Geology, fossil Angiosperm wood and phytolith assemblages from the Upper Paleocene-Eocene? of Central Patagonia, Argentina

RAIGEMBORN, M. S.; BREA, M.; ZUCOL, A.; MATHEOS S. D.

Bilbao (España)

Simposio; Meeting on Climate and Biota of the Early Paleogene.; 2006

In the central Patagonia (Golfo San Jorge basin, Chubut), the Río Chico Group (Upper Paleocene-Eocene?) outcrops. This group is composed by three units, from the eldest to the youngest: the Peñas Coloradas, Las Flores and Koluél Kaike formations (Legarreta and Uliana, 1994). This sequence represents a meandering fluvial system even shallow lake and was deposited during the Late Paleocene Thermal Maximum (LPTM) and Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO). In this context, we define the paleoxylological assemblages, found in the Peñas Coloradas Formation in Punta Peligro (PPN) and Cerro Abigarrado (BJO), and phytolith assemblages from the Las Flores formation in the Gran Barranca (BCH). These data were used to reconstruct the climatic condition that happened during the Early Paleogene in central Patagonia.