Terrestrial palynomorphs from Cape Roberts Project drillhole CRP-1, Ross Sea, Antarctica

Abstract

Sparse pollen and spores Iron1 the lower Miocene section oICRP-1 derive Iroiii at lc;ist threesources.Alow-diversity but pci-sistciit ;iiigiospci.iii-iiioss-livcrwort;isscmblage may reflect contemporaneous herb-moss tnnclni and ;I climate with summer temperatures similar to that of islands in the vicinity ol'thc Antarctic Convergence today.More diverse No/li(~fagiis-podocarp-Protemae assemblages at c. 70 inbsl'and 100-1 16 mbsfmay rcf'lecl woody vegetation growing nearby in warmer sites or periods.long distance transport.or rcdcposition from older strata.A contemporaneous local origin is preferred: although it is not possible to determine the precise form of this vegetation from palynological data.a conservative model with low-growing shrubs would imply July mean temperatures of at least 7OC.Reworked Permian-Triassic miosporcs are present in low numbers tliroughoiit the sequence.Pleistocene samples contain assemblages likely to have been reworked from older strata.mostly having similar taxa to the lower Miocene section, although one sample contains a Nothqfagus-domil~iited pollen assemblage (also interpreted as reworked) similar to that of the Sirius Group of the Transantarctic Mountains