The Upper Triassic Raibl Cataclysm and Its Impact on the Plant World

About this book

The Raibl-Formation of the Eastern Alps offers one of the most interesting palaeobotanical possibilities to resolve the enigma of immense catastrophes. We encounter an almost paradisiacal tropical coexistence of cycads, horsetails, ferns and conifers from the beginning of the Triassic. Till the Late Triassic Carnian geological stage. Especially in the Lienz Dolomites for many kilometres rich plant lenses crop out, but with only a reduced, desertic till stressed vegetation. No ferns were recorded in these Raibl sediments, no cycads, seed ferns, rarely horsetails occur. But a plethora of different lycopods form vast plant carpets. After this “Raibl-Cataclysm” the vegetation recovered in a short time leading to a normally tropical wet climate on the Triassic-Jurassic border. And strangely now the dinosaurs experienced its full bloom and dominated the Earth for about 150 million years and together with them also the birds and later the flowering plants. This publication deals with the strange plant assemblage during the Raibl Cataclysm and attempts to provide explanations regarding what happened at this time.

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