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(American Journal of Botany. 2004;91:816-824.)
© 2004 Botanical Society of America, Inc.

Paleobotany

Cytological and ultrastructural preservation in Eocene Metasequoia leaves from the Canadian High Arctic1

Karimah Schoenhut2, David R. Vann and Ben A. LePage3

Department of Earth & Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania, 240 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6316 USA

The ultrastructural examination by transmission electron microscopy of 45-million-year-old mummified leaves of Metasequoia extracted from the Upper Coal member of the Buchanan Lake Formation in Napartulik on Axel Heiberg Island revealed the preservation of intact chloroplasts and chloroplast components. Abundant tanniferous cell inclusions may indicate that the 3-mo period of constant daylight during the Artic summer induced high concentrations of tannins in the leaf tissues, which may have arrested microbial degradation of the litter. Quantified differences in the extent of chloroplast preservation through a vertical section of the lignite suggest that short-term shifts in the depositional environment took place, perhaps influencing the exposure of the leaf tissues to conditions that would either promote or inhibit decomposition.

Key Words: Buchanan Lake Formation • chloroplast • Eocene • fossil • lignite • Metasequoia • mummification • thylakoid




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K. Schoenhut
Environmental implications of the preservation of chloroplast ultrastructure in Eocene Metasequoia leaves
Paleobiology, September 1, 2005; 31(3): 424 - 433.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


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