Gondwana

Jurassic 195 Myr Two large continents form Laurasia (north) and Gondwana (south). Dinosaurs diversify first birds and mammals evolve gymnosperms dominate terrestrial vegetation ammonites radiate into diverse forms... 

Cretaceous 138 Myr Gondwana begins to break up. Continued radiation of flowering plants mammals begin diversifying. Meteorite strikes Yucatan Peninsula at end of period causing mass extinction (ca. 75% of all species disappear)... 

Turner speculated that the two families arose from a common ancestor that likely occupied xeric or halophytic habitats in Gondwana in an area that encompassed what were to become southwestern Africa and southeastern South America. The ancestral types do not still exist, but both families share the unusual, betanidin-based floral chemistry, and the equally unique sieve-tube plastids seen in Caryophyllales but are absent elsewhere in the plant kingdom (Behnke and Turner, 1971). 

There are certainly lithotypes that can be handpicked from European and American coals that are relatively rich in fusinite and semifusinite. However, it is perhaps significant that the mean content of total fusinite + semifusinite in 697 coal samples in the Penn State/DOE Data Base is 8.9%. On the other hand, the content of inertinite macerals in the Permian coals of Gondwana-land is notoriously high and much of this inertinite material consists of semifusinite (5,26,33,34), the concentration of which can be as high as 50% in the whole seam. 

These Permian coals, together with counterparts in India, South Africa, Antarctica and South America, are referred to as Gondwana coals after the hypothetical super-continent which subsequently broke up into the continents and sub-continents mentioned above (5). ... 

Ramezani, J. Tucker R.D. 2003. The Saghand region. Central Iran U-Pb geochronology, petrogenesis and implications for Gondwana tectonics. American Journal of Science, 303, 622-665. 

Munizaga, F., Maksaev, V., Fanning, C.M., Giglio, S., Yaxley, G., Tassinari, C.C.G. 2008. Late Paleozoic-Early Triassic magmatism on the western margin of Gondwana Coiiahuasi area. Northern Chile. Gondwana Research, 13, 407-427. 

Petrographic Investigation of Two Gondwana Seams from Madhya Pradesh, India... 

Comparison of the Chirmiri Coals of Gondwana Age with Paleozoic Coals from Other Areas... 

Arsenic is transported by the River Ganges and its tributaries from the Gondwana coal seams in the Rajmahal trap area west of the basin. The arsenic concentration of the coal is as high as 200 mg kg-1 (Saha, 1991). 

McElwain JC, Mitchell FJG, Jones MB (1995) Relationship of stomatal density and index of Salix cinerea to atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations in the Holocene. The Holocene 5 216-219 McElwain JC, Wade-Murphy J, Hesselbo SP (2005) Changes in carbon dioxide during an oceanic anoxic event linked to intrusion into Gondwana coals. Nature 435 479-482 Meyer HW (1992) Lapse rates and other variables applied to estimating paleoaltitudes from fossil floras. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 99 71-99... 

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