Quick
Search: 		  
advanced search
 GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help 
  Geological Magazine   Don't get GSW? Talk to your librarian.
JOURNAL HOME HELP CONTACT PUBLISHER SUBSCRIBE ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Geological Magazine; May 2007; v. 144; no. 3; p. 465-486; DOI: 10.1017/S0016756807003305
© 2007 Cambridge University Press (CUP)
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (3)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by CLEAL, C. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
GeoRef
Right arrow GeoRef Citation

The Westphalian–Stephanian macrofloral record from the South Wales Coalfield, UK

CHRISTOPHER J. CLEAL*

Department of Biodiversity & Systematic Biology, National Museum Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NP, UK

* E-mail: chris.cleal{at}museumwales.ac.uk

The South Wales Coalfield has the most complete Westphalian macrofloral record anywhere on the Variscan Foreland or adjacent basins, with 135 biodiversity-meaningful morphospecies having been recognized. All of the standard macrofloral biozones of the Westphalian Stage have been recognized, although a detailed comparison with the Central Pennines Coalfields has indicated some discrepancies in the relative positions of the biozonal boundaries. Total Species Richness progressively increases through the Langsettian Substage, and then remains relatively stable through most of the Duckmantian and Bolsovian substages. There is a distinct reduction in Total Species Richness towards the top of the Bolsovian Substage, but this partially recovers in the middle Asturian Substage with the appearance of a range of marattialean ferns, and medullosalean and callistophytaleans pteridosperms. There is no evidence of any significant drop in Total Species Richness towards the top of the succession, indicating that conditions at this time were relatively stable. The change from coastal floodplain to alluvial braidplain conditions in middle Bolsovian times correlates with a marked increase in the proportion of medullosalean remains being preserved in the adpression record, reflecting an expansion of the clastic-substrate habitats.

Key Words: palaeobotany • biostratigraphy • biodiversity • Carboniferous






JOURNAL HOME HELP CONTACT PUBLISHER SUBSCRIBE ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2009 by Cambridge University Press (CUP)