Preliminary phytolith analysis of Sarmiento Formation in the Gran Barranca (Central Patagonia, Argentina)

ZUCOL A, M BREA, R MADDEN, E BELLOSI, A CARLINI AND M VUCETICH

Plants, People and Places: Recent studies in phytolithic analysis. M. Madella & D. Zurro, eds.

Oxbow Books

Lugar: Oxford; Año: 2007; p. 197 - 203

The escarpment south of lake Colhué Huapí (Chubut province, Argentina) is considered an important paleontological locality, named Gran Barranca. Its sedimentary sequences are rich in fossil vetebrates of different groups. Consequently, their study is interesting for bio-, litho- and chronostratigraphical correlations. Palaeobotanical knowledge of these siltstones is less well known, micropaleontological prospecting reveals them to be palynologically sterile and plant macrofossils have yet to be recovered. In 1979, Mazzoni points out the potential importance of phytolith record in these silts, as much for their morphological variety as for their abundance (Mazzoni 1979, Spalletti and Mazzoni 1979). Study of Gran Barranca phytoliths is being continued (Zucol et al. 1999,2001) and the present contribution reports preliminary results of our work at the original profile of Spalletti and Mazzoni (1979, Fig. 2) and describes the phytolith assemblages from this profile in more detail. et al. 1999,2001) and the present contribution reports preliminary results of our work at the original profile of Spalletti and Mazzoni (1979, Fig. 2) and describes the phytolith assemblages from this profile in more detail.