Palynology of the late Oligocene-early Miocene Newvale Mine, Gore Lignite Measures, southland, New Zealand

Abstract

The warm-temperate to subtropical vegetation of New Zealand during the late Oligocene–early Miocene was far more diverse than today, despite being at almost the same latitude. Well-preserved spores and pollen from the late Oligocene–early Miocene Gore Lignite Measures at Newvale Mine, southern New Zealand, add a regional aspect to the diversity, based on the previous published record of a diverse local macroflora. Many of the spores and pollen were deposited in a small, ombrotrophic forest mire and were probably derived from a mixed mesothermal forest – sclerophyllous woodland environment. This is the first time that most of these palynomorphs have been illustrated using the single-grain technique under both LM and SEM. In addition, the fossil pollen taxa Striatricolporites pseudostriatus (McIntyre) Mildenhall & Pocknall and S. striatus (Couper) Mildenhall & Pocknall are transferred to Ailanthipites pseudostriatus (McIntyre) Mildenhall comb. nov. and A. striatus (Couper) Mildenhall comb. nov.