Reinvestigating the late Devonian plant bearing localities of Co. Kerry and Co. Wexford, Ireland.
Résumé
Our understanding of vegetation changes around the Devonian–Carboniferous boundary remains limited by the scarcity of plant-yielding deposits close in age to the boundary. In this context, we have started to reinvestigate Devonian–Carboniferous localities of Ireland, with an initial focus on those from which Matten and collaborators described late Devonian plants in the 1980s. Several outcrops around Kerry Head (County Kerry) have yielded plant adpressions but the most remarkable locality remains Ballyheigue Beach. The horizon initially studied by Matten contains anatomically-preserved seed plants cupules, petioles, stems and rhizomes. Vegetative organs are often in connection, providing information on the habit of the plants. The base of larger woody axes (c. 10 cm in diameter) was also observed in 2019. Underlying horizons have yielded a different assemblage, including adpressions of Archaeopteris foliage and casts of large lycopsid stems. At Hook Head (County Wexford), the historical locality of Sandeel Beach has yielded spores, adpressions and anatomically-preserved plants. The latter correspond to stems of the lycopsid Wexfordia at different stages of development and to at least one other woody plant. Prospections around the Hook Head peninsula have revealed other plant-bearing horizons that will be investigated in future field-trips