DESCOBERTA DE MICROFLORA EM SEDIMENTOS DO GRUPO BAURU, CRETÁCEO DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO

Abstract

The presence of fossil animals (invertebrates and vertebrates) in sediments of the Bauru Group is quite common. Despite this fact, lhe pronounced endemism of the faunas has not permitted, till now, the precise dating of the fossil-bearing levels. On the other hand, the occurrence of plants is much scarcer. In this context, the discovery of a very wel1preserved microflora, at the Fazenda Nossa Senhora do Carmo, São Carlos Municipality, São Paulo States, deserves attention. This assemblage represents, in fact, the first record of palynomorphs in the Cretaceous of the Paraná Basin. Study of the very diversified material, including several stratigraphical1y important species, has allowed the attribution of a Coniacian age for the fossiliferous strata. It has also been possible to drawn important stratigraphic, paleoecological, paleoclimatological and tectonic conclusions regarding the studied outcrop.