WARM INTERVAL BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF THE CARBONIFEROUS ICE AGE INDICATED BY PLANT FOSSILS FROM THE LATE EARLY CARBONIFEROUS OF GONDWANA

Fossil floras from the late Visean of South America (Peru, Bolivia, Brazil), Africa (Niger), India, and Australia are distinctly different from both the earlier and later Carboniferous floras of Gondwana. New stratigraphic, palynologic, and isotope data allow assignment of these floras to a late Visean ("middle" Carboniferous) age. The floras are dominated by pteridosperm foliage and characterized by the occurrence of tree-lycopsids. These floras represent a warm temperate, frost-free floral belt in Gondwana that reached from as far as 30° to 60° South, and existed directly before the onset of the major episode of the Carboniferous glaciation. The plants lived during an interval of very warm climate on Earth as indicated by the width and extent of the floral belt. The widespread, warm climatic conditions facilitated the migration of plants into this area from other parts of the globe.