Palynological and iridium anomalies at Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, south-central Saskatchewan

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Abstract

The Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in south-central Saskatchewan is marked by coincident anomalies in abundance of iridium and fern spores at the extinction level of a suite of Cretaceous pollen taxa. Evidence of disruption of the terrestrial flora includes the fern-spore abundance anomaly and local extinction of as much as 30 percent of angiosperm species. The reorganized earliest Tertiary flora is made up largely of surviving species that assumed new roles of dominance. Persistence of climatically sensitive taxa across the boundary indicates that if paleoclimate was altered by the terminal Cretaceous event, it returned quickly to the pre-event condition.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Palynological and iridium anomalies at Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, south-central Saskatchewan
Series title Science
DOI 10.1126/science.231.4739.714
Volume 231
Issue 4739
Year Published 1986
Language English
Publisher American Association for the Advancement of Science
Description 4 p.
First page 714
Last page 717
Country Canada
State Saskatchewan
Other Geospatial south-central Saskatchewan
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