Group
Members
"The present is the key to the past"
Uniformitarianism; James Hutton
..can the past also be the key to the future?
Abigail Clifton (Ph.D. Student)
The Palaeogene climate and fossil flora of Svalbard
The aim of this project is to reconstruct the palaeoenvironment and climate of the Arctic (Svalbard) during the Palaeogene. This will be done by palaeoclimatic analysis of new fossil plant collections, interpretation of sedimentary environments, climate analysis from fossil soils, clay minerals and other environmental indicators.
The Palaeogene deposits of Svalbard are found within the Van Mijenfjorden Group, a >2500m sedimentary sequence comprising continental clastic sediments with coal seams and marine incursions. Rich fossil floras are found in the Palaeocene Firkanten Formation and the Middle Eocene – Early Oligocene Aspelintoppen Formation. The most detailed studies of the palaeofloras have been based on old museum collections in the Swedish Museum of Natural History.
This project involves field seasons on Svalbard in 2009 and 2010 to collect new leaf floras and study the associated sediments and palaeosols to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental setting and floral diversity. Further lab work will involve climate analysis of the fossil leaves and wood, plus detailed analysis of sediments, clay minerals and other palaeoclimate indicators. This will yield new information about high latitude climates and biodiversity in the Palaeogene greenhouse world.
email: abiclifton@gmail.com
web: http://www.see.leeds.ac.uk/people/a.clifton
