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Antarctic paleobiology: its role in the reconstruction of Gondwana
Cretaceous Research (1992) I3, 319-321
Book review Antarctic paleobiology: its role in the reconstruction of Gondwana by T. N. Taylor and E. L. Taylor (editors). 1990, x + 261 pp., Springer-Verlag, New York, Berlin, Heidelberg, $98.00, ISBN 0-387-97006-1.
This volume comprises a collection of papers resulting from a 3-day "workshop" held on the campus of The Ohio State University from June 13-15, 1988. The aim of the meeting was primarily to discuss the current status of palaeobiology, principally palaeobotany and palynology, in Antarctica, and the interrelationships of Antarctic floras with those of other Gondwanan continents. The participants were selected on the basis of their expertise in the major plant groups, and in their ability to evaluate all of the numerous factors that influenced the distribution of the biota of the Antarctic region through time. The 15 chapters that make up the bulk (219 pp.) of the book are mainly reviews, but there is some new information to be found. These are followed by a 26-page bibliography of Antarctic palaeobotany and palynology, compiled by the editors, and a 15-page index. A general first impression is of a quality production. The diagrams are mostly well drawn and the photographic illustrations dear and of the right contrast. Such an impression often bodes well for the quality of the contents, and this was verified on subsequent reading. I found the collection of papers to be interesting and useful summaries of what is known of Antarctic fossil plant (and Triassic vertebrate) remains, and their geological setting. They are also of value in both pointing to aspects of palaeobotany and palynology in need of further specialist research and to broader based interdisciplinary investigations on the biota, the latter being the ultimate goal of both the workshop and the publication. On an editorial level, it is possible to be a little critical about two points in particular. The first concerns the arrangement of the chapters which seems surprisingly random. It would, have been better to have put them in an order that roughly corresponds to the geological age of the subject matter. The second concerns the use of certain nouns as adjectives, e.g., Gondwana, instead of Gondwanan, floras and conifers; we don't say America floras or Britain conifers do we?
The first paper (Chapter 1), by J. W. Collinson, provides a depositional setting for the late Carboniferous to Triassic plant remains that have been recovered from a few isolated localities in the Transantarctic Basin. The stratigraphic positions of these have previously been considered only in a general way. Among the concluding statements are two of special note, namely that detailed plant fossil biostratigraphy of the region will require co-operation between sedimentologists and palaeobotanists in the field during the section measuring process, and that the sections selected should be those least affected by secondary alteration subsequent to burial and the widespread intrusions of Jurassic diabases. A paper by J. T. Parrish on Gondwanan palaeogeography and palaeoclimatology follows. She reassesses previous climatic predictions, particularly in the light of new continental reconstructions of the position of Gondwana during the Palaeozoic. 0195-6671/92/030319+ 03 $03.00/0
© 1992AcademicPress Limited
320
Book review
Discussion of the Mesozoic is limited to less than a page of text, and does not extend to consideration of the Cretaceous. The climate of this period is, however, discussed by R. A. Spicer (Chapter 3) in the context of attempts to reconstruct high latitude Cretaceous vegetation. By comparison with Alaskan plant assemblages of similar age which he has studied, the Antarctic record is poor; taxonomic and palaeoclimatic interpretations are currently inadequate, and a number of biostratigraphic problems require resolution. There is much we do not know about the composition, habitat preferences and climatic tolerances of the plants that lived in the Antarctic during the Cretaceous or at any other time. In a short contribution, G. T. Creber considers the south polar forest ecosystem mainly in terms of the productivity of the forests during the Mesozoic and early Tertiary. He concludes that the only necessary factor for trees to grow at very high latitudes today is an increase in the average ambient temperature. Chapter 5, by W. R. Hammer, is concerned with Triassic terrestrial vertebrate faunas. It is the only paper that does not contain a discussion of fossil plant remains, and although it is of interest to know about the animals that ate, sheltered under and trod on the plants, it is, therefore, somewhat out of place in this volume. Two palynological papers follow (Chapters 6 and 7); one by G. Playford on the Proterozoic and Palaeozoic, and the other by E. M. Truswell on the Cretaceous and Tertiary. Both are useful reviews of current knowledge. In general, the preMesozoic assemblages suffer from being poorly preserved as a:result of metamorphism and heating associated with volcanic activity; indeed many of the samples processed have proved to be devoid of palynomorphs. Nevertheless, as Playford points out, careful collecting and laboratory preparation may yield assemblages that are of value for biostratigraphy, the elucidation of the composition of past vegetation and climate, organic maturation levels and, via reworked material, of sedimentary provenance. Truswell discusses Cretaceous and Tertiary palynofloras in chronological order and attempts to draw conclusions on a variety of topics, particularly on the composition of the vegetation represented but also with respect to comparison with the megafossil record and the climate. A. N. Drinnan & P. R. Crane's review (Chapter 15) of Cretaceous palaeobotany and its bearing on the biogeography of Austral angiosperms rounds off the collection. They point out that the integration of palaeobotanical (including palynological) data, especially on Late Cretaceous taxa, from Antarctica and other Austral areas could provide some time control on both the fragmentation of Gondwana and the subsequent biogeographic patterns. Of the intervening seven chapters, the Cretaceous is briefly considered in those written by M. N. Bose, E. L. Taylor & T. N. Taylor on Gondwanan floras of India and Antarctica, and R. A. Stockey on Antarctic and Gondwanan conifers. It is also mentioned in passing by T. Delevoryas in his comments on the role of cycadophytes in Antarctic fossil floras. The other four are concerned solely with older material (D. Edwards: Silurian-Devonian palaeobotany; S. Archangelsky: plant distribution in Gondwana during the late Palaeozoic; E. L. Taylor & T. N. Taylor: structurally preserved Permian and Triassic floras; K. B. Pigg & T. N. Taylor: permineralized Glossopteris and Dicroidium). Constantly repeated are words to the effect that much more work needs to be done. Clearly there are many years of research ahead for those who have the opportunity to carry out fieldwork in Antarctica and/or have access to fossil material from that continent. The book provides a useful summary of much (but by no
Book review
321
means all) of what is currently known, and points the reader towards some of the palaeobotanical, palynological and interdisciplinary fields of research that need to be worked on further. Had the paper on Triassic vertebrates not been included a better title would have been Antarctic palaeobotany and paIynolo~y; an awful lot of palaeobiology is not considered.
David J. Batten Institute of Earth Studies UCW-Aberystwyth University of Wales Abevystwyth SY23 3DB, UK.
Book review Antarctic paleobiology: its role in the reconstruction of Gondwana by T. N. Taylor and E. L. Taylor (editors). 1990, x + 261 pp., Springer-Verlag, New York, Berlin, Heidelberg, $98.00, ISBN 0-387-97006-1.
This volume comprises a collection of papers resulting from a 3-day "workshop" held on the campus of The Ohio State University from June 13-15, 1988. The aim of the meeting was primarily to discuss the current status of palaeobiology, principally palaeobotany and palynology, in Antarctica, and the interrelationships of Antarctic floras with those of other Gondwanan continents. The participants were selected on the basis of their expertise in the major plant groups, and in their ability to evaluate all of the numerous factors that influenced the distribution of the biota of the Antarctic region through time. The 15 chapters that make up the bulk (219 pp.) of the book are mainly reviews, but there is some new information to be found. These are followed by a 26-page bibliography of Antarctic palaeobotany and palynology, compiled by the editors, and a 15-page index. A general first impression is of a quality production. The diagrams are mostly well drawn and the photographic illustrations dear and of the right contrast. Such an impression often bodes well for the quality of the contents, and this was verified on subsequent reading. I found the collection of papers to be interesting and useful summaries of what is known of Antarctic fossil plant (and Triassic vertebrate) remains, and their geological setting. They are also of value in both pointing to aspects of palaeobotany and palynology in need of further specialist research and to broader based interdisciplinary investigations on the biota, the latter being the ultimate goal of both the workshop and the publication. On an editorial level, it is possible to be a little critical about two points in particular. The first concerns the arrangement of the chapters which seems surprisingly random. It would, have been better to have put them in an order that roughly corresponds to the geological age of the subject matter. The second concerns the use of certain nouns as adjectives, e.g., Gondwana, instead of Gondwanan, floras and conifers; we don't say America floras or Britain conifers do we?
The first paper (Chapter 1), by J. W. Collinson, provides a depositional setting for the late Carboniferous to Triassic plant remains that have been recovered from a few isolated localities in the Transantarctic Basin. The stratigraphic positions of these have previously been considered only in a general way. Among the concluding statements are two of special note, namely that detailed plant fossil biostratigraphy of the region will require co-operation between sedimentologists and palaeobotanists in the field during the section measuring process, and that the sections selected should be those least affected by secondary alteration subsequent to burial and the widespread intrusions of Jurassic diabases. A paper by J. T. Parrish on Gondwanan palaeogeography and palaeoclimatology follows. She reassesses previous climatic predictions, particularly in the light of new continental reconstructions of the position of Gondwana during the Palaeozoic. 0195-6671/92/030319+ 03 $03.00/0
© 1992AcademicPress Limited
320
Book review
Discussion of the Mesozoic is limited to less than a page of text, and does not extend to consideration of the Cretaceous. The climate of this period is, however, discussed by R. A. Spicer (Chapter 3) in the context of attempts to reconstruct high latitude Cretaceous vegetation. By comparison with Alaskan plant assemblages of similar age which he has studied, the Antarctic record is poor; taxonomic and palaeoclimatic interpretations are currently inadequate, and a number of biostratigraphic problems require resolution. There is much we do not know about the composition, habitat preferences and climatic tolerances of the plants that lived in the Antarctic during the Cretaceous or at any other time. In a short contribution, G. T. Creber considers the south polar forest ecosystem mainly in terms of the productivity of the forests during the Mesozoic and early Tertiary. He concludes that the only necessary factor for trees to grow at very high latitudes today is an increase in the average ambient temperature. Chapter 5, by W. R. Hammer, is concerned with Triassic terrestrial vertebrate faunas. It is the only paper that does not contain a discussion of fossil plant remains, and although it is of interest to know about the animals that ate, sheltered under and trod on the plants, it is, therefore, somewhat out of place in this volume. Two palynological papers follow (Chapters 6 and 7); one by G. Playford on the Proterozoic and Palaeozoic, and the other by E. M. Truswell on the Cretaceous and Tertiary. Both are useful reviews of current knowledge. In general, the preMesozoic assemblages suffer from being poorly preserved as a:result of metamorphism and heating associated with volcanic activity; indeed many of the samples processed have proved to be devoid of palynomorphs. Nevertheless, as Playford points out, careful collecting and laboratory preparation may yield assemblages that are of value for biostratigraphy, the elucidation of the composition of past vegetation and climate, organic maturation levels and, via reworked material, of sedimentary provenance. Truswell discusses Cretaceous and Tertiary palynofloras in chronological order and attempts to draw conclusions on a variety of topics, particularly on the composition of the vegetation represented but also with respect to comparison with the megafossil record and the climate. A. N. Drinnan & P. R. Crane's review (Chapter 15) of Cretaceous palaeobotany and its bearing on the biogeography of Austral angiosperms rounds off the collection. They point out that the integration of palaeobotanical (including palynological) data, especially on Late Cretaceous taxa, from Antarctica and other Austral areas could provide some time control on both the fragmentation of Gondwana and the subsequent biogeographic patterns. Of the intervening seven chapters, the Cretaceous is briefly considered in those written by M. N. Bose, E. L. Taylor & T. N. Taylor on Gondwanan floras of India and Antarctica, and R. A. Stockey on Antarctic and Gondwanan conifers. It is also mentioned in passing by T. Delevoryas in his comments on the role of cycadophytes in Antarctic fossil floras. The other four are concerned solely with older material (D. Edwards: Silurian-Devonian palaeobotany; S. Archangelsky: plant distribution in Gondwana during the late Palaeozoic; E. L. Taylor & T. N. Taylor: structurally preserved Permian and Triassic floras; K. B. Pigg & T. N. Taylor: permineralized Glossopteris and Dicroidium). Constantly repeated are words to the effect that much more work needs to be done. Clearly there are many years of research ahead for those who have the opportunity to carry out fieldwork in Antarctica and/or have access to fossil material from that continent. The book provides a useful summary of much (but by no
Book review
321
means all) of what is currently known, and points the reader towards some of the palaeobotanical, palynological and interdisciplinary fields of research that need to be worked on further. Had the paper on Triassic vertebrates not been included a better title would have been Antarctic palaeobotany and paIynolo~y; an awful lot of palaeobiology is not considered.
David J. Batten Institute of Earth Studies UCW-Aberystwyth University of Wales Abevystwyth SY23 3DB, UK.