New petrifie wood descriptions from west-central Anatolia: contribution to the composition of the Neogene forest of Turkey

Abstract

New petrif ed wood descriptions improve our knowledge on the forest structures of Neogene of Turkey. With this study, a total of six petrifie wood pieces were studied from Alacam Village of Dursunbey (Balikesir), Tuncbilek-Yenikoy and Tuncbilek-Cukurkoy fossil site (Taysanli-Kutahya). Four types of woods were described from the samples as Glyptostroboxylon CONWENTZ, Sequoioxylon TORREY, Pinuxylon GOTHAN and Quercoxylon KRAUSEL. The geological setting is from the early Miocene in Dursunbey, the middle to upper Miocene in Yenikoy and Pliocene in cukurkoy. Results showed that Sequoioxylon and evergreen oaks lived in early Miocene and in Pliocene in this region, and that during middle Miocene Glyptostroboxylon was the main element of the swamp forests in the region.