of the Quilchena flora, British Columbia, during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (6) ◽  
pp. 574-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolf W. Mathewes ◽  
David R. Greenwood ◽  
S. Bruce Archibald
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Leaf Size ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Size Analysis ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Leaf Margin ◽  
Early Eocene ◽  
Early Eocene Climatic Optimum ◽  
Climatic Optimum

The Quilchena fossil locality is dated (51.5 ± 0.4 Ma) to the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum, and this locality is reconstructed as the warmest and wettest of the Early Eocene upland sites from the Okanagan Highlands of British Columbia and northern Washington State. Mean annual temperature (MAT) is estimated from leaf margin analysis, using 55 dicot morphotypes, as 16.2 ± 2.1 °C/14.6 ± 4.8 °C. Using bioclimatic analysis of 45 nearest living relatives, a moist mesothermal climate is indicated (MAT 12.7–16.6 °C; cold month mean temperature (CMMT) 3.5–7.9 °C; mean annual precipitation (MAP) 103–157 cm/year. Leaf size analysis estimates MAP at 121 ± 39 cm/year. Estimates from the climate leaf analysis multivariate program corroborate these results, although with a slightly cooler MAT (13.3 ± 2.1 °C). Plants that support an interpretation of warm winters with minimal or no frost include Azolla, Glyptostrobus, Taxodium, Keteleeria, Pseudolarix, Eucommia, Dipteronia, Hovenia, Ternstroemia, and others. These thermophilous elements occur together with temperate genera such as Alnus, Betula, Ulmus, Calocedrus, and Fraxinus. Palynological assemblages at Quilchena are dominated by bisaccate conifers and Cupressaceae. Common angiosperms include Ulmus type, triporates, Pterocarya, and Alnus. Insect fossils at Quilchena that today inhabit tropical and subtropical regions also support warm and equable climate without significant frost, and include obligate palm-feeding beetles (Pachymerina), which indicate CMMT perhaps as high as 8 °C. These are found together with temperate aphids, wasps, giant lacewings, brown lacewings, and a panorpoid scorpionfly, supporting an interpretation of equable climatic conditions during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum.

The Kanaka Creek fossil flora (Huntingdon Formation), British Columbia, Canada — paleoenvironment and evidence for Paleocene age using palynology and macroflora

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 348-365
Author(s):  
Rolf W. Mathewes ◽  
David R. Greenwood ◽  
Renée L. Love
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Fungal Spores ◽  
Plant Macrofossils ◽  
Coastal Vegetation ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Fossil Flora ◽  
Leaf Margin ◽  
Leaf Analysis ◽  
Thermal Maximum ◽  
Margin Analysis

Paleogene sediments of the Huntingdon Formation, a correlative to the Chuckanut Formation of neighbouring Washington State, USA, are exposed in the Greater Vancouver area, British Columbia, Canada. Palynology and plant macrofossils suggest the Kanaka Creek section is Paleocene rather than Eocene in age. Detrital zircon dating is less decisive, yet indicates the Kanaka rocks are no older than Maastrichtian. Analyses of plant macro- and micro-fossils suggest an early to middle Paleocene age for the Kanaka fossil flora. Paleocene indicators include macrofossils such as Platanus bella, Archeampelos, Hamamelites inequalis, and Ditaxocladus, and pollen taxa such as Paraalnipollenites, Triporopollenites mullensis, and Duplopollis. Paleogene taxa such as Woodwardia maxonii, Macclintockia, and Glyptostrobus dominate the flora. Fungal spores including the Late Cretaceous Pesavis parva and the Paleogene Pesavis tagluensis are notable age indicators. Physiognomy of 41 angiosperm leaf morphotypes from Kanaka Creek yields mean annual temperatures in the microthermal to lower mesothermal range (11.2 ± 4.3 to 14.6 ± 2.7 °C from leaf margin analysis; 14.8 ± 2.1 °C from Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program), with mild winters (cold month mean temperature 3.9 ± 3.4 °C). Paleoclimate was cooler than the upper Paleocene and Eocene members of the Chuckanut Formation. Mean annual precipitation is estimated at ∼140 cm with large uncertainties. The Kanaka paleoflora is reconstructed as a mixed conifer–broadleaf forest, sharing common taxa with other western North American Paleocene floras and growing in a temperate moist climate. Kanaka Creek is a rare coastal Paleocene plant locality that provides new insights into coastal vegetation and climate prior to the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum.

Foliar physiognomic climate estimates for the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian–Turonian) Lark Quarry fossil flora, central-western Queensland, Australia

2013 ◽  
Vol 61 (8) ◽  
pp. 575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara L. Fletcher ◽  
Patrick T. Moss ◽  
Steven W. Salisbury
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Fossil Flora ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Leaf Margin ◽  
Museum Collections ◽  
Growth Season ◽  
Cold Temperatures ◽  
Leaf Analysis

Although there is a broad knowledge of Cretaceous climate on a global scale, quantitative climate estimates for terrestrial localities are limited. One source of terrestrial palaeoproxies is foliar physiognomy. The use of foliar physiognomy to explore Cretaceous assemblages has been limited, and some of its potential sources of error have not been fully explored. Although museum collections house a wealth of material, collection bias toward particular taxa or preservation qualities of specimens further magnifies existing taphonomic bias to cold temperatures. As a result, specific collection for foliar physiognomy can be necessary. Here, we conduct three foliar physiognomic analyses on the early Late Cretaceous Lark Quarry flora and assess the results in the context of other proxies from the same formation. Our results suggest that the climate at the Cenomanian–Turonian boundary in central western Queensland was warm and had high precipitation (leaf-area analysis: 1321 mm + 413 mm – 315 mm mean annual precipitation; leaf-margin analysis: 16.4°C mean annual temperature, 5.3°C binomial sample error; climate leaf-analysis multivariate program: 16 ± 2°C for mean annual temperature, 9-month growth season, 1073 ± 483 mm growth-season precipitation). Our analysis also gave higher mean annual temperature estimates than did a previous analysis by climate leaf-analysis multivariate program, based on museum collections for the Winton Formation.

scholarly journals Stable isotope paleoclimatology of the earliest Eocene using kimberlite-hosted mummified wood from the Canadian Subarctic

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 5899-5914 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. A. Hook ◽  
J. Halfar ◽  
Z. Gedalof ◽  
J. Bollmann ◽  
D. J. Schulze
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotopes ◽  
Tree Ring ◽  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Ring Width ◽  
Growth Patterns ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Leaf Margin ◽  
Early Eocene ◽  
Intrinsic Water Use Efficiency

Abstract. The recent discovery of well-preserved mummified wood buried within a subarctic kimberlite diamond mine prompted a paleoclimatic study of the early Eocene "hothouse" (ca. 53.3 Ma). At the time of kimberlite eruption, the Subarctic was warm and humid producing a temperate rainforest biome well north of the Arctic Circle. Previous studies have estimated that mean annual temperatures in this region were 4–20 °C in the early Eocene, using a variety of proxies including leaf margin analysis and stable isotopes (δ13C and δ18O) of fossil cellulose. Here, we examine stable isotopes of tree-ring cellulose at subannual- to annual-scale resolution, using the oldest viable cellulose found to date. We use mechanistic models and transfer functions to estimate earliest Eocene temperatures using mummified cellulose, which was well preserved in the kimberlite. Multiple samples of Piceoxylon wood within the kimberlite were crossdated by tree-ring width. Multiple proxies are used in combination to tease apart likely environmental factors influencing the tree physiology and growth in the unique extinct ecosystem of the Polar rainforest. Calculations of interannual variation in temperature over a multidecadal time-slice in the early Eocene are presented, with a mean annual temperature (MAT) estimate of 11.4 °C (1 σ = 1.8 °C) based on δ18O, which is 16 °C warmer than the current MAT of the area (−4.6 °C). Early Eocene atmospheric δ13C (δ13Catm) estimates were −5.5 (±0.7) ‰. Isotopic discrimination (Δ) and leaf intercellular pCO2 ratio (ci/ca) were similar to modern values (Δ = 18.7 ± 0.8 ‰; ci/ca = 0.63 ± 0.03 %), but intrinsic water use efficiency (Early Eocene iWUE = 211 ± 20 μmol mol−1) was over twice the level found in modern high-latitude trees. Dual-isotope spectral analysis suggests that multidecadal climate cycles somewhat similar to the modern Pacific Decadal Oscillation likely drove temperature and cloudiness trends on 20–30-year timescales, influencing photosynthetic productivity and tree growth patterns.

scholarly journals An Early Eocene bee (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) from Quilchena, British Columbia

2003 ◽  
Vol 135 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael S. Engel ◽  
S. Bruce Archibald
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Early Eocene ◽  
Okanagan Highlands ◽  
Body Fossil

AbstractA fossil halictine bee from Early Eocene, Okanagan Highlands deposits of Quilchena, British Columbia, Canada, is described and figured. Halictus? savenyeisp.nov. is distinguished from other Tertiary halictines as well as modern bees. The specimen is the second oldest body fossil of a bee yet discovered and the first fossil bee from Canada. The antiquity of Halictidae and of bees in general is briefly commented upon.

A new species of Archaeochrysa Adams (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) from the early Eocene of Driftwood Canyon, British Columbia, Canada

2014 ◽  
Vol 147 (4) ◽  
pp. 359-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Bruce Archibald ◽  
Vladimir N. Makarkin
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
New Species ◽  
Wing Venation ◽  
Early Eocene ◽  
Evolutionary Trends ◽  
Okanagan Highlands ◽  
A New Species

AbstractArchaeochrysa sanikwanew species (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae: Nothochrysinae) is described from early Eocene (Ypresian) Okanagan Highlands shale at Driftwood Canyon, British Columbia, Canada. The evolutionary trends of three chrysopid wing venation characters (the shape of the intramedian cell, the position of the crossvein 2m-cu, and the development of the pseudocubitus) are analysed. The forewing venation of this species is very plesiomorphic compared with the vast majority species of Nothochrysinae, both fossil and extant.

Early Eocene (Ypresian) birds from the Okanagan Highlands, British Columbia (Canada) and Washington State (USA)

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (8) ◽  
pp. 803-813
Author(s):  
Gerald Mayr ◽  
S. Bruce Archibald ◽  
Gary W. Kaiser ◽  
Rolf W. Mathewes
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
North America ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Washington State ◽  
Fossil Birds ◽  
Early Eocene ◽  
Western North America ◽  
Postcranial Skeleton ◽  
The North ◽  
Okanagan Highlands

We survey the known avian fossils from Ypresian (early Eocene) fossil sites of the North American Okanagan Highlands, mainly in British Columbia (Canada). All specimens represent taxa that were previously unknown from the Eocene of far-western North America. Wings from the McAbee site are tentatively referred to the Gaviiformes and would constitute the earliest fossil record of this group of birds. A postcranial skeleton from Driftwood Canyon is tentatively assigned to the Songziidae, a taxon originally established for fossils from the Ypresian of China. Two skeletons from Driftwood Canyon and the McAbee site are tentatively referred to Coliiformes and Zygodactylidae, respectively, whereas three further fossils from McAbee, Blakeburn, and Republic (Washington, USA) are too poorly preserved for even a tentative assignment. The specimens from the Okanagan Highlands inhabited relatively high paleoaltitudes with microthermal climates (except Quilchena: lower mesothermal) and mild winters, whereas most other Ypresian fossil birds are from much warmer lowland paleoenvironments with upper mesothermal to megathermal climates. The putative occurrence of a gaviiform bird is particularly noteworthy because diving birds are unknown from other lacustrine Ypresian fossil sites of the Northern Hemisphere. The bones of the putative zygodactylid show a sulphurous colouration, and we hypothesize that this highly unusual preservation may be due to the metabolic activity of sulphide-oxidizing bacteria.

scholarly journals An Eocene brontothere and tillodonts (Mammalia) from British Columbia, and their paleoenvironments

2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (9) ◽  
pp. 981-992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaelyn J. Eberle ◽  
David R. Greenwood
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Late Eocene ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Forested Landscapes ◽  
Radiometric Ages ◽  
Age Range

We describe Eocene fossils of the tillodont Trogosus from the Allenby Formation in Princeton, British Columbia (B.C.), as well as teeth of Brontotheriina from the lower Australian Creek Formation near Quesnel, B.C. These fossils represent the only occurrence of Tillodontia and Brontotheriidae in B.C. Further, the presence of the largest species of Trogosus — T. latidens — as well as a smaller species identified only as Trogosus sp. supports a late early – early middle Eocene (Bridgerian) age for the Vermilion Bluffs Shale of the Allenby Formation. Based on their morphology and large size, the teeth referred here to Brontotheriina represent one of the larger, more derived brontothere genera, and suggest a Uintan–Chadronian (middle–late Eocene) age range for the lower Australian Creek Formation that is consistent with radiometric ages of underlying volcanic rocks. Paleobotanical data from sediments correlative to those that produced these Eocene mammal fossils suggest they inhabited forested landscapes interspersed with swamps and open water environments, under mild and wet temperate climates (mean annual temperature (MAT) ∼10–16 °C; cold month mean temperature (CMMT) −4–4 °C; mean annual precipitation (MAP) >100 cm/year). These mixed conifer–broadleaf forests included tree genera typical of modern eastern North American forests (e.g., Tsuga, Acer, Fagus, and Sassafras), together with genera today restricted to east Asia (e.g., Metasequoia, Cercidiphyllum, Dipteronia, and Pterocarya). The paleobotanical evidence is consistent with the hypothesized habitats of both tillodonts and brontotheres.

Early Eocene insects from Quilchena, British Columbia, and their paleoclimatic implications

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (8) ◽  
pp. 1441-1462 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Bruce Archibald ◽  
Rolf W Mathewes
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Fossil Insects ◽  
Early Eocene ◽  
Lacustrine Shale ◽  
Okanagan Highlands ◽  
New Occurrences

Fossil insects were examined from the Early Eocene lacustrine shale at Quilchena, British Columbia. Insects of 10 orders (Blattodea, Dermaptera, Orthoptera, Hemiptera, Neuroptera, Coleoptera, Mecoptera, Diptera, Trichoptera, Hymenoptera) were identified, bringing the known number at this site to 11. These were placed in 26 families, 22 of which are new occurrences for this locality. Specimens include early occurrences of bees and ants. Three fossils of leaves with galls were examined. Thirteen of the families are new to British Columbia, and 9 of these (Blaberidae, Haglidae, Cixiidae, Dinidoridae, Cydnidae, Staphylinidae, Panorpidae, Pipunculidae, Halictidae) are new to the region of the Okanagan Highlands. A number of taxa are earliest known occurrences. Several insects in this fauna are larger than their modern relatives and some are larger than their relatives from other Eocene locales. The presence of insects including March flies, diplopterine cockroaches, dinidorid bugs, and seed weevils confirm and perhaps exceed paleobotanical indications that in the Eocene, British Columbia was much warmer than it is today.

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