Sprecher
Beschreibung
The Bhareli Formation of the West Kameng District, Arunachal Pradesh, India, offers important insights into the early Permian terrestrial ecosystems through the integration of palaeobotanical, charcoal and biomarker evidence. The formation yields plant mega-and microfossil assemblages, alongside bio-geochemical signatures of palaeo-wildfire activity. The megafloral record reflects a typical Glossopteris-dominated Gondwanan vegetation. Palynological analysis allows for a correlation with the Scheuringipollenites barakarensis palynozone of the Damodar Basin, thereby supporting an Artinskian (early Permian) age for the unit. The age of the studied section is also inferred from correlations with known coeval assemblages reported from other Gondwana basins of India. Significantly, the detection of pyrogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in samples collected near the Main Boundary Thrust (MBT), where preservation of putative macro-charcoal is extremely poor due to tectonic disturbance, provides evidence for the occurrence of paleo-wildfires. Pyrogenic PAHs such as Pyrene, Fluoranthene, and Benzo(a)anthracene are indicative of biomass combustion, while high molecular weight compounds like Coronene suggest episodes of intense fire. The integration of palaeobotanical data with molecular fire proxies offers a robust multi-proxy framework to reconstruct the palaeovegetation and wildfire regimes of the studied area. The dominance of gymnospermous pollen types, particularly those affiliated with Glossopteridales, as well as the dominance of the genus Glossopteris in the megafossil assemblage, indicates the prevalence of woody, flammable vegetation that likely sustained repeated wildfire activity.