FossilFossil WoodWood ofof Thailand:Thailand: TakeTake aa looklook atat petrifiedpetrified woodwood…… Which trees were living in the past?
P. Jintasakul Nareerat Boonchai P. J. Grote Northeastern Institute and Environmental Biology Museum of Petrified wood Suranaree University & Mineral Resources of Technology - Petrified wood records & discovery in Thailand
- Review of previous studies and researches
2 In 1921, petrified wood wasTheSince firstfound 1957, record and an presented appears toinabundance ContributionsKingContributions Rama of VIpetrified .toto TheThe thethe memorialGeologywoodGeologymemorial has andand monumentmonumentbeen MorphologyMorphology waswas setofdiscoveredofset SiamSiam upup at(the the from Bulletin Mun diggingRiver of railwayGeology,out gravel crossing 1913) for highway in Tha Chang,byand Bertil road Nakhon Högbom.construction in King Rama VI (1910-1925) Ratchasimathe Northeast.(Khorat).
3 4 5 6 1.Chiangmai 2.Lampang 3.Tak
4. Lop buri 5.Nakhon Ratchasima 6. Khon Kaen 7.Chaiyaphum 8.Buriram 9.Surin 10. Kalasin 11. Mahasarakham 12. Srisaket 13.Ubon Ratchathani 14. Udornthani 15. Yasothorn
16. Krabi Carboniferous (320 Millions year ago) Coal mine, Loei Province
CordaitesCordaites LepidodendronLepidodendron Permian (280 – 250 Millions year ago) Petchabun Province
DadoxylonDadoxylon (Vozenin-Serra,1990) cf.cf. GingkophytoxylonGingkophytoxylon (Berthelin, 2006) 8 Late Jurassic Nakhon Ratchasima Province (140 – 120 Ma)
Protocedroxylon cf. araucarioides Gothan
(Zhang et al.,2004) 9 Early Cretaceous Nakhon Ratchasima Province (140 – 120 Ma)
Araucarioxylon sp. (Zhang et al., 2004)
i.e., Araucarioxylon japonicum 10 Araucarioxylon (Paladej, 2000) 11 JurassicJurassic amber,amber, probablyprobably fromfrom AgathoxylonAgathoxylon trees,trees, waswas discovereddiscovered inin SouthernSouthern ThailandThailand..
In the South, the tree grew in dense forest surrounding a coastal lake dominated by the resin-producing Agathoxylon trees. (Philippes et al., 2005)
12 Agathis, tropical conifer, are usually huge trees of lowland rain forests distributed in Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand. (Luscombe, 2002)
13 Family Agathoxylon = 1 sp. Araucariaceae Araucarioxylon = 5 sp.
Conifer Brachyoxylon = 3 sp.
Family Pinaceae Protocedroxylon = 1 sp. or Protopinaceae (Wang et al.,2004 and Philippe, 2004) 14 • According Discussionto the anatomical features, Araucarioxylon is referred to the genus Agathoxylon; Araucarioxylon is an invalid generic name (Philippe, 2004).
• Further studies are required for a better understanding of the systematics of fossil wood in Thailand.
15 (age 16 – 0.8 Ma)
16 families 34 genera ~ 64 species
- Dicots: 15 families 33 genera - Monocots: family Palmae Palmoxylon sp.
16 • Leguminosae : Pahudioxylon, Afzelioxylon, Milletioxylon, Cynometroxylon, Koompassioxylon, Peltophoroxylon • Combretaceae: • Dipterocarpaceae: Dryoxylon, Dipterocarpoxylon, Terminalioxylon, Shoreoxylon Anogeissoxylon
Lecythidaceae Sonneratiaceae Euphorbiaceae Datiscaceae Lythraceae Apocynaceae Anacardiaceae Annonaceae Menispermaceae Ebenaceae Flacourtiaceae Thymelaeaceae Burseraceae
• One family of Monocot: Palmae 17 18 Family Leguminosae
PahudioxylonPahudioxylon sahnii sahnii(Zhang(Prakash,1979) et al.,2004)
Afzelia xylocarpa
Royal Forest Department19 Family Leguminosae (วงศถั่ว) Millettioxylon sp. Millettia sp. (สาธร)
Prakash, 1979Zhang etRoyal al., 2004 Forest Department20 Family Dipterocarpaceae (วงศยาง)
Shoreoxylon sp.
(Zhang et al., 2004) 21 Family Lythraceae (วงศเสลา )
Lagerstroemioxylon parenchymatosum (Zhang et al., 2004) 22 FamilyFamily ApocynaceaeApocynaceae
Wrightia arborea (Dennst.) Mabb. (Benyasuta, 2003) 23 Family Palmae (วงศปาล ม)
Palmoxylon (Wang et al., 2006) 24 • Some taxa show a resemblance to the modern taxaDiscussion existing in dry evergreen to mixed deciduous forests. (Benyasuta, 2003)
25 The petrified tree assemblages• indicated that during the late Cenozoic (at the times of deposition) the climate in northeastern Thailand was tropical, similar to the present climate.
26 CurrentCurrent ResearchResearch onon PetrifiedPetrified woodwood inin ThailandThailand
TheThe StudyStudy ofof thethe BiodiversityBiodiversity andand ComparativeComparative AnatomyAnatomy ofof PetrifiedPetrified WoodWood inin MPMRMPMR,, andand iitsts UUsese inin thethe InvestigationInvestigation ofof thethe PaleoenvironmentPaleoenvironment 27 Nakhon Ratchasima Khorat
28 29 Grid 50x50 m. Study area ~ 33,600 sq.m. A B C D E F G H
30 31 32 33 Laboratory work
• cut the specimen • polish one side of specimen • fix specimen on the slide • polish another side • check and cover the glass
34 ComparativeComparative woodwood anatomyanatomy
9 IAWA 9 Inside wood 9 Wood Herbarium 9 Palaeontographica 9 Other references on fossil woods modern wood petrified wood
100 slides from 25 specimens are made for study35 MicroscopicMicroscopic FeaturesFeatures
• Simple perforation plate • Growth ring boundary indistinct or absent • Wood diffuse porous (few semi ring porous) • Solitary vessel about 50% and some are radial multiple of 2-3, few are 4 • Alternate intervessel pits • Deposits appear to fill some vessel lumina
36 37 Upper: closely resembling wood in the Family Meliaceae ?
Lower: closely resemblling of Afzelia xylocarpa 38 39 40 Petrified Forest Park, Tak province41 In 2006 = 72.22 m InWorld 2003, longestfound 20 ?!! m
42 43 44 AcknowledgementsSpecial Thanks
UniversityProf. David Mobility Ferguson, of DepartmentAsia and the of Pacific Paleontology (UMAP) Northeastern ResearchUniversity Center of Vienna for Petrified Wood and Mineral Resources, Thailand Dept. of Geology, Chiangmai University Suranaree University of Technology, Thailand Wood Herbarium, Royal Forest Department Dr.Yondong Wang Nanjing Institute of Geology & Palaeontology Assoc.Assoc. Prof.Prof. Dr.Dr. NathsudaNathsuda PumijumnongPumijumnong Prof. Zhang Wu &MahidolMahidol Prof. Zheng UniversityUniversity Shaolin Shenyang Institute of Geology & Mineral Resources …..all ADA sponsors and staffs and… Prof. Wang Yufei & students Institute of Botany, Beijing45 46