Pleistocene forest on Tenerife's southern coast: a case study of Montaña Negra |
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| Authors: | Claire L Pannell Alan Gray Jan A Zalasiewicz Michael J Branney Gordon B Curry |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK;2. Department of Natural Sciences, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh, UK;3. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Edinburgh Research Station, Penicuik, UK;4. Department of Geology, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK |
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| Abstract: | Montaña Negra is a 121 m cinder cone in the Bandas del Sur region of southern Tenerife. Formed in the Middle Pleistocene, it comprises alternating phonolitic pumice deposits and scoria layers; the latter are extremely fossiliferous with good taphonomical fidelity. 40Ar/39Ar age determination provides new dates of 302 ± 7.6 ka and 299.9 ± 11.4 ka for the Lower and Upper Aldea Blanca pumice fall deposits, respectively. This chronological constraint allows comparison of the palaeo‐habitat with the global climate at the time of pyroclastic activity. Abundant terrestrial gastropod species and rare disarticulated Coleoptera fragments are to be found. The occurrence of the endemic semi‐slug genus Plutonia (Family Vitrinidae) is significant in indicating a woodland habitat in the region during the Middle Pleistocene. We suggest that this may have been forest, possibly dominated by laurel, which is in stark contrast to the present‐day semi‐desert. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
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| Keywords: | land snails Pleistocene Tenerife palaeoecology Quaternary |
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