A Miocene (10-12 Ma) Evergreen Laurel-Oak Forest from Carmel Valley, CaliforniaThis is a study of the Miocene Carmel flora of California, an evergreen laurel–oak forest that grew in a mild temperate (mean annual temperature of 15 degrees C), frost-free climate, with annual precipitation of about 760 mm (30 in.). Collectively, the Carmel and other Miocene floras like the San Pablo and Temblor (broad-leafed deciduous trees, with few evergreen species), the Puente (evergreen oak forest with chaparral species), the Mint Canyon, Ricardo, and Tehachapi (numerous arid subtropical scrub associated with oak woodland and chaparral species) suggest they foreshadowed a similar distribution of the different California vegetation zones today. |
Contents
| 2 | |
COMPOSITION OF THE FLORA | 6 |
PHYSICAL CONDITIONS SUGGESTED BY THE FLORA | 8 |
Paleoclimate | 10 |
Temperature | 11 |
REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF MIOCENE VEGETATION | 13 |
Nevada and Oregon | 16 |
SUMMARY | 18 |
SYSTEMATIC DESCRIPTIONS | 20 |
Literature Cited | 29 |
Plates | |
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Common terms and phrases
300 km farther Amer apex arid subtropical scrub Baja California Berry broad-leafed evergreens Bull Calif Canyon flora Carmel flora Carmel Valley Carnegie Inst Carya Ceanothus central California Cercocarpus Chaney and Sanborn chaparral chiefly chrysolepis climate closed-cone pine forest cm broad cm long coast coastal southern California conifer Creek deciduous deciduous hardwoods dominated drier Eocene flora of southern fornia fossil flora genera Geology holotype Hypotype km farther south LaMotte Lauraceae Madrean megafossil Mint Canyon Miocene Miocene floras Miocene vegetation Monterey Formation Nectandra northern Baja California oak woodland occurs Ocotea oleoides Palynology Paratype Persea petiole pine-oak Pinus radiata Platanus Plate pollen precipitation present-day Publ Puente flora Quercus Quercus pasadorii Axelrod Quercus pollardiana Knowlton red beds region rhyolite Ricardo Sabal San Andreas fault San Pablo sclerophyll Selva of Lauraceae shrubs Sierra Madre siliceous shales similar species Surv taxa Temblor flora temperate tertiaries thick U.S. Geol UCMP Univ Wash