Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
and from cores drilled to monitor subsurface changes in this strategically
important and tectonically active region (fi g. 7.4). They were all deposited
near the low latitude of 9°N when the landscape consisted of peninsulas
and islands, so it is expected that climatic changes and the vegetation re-
sponses would be subtle. The late Eocene Gatuncillo, along with the early
to middle Miocene Culebra, Cucaracha, and La Boca fl oras (the more re-
cent dating follows Retallack and Kirby 2007), reveal mangrove along the
coasts, lowland neotropical rain forest, the low and wet phases of a lower
to upper montane broad-leaved forest on the slopes, the likely presence of
beach/strand/dune, freshwater herbaceous bog/marsh/swamp, and aquatic
ecosystems, all growing over a landscape without appreciable highlands.
Figure 7.4
Drilling appara-
tus and cores through the
Tertiary formations of the
canal region of Panama.
