Palynostratigraphy and vegetation history of the Triassic–Jurassic transition in East Greenland

We present a palynological study of a terrestrial Triassic–Jurassic (Tr–J; c. 200 Ma) boundary section at Astartekløft, East Greenland. We have generated a new palynostratigraphic scheme and vegetation history for this locality, and have integrated these with existing carbon isotope records. Samples for palynological analysis were collected from precisely the same stratigraphic horizons as plant macrofossils and samples used for geochemical analyses. Our results highlight four local sporomorph assemblage zones that are compositionally distinct from each other at Astartekløft. The extremely low abundance of Classopollis pollen in all samples, and the pronounced decline of Ricciisporites tuberculatus during the Late Rhaetian are notable features of the sporomorph record of Tr–J vegetation at Astartekløft. Correlation of Astartekløft and a marine Tr–J boundary section at St Audrie’s Bay, UK, provides no support for the idea that extinction and diversity loss in terrestrial ecosystems preceded biotic change in marine ecosystems at the Tr–J. Instead, the available data support suggestions that the onset of the Tr–J biotic crisis was synchronous in terrestrial and marine environments. Peak extinction among plants at Astartekløft occurred relatively late in the sequence of events across the Tr–J, and may represent a response to long-term cumulative effects of volcanism at this time.