New Data on the Late Cretaceous Flora of the New Siberia Island, New Siberian Islands

Abstract

A new collection of plant fossils from the Derevyannye Gory Formation of the New Siberia Island collected in 2016 was studied. Thirty species of fossil plants attributed to liverworts, ferns, ginkgoaleans, conifers, and angiosperms were identified and illustrated; 16 of these species were not previously encountered among the New Siberian flora. A new angiosperm species Dalembia (?) gracilis Herman was described. New Siberian flora is characterized by a moderately rich systematic composition, by the predominance of conifers and angiosperms, by the dominance of the large-leaved platanoids and the species of the genus Trochodendroides among angiosperms, by the predominance of dentate-margined angiosperms, by the rarity of entire-margined forms, and by the total absence of cycadaleans and bennettitaleans. The age of the New Siberian flora corresponds to the Turonian–Coniacian interval; most likely, the flora should be dated to the Turonian. Plants of the New Siberian flora experienced a warm-temperate humid climate with warm summer, mild frost-free winter, and insignificant seasonality in precipitation.