1. Marine microorganisms as amber inclusions: insights from coastal forests of New Caledonia
- Author
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A. R. Schmidt, D. Grabow, C. Beimforde, V. Perrichot, J. Rikkinen, S. Saint Martin, V. Thiel, L. J. Seyfullah, Georg-August-University = Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Géosciences Rennes (GR), Université de Rennes (UR)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Rennes (OSUR), Université de Rennes (UR)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Finnish Museum of Natural History (LUOMUS), Helsingin yliopisto = Helsingfors universitet = University of Helsinki, Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie - Paris (CR2P), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Georg-August-University [Göttingen], Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Rennes (OSUR)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rennes 1 (UR1), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES), University of Helsinki, Finnish Museum of Natural History, Viikki Plant Science Centre (ViPS), Plant Biology, Biosciences, Lichens, Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, and Teachers' Academy
- Subjects
Forest floor ,010506 paleontology ,geography ,geography.geographical_feature_category ,biology ,Paleontology ,Estuary ,15. Life on land ,010502 geochemistry & geophysics ,biology.organism_classification ,Sea spray ,01 natural sciences ,QE701-760 ,Cretaceous ,Mexican amber ,1181 Ecology, evolutionary biology ,Littoral zone ,Aeolian processes ,14. Life underwater ,[SDU.STU.PG]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Paleontology ,Araucaria ,Geology ,1183 Plant biology, microbiology, virology ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences - Abstract
Marine microorganisms trapped in amber are extremely rare in the fossil record, and the few existing inclusions recovered so far originate from very few pieces of Cretaceous amber from France. Marine macroscopic inclusions are also very rare and were recently described from Cretaceous Burmese amber and Early Miocene Mexican amber. Whereas a coastal setting for the amber source forests is generally proposed, different scenarios have been suggested to explain how these marine inclusions can become trapped in a resin of terrestrial origin. These scenarios include an introduction of marine organisms (i) through high tides, (ii) from storms and resulting in flooding of the littoral/estuarine forest floor, (iii) in resin dropped into the sea in mangrove-type settings, or (iv) by wind and sea spray. We investigated the possibility of a wind-driven introduction of marine microorganisms into tree resins using modern coastal conifer forests with the highly resinous Cook pine (Araucaria columnaris) in New Caledonia as a model for the Cretaceous amber forests from France. By exposing fresh resin surfaces on the seaward side of the trees and the collection of older in situ resins, we confirmed that marine microorganisms can become trapped on sea-exposed resin, along with remnants from terrestrial organisms, and salt crystals. We suggest that, for cases where only a few marine inclusions are discovered in an amber deposit, an origin from aeolian background deposition is feasible. However, a more energetic but possibly still aeolian event is likely needed to explain the high numbers of marine microorganisms embedded in pieces of Cretaceous amber from France.
- Published
- 2018
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