Age of Tertiary formations on Spitsbergen

Biostratigraphic evidence for the age of Tertiary formations on Spitsbergen is critically reviewed and new evidence from dinoflagellates is presented. The shift in basin geometry and sediment source area observed in the Gilsonryggen Formation is dated as latest Palaeocene, coinciding with the initial opening of the Norwegian Sea at anomaly 24-25 time. An Upper Eocene age is proposed for sediments from Forlandsundet (Sarsbukta), indicating that the Forlandsundet graben was created during the phase of shear movement between Greenland and Spitsbergen before anomaly 13 time

(Table 2) Stratigraphic marker taxa in ODP Hole 162-985A sediments

The rich and diverse dinocyst assemblages in Cores 162-985A-32X through 62X confirm the importance of these microfossils in unraveling the evolution of the Norwegian Sea. Cosmopolitan taxa, with well-documented stratigraphic ranges in northwest Europe, indicate the following ages: Sections 162-985A-62X-1 through 51X-2, Rupelian (early Oligocene); 50X-5, Oligocene, possibly Chattian; 48X-6, Aquitanian? (early Miocene); 48X-4 through 37X-5, Aquitanian (early Miocene); and 36X-5 through 32X-1, Burdigalian (early Miocene). This stratigraphic interpretation suggests that a major hiatus, which can be correlated with an apparently coeval hiatus at Site 643, occurs within the Chattian at Site 985. Several endemic dinocyst taxa with unusual morphology and restricted stratigraphic occurrences are present in Hole 985A and other Norwegian Sea sites, especially Site 643. By using Hole 985A data for control, the Oligocene-Miocene sediments can be correlated with some degree of confidence in the Norwegian Basin

Dinoflagellates and pollen of the Brito-Arctic Igneous Province flora, ODP Hole 104-642E

Palynological studies of the intrabasaltic sediment layers in the lower volcanic series from ODP Leg 104 outer Voring Plateau Hole 642E Cores 102 through 109 indicated abundant pollen and rarer dinoflagellate cysts. The dinoflagellates belong to the Apectodinium hyperacanthum Zone and indicate an age equivalent to nannoplankton Zones NP9-lower NP10 around the Paleocene/Eocene boundary. The pollen and spore assemblage found here in 12 of the samples from the lower volcanic series is of well- preserved and distinctive specimens and contains unusual forms of pollen from the Taxodiaceae and the Hamamelidae. It has not been transported far from vegetation that was dominated by conifer forest with some ferns and deciduous arborescent angiosperms. Nearly identical assemblages are found elsewhere in the Brito-Arctic Igneous Province, in intrabasaltic sediments from eastern Greenland, the Faeroe Islands, the Isle of Mull, and Antrim (Northern Ireland), and above basalt at the Rockall Plateau. The assemblage is also present in sediments around the Paleocene/Eocene boundary in Spitsbergen. This pollen and spore flora is also associated with dinoflagellate cysts of the Apectodinium hyperacanthum Zone in the deposits from eastern Greenland, the Rockall Plateau, and Spitsbergen, suggesting that these are correlative. Assemblages of the same age from the North Sea, Denmark, and the London and Paris Basins are different. Paleobotanical evidence suggests a short survival of the intrabasaltic flora, and that all the deposits considered here are of about the same age. We propose that at around the Paleocene/Eocene boundary a distinct flora, named here as the Brito-Arctic Igneous Province (BIP) flora, occurred on the line of volcanicity stretching from Rockall to the Greenland Sea, and even to Spitsbergen. Geophysical evidence supports our view that the Rockall to East Greenland intrabasaltics are more or less contemporaneous, at about the Paleocene/Eocene boundary. However, the comparable pollen and spore assemblage in the Hebridean province, at Mull and Antrim, is from pyroclastics that may be a little older

Additions to the family Miroviaceae (Coniferae) from the Lower Cretaceous of West Greenland and Germany: Mirovia groenlandica n. sp., Tritaenia crassa (Seward) comb, nov., and Tritaenia linkii Magdefrau et Rudolph emend

The genus Tritaenia with its type species T. linkii Magdefrau et Rudolph emend, from the Wealden of Germany has been referred to the family Miroviaceae Bose et Manum, comprising Mesozoic and mostly Arctic conifer foliage with 'Sciadopitys-like'stomatal distribution. Two other additions to the Miroviaceae, both from the Lower Cretaceous of West Greenland, arc Pityophyllum crassum Seward, now attributed to Tritaenia, and Mirovia groenlandica n. sp., described on leafy stems and detached leaves. Tritaenia has distinct stomatal bands within the median stomatal zone. This and other stomatal distributions in the Miroviaceae and their implications for the interpretation of leaf venation are discussed with the conclusion that two veins are most likely indicated. Diagnostic characters and stratigraphic and geographic distribution of the presently known miroviaceous taxa are summarized