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Joint 56th Annual North-Central/ 71st Annual Southeastern Section Meeting - 2022

Paper No. 13-6
Presentation Time: 2:45 PM

MIDDLE MIOCENE FUNGI FROM THE BOUIE RIVER FOSSIL FLORA SITE IN THE UPPER HATTIESBURG FORMATION, HATTIESBURG, MISSISSIPPI


SPEARS, Tyler, Morehead State University, Department of Physics, Earth Science, and Space Systems Engineering, 123 Lappin Hall, Morehead, MS 40351, ROMERO, Ingrid, Morehead State University, Department of Physics, Earth Science, and Space Systems Engineering, 405-C Lappin Hall, Morehead, MS 40351, NUÑEZ OTAÑO, Noelia B., Universidad Autónoma de Entre Ríos, Sede Diamante, CICyTTP (CONICET-UADER-Prov.ER), Laboratorio de Geología de Llanuras, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Diamante, MS E3105, STARNES, James, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Geology, 00 North State St., Jackson, MS 39202, ALFORD, Mac, University of Southern Mississippi, Ecology and Organismal Biology, School of Biological, Environmental, and Earth Sciences, Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001, BRINK, Alyson, Geography and Geology, University of Southern Mississippi, School of Biological, Environmental, and Earth Sciences, Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001, POUND, Matthew J., Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, United Kingdom and O'KEEFE, Jennifer, Morehead State University, Department of Physics, Earth Science, and Space Systems Engineering, 123 Lappin Hall, Morehead, KY 40351

Fungal spores are an under-studied non-pollen palynomorph with potential as proxies for local paleoenvironmental conditions. Unlike dispersal of pollen, fungal spores typically are dispersed in immediate proximity to the parent fungal body. Like many palynomorphs, they have weathering-resistant organic polymer walls, which means they are frequently preserved in the sedimentary record. Very few studies have been conducted on Middle Miocene fossil fungal diversity in the Gulf Coastal Plain (USA) and none at all on the their usefulness to track climate change. The Middle Miocene fossil flora site (MS. 18.001) in the upper Hattiesburg Formation contains a diverse macro- and micro-fossil flora indicative of sub-tropical paleoclimates during the Middle Miocene Climatic Transition (MMCT). These assemblages remain remarkably similar to those found along the coastal rivers in this region today. This study was designed to document the biodiversity of fungi in the upper Hattiesburg Formation and assess fungal biodiversity changes with respect to climatic changes during the Serravallian to the early Tortonian. These findings provide an important window into fungal communities during the Middle Miocene in the Gulf Coast Plain (USA).

Session No. 13

T30. Undergraduate Oral Presentations
Thursday, 7 April 2022: 1:30 PM-5:30 PM
North Meeting Room 205 (Duke Energy Convention Center)
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 54, No. 4
doi: 10.1130/abs/2022NC-375490
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