The Early Cretaceous megaflora of the Springhill Formation,Patagonia. Paleofloristic and Paleonvironmental inferences

The Springhill Formation (Lower Cretaceous) is considered as one of the most important oil producer units within the Austral Basin in Argentina. However, knowledge regarding this formation's plant community composition is still very scarce. In this work a thorough survey of the outcrops of the Springhill Formation was conducted regarding both geological and palaeobotanical aspects. Abundant fossil plant material was collected at the Estancia El Salitral and Río Correntoso localities in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, consisting primarily of compressions of leafy shoots with several branching orders, completely to partially preserved fronds, simple to pinnate leaves and fertile scales. Analysis of these materials made it possible to describe 20 new taxa which add to the already known flora of the Springhill Formation; nine of these taxa were found in Estancia El Salitral, and the remaining 11 were found in Río Correntoso. The floristic diversity of the unit has increased through the discovery of the first megafossils of ginkgophytes (Baiera sp. 1 and Baiera? sp. 2), whereas new taxa have been described within the divisions of Pteridophyta, Pteridospermophyta, Cycadophyta and Pinophyta. Analysis of the vegetative and reproductive epidermal structures of the various groups included within this megaflora has been demonstrated to be a valuable tool for the recognition and differentiation of species. Analysis has also made it possible to suggest paleoenvironmental inferences. Finally, the megaflora from the Springhill Formation was compared to other relevant plant assemblages from the Lower Cretaceous of Western Gondwana. The megaflora was determined to be most similar to that of the well-known Patagonian Anfiteatro de Ticó Formation and most different from that of the Brazilian Crato Formation.     

A new terrestrial Cretaceous-Paleogene site in New Zealand—turnover in macroflora confirmed by palynology

A fluvial sequence near Cave Stream (north of Castle Hill Village, central Canterbury), New Zealand, contains organically-preserved plant macrofossils (cuticles). The almost ubiquitous presence of Araucariaceae macrofossils in the lower part of the section and their stratigraphic disappearance roughly coincident with the appearance of the angiosperm leaf Dryandra comptoniaefolia and conifer taxa only known elsewhere from sediments of Paleogene age, indicates that the section spans the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-T) boundary. This was subsequently confirmed by a palynological study that demonstrated the disappearance of Late Cretaceous index species within the investigated exposure. The sequence supports the pattern recognized elsewhere in New Zealand where Araucariaceae macrofossils either disappear or become very rare in end-Cretaceous and the leaf Dryandra comptoniaefolia is an important component in the early Cenozoic. The Cave Stream K-T boundary is one of the very few in the world with organically-preserved plant macrofossils and confirms the dramatic turnover in macroflora, which is known from North America.     

Cuticle ultrastructure of Pseudofrenelopsis gansuensis: Further taxonomical implications for Cheirolepidiaceae

A study of the cheirolepidiaceous conifer Pseudofrenelopsis gansuensis from the Lower Cretaceous of Wangqing Jilin Province in China was conducted in detail using scanning and transmission electron microscopy techniques. In total, nine ultrastructural features were recognized for the cuticle of this fossil plant, which are helpful in the distinguishing between cuticles of ordinary epidermal cells, subsidiary cells, guard cells and hypodermal cells of the stomatal apparatus. A three dimensional reconstruction of the cuticle ultrastructure was obtained. Pseudofrenelopsis gansuensis is the second species of this genus for which the cuticle ultrastructure has been statistically examined with 30 measurements and estimated confidence interval values. The close comparison of the cuticle ultrastructure characters, including statistical data, among Cheirolepidiaceae and other fossil conifers provides potential evidence of the taxonomic significance of this genus: ten characters are potentially valuable for specific separation, eleven parameters for generic separation and three parameters seem also to be useful for Family determination. The differences in the chemical composition according to preliminary statistical element analyses of the cuticles based on three ratios in two species of Pseudofrenelopsis, P. dalatzensis and P. gansuensis, should also be examined in future studies.