Papers by Susanne Feist-Burkhardt
Access high quality colour images and original plates from the Duxbury collection, a catalogue of... more Access high quality colour images and original plates from the Duxbury collection, a catalogue of Cretaceous dinoflagellate cyst specimens.\r\n\r\nThe database includes the original plates from Duxbury's 1983 publication, along with new:\r\n\r\n* High quality digital images.\r\n* Videos of the original specimens.\r\n* Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM) images, providing:\r\n extended focus images.\r\n* Red/green anaglyphs, requiring red/green glasses to appreciate the 3D effect\r\n 3D animations.\r\n* Animations of the image stack from specimens embedded in a microscope slide.\r\n\r\nAll images and movies have been compressed for display on the web. To play the videos you will need to install the QuickTime plug-in.\r\n\r\nThe original diagnoses and edits by Duxbury (1983) are included for each taxon, with added notes inferring subsequent changes in taxonomy.
Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology
The environmental perturbations of the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE, ~183 Ma) were associ... more The environmental perturbations of the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE, ~183 Ma) were associated with the widespread deposition of black shales, such as the Posidonia Shale Formation in southwest Germany. We recently published a detailed palynological analysis of the deposits of the Posidonia Shale Formation at Dormettingen, investigating pollen, spores, and marine plankton. In addition to the comprehensive palynological analysis, we point out the occurrence of possible teratological features (i.e. unseparated spore tetrads and darkcoloured sporomorphs) before the T-OAE. These features have been tentatively linked to environmental changes, such as increased UV-B irradiation or heavy metal pollution associated with the large-scale volcanism of the Karoo Ferrar province (Galasso et al., 2022). Our interpretation has drawn criticism (Riding et al., 2022). Here we present a more substantiated discussion of why spore tetrads and darkened spores might not be sedimentological artefacts but indicators of aggravating environmental conditions prior to the T-OAE. The combined occurrence of several teratomorphic features (i.e. spore tetrads, dark sporomorph walls, and even polyploidy) during the earliest Toarcian (Tenuicostatum Zone) is interpreted as a signal of environmental stress in land plants, although for each individual morphological variation a much easier explanation exists.
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2017
The volcano-sedimentary infill of the Dschang basin in the Western part of Cameroon is poorly kno... more The volcano-sedimentary infill of the Dschang basin in the Western part of Cameroon is poorly known. The present study provides the first biostratigraphical data of the volcano-sedimentary sequence and allows constraining the age and the position of this basin within the regional context of Central Africa. The studied sequence is composed of three depositional units. The first unit is a fining-upwards sequence of coarse-grained sandstone that gets finer towards the top, passing to thick layers of fossiliferous claystone. The second unit is strongly affected by volcanic activity and consists of a volcano-sedimentary sequence. The third unit is marked by basaltic volcanism and covers the series. Diverse and well-preserved palynomorphs were recovered and are used to provide valuable information for age determination of the Dschang volcano-sedimentary sequence, namely to be of late Eocene-Early Miocene age. The recovered spores, pollen, green algae and fungal remains from the bottom of the sequence include Bombacidites spp., Clavainaperturites cf. clavatus, Crototricolpites sp., Perfotricolpites digitatus, Proteacidites spp., Psilastephanocolporites minor, Psilastephanocolporites spp., Retitrescolpites spp., Retitricolporites irregularis, Retitricolporites spp., Retitriporites sp., Spirosyncolpites bruni (probably synonymous to Spirosyncolpites spiralis), Striatopollis bellus, (considered synonymous to Striatopollis catatumbus), Striatopollis sp., Tetracolporites quadratus, Tetratricolporites sp., ?Verrutricolporites rotundiporis, Cyathidites sp., Laevigatosporites spp., Polypodiaceoisporites spp., Verrucatosporites usmensis, Verrucatosporites spp., Botryococcus sp., Tasmanites sp., and fungal remains. The samples are assigned to the Verrucatosporites usmensis Zone of Salard-Cheboldaeff (1979). The palynological assemblages are similar to those of other Late Eocene to Early Miocene palynological records from the West, Central and Northern African basins. Study of the organic matter by pyrolysis Rock-Eval 6 (Types I, II and III), the sedimentological setting, the palynofacies and the palynomorph assemblages show evidences of tidal influence (presence of the prasinophyte Tasmanites) in an active continental margin (semi-arid to humid lacustrine depositional environment). The Ngoua sedimentary sequence is fluvio-lacustrine, and believed to have witnessed some occasional marine incursions possibly during the opening of the Central Atlantic Ocean (CAO) and strongly disturbed later by intense volcanic activity.
Revue De Paleobiologie, 1995
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Papers by Susanne Feist-Burkhardt