Evidence for palaeo-wildfire in the Late Permian palaeotropics - charcoalified wood from the Um Irna Formation of Jordan

Charcoalified wood from the lower part of the Late Permian Um Irna Formation of Jordan is described. This charcoal represents the first evidence of palaeo-wildfire during the Late Permian in northern Gondwana. The source locality at the northeastern rim of the Dead Sea has yielded excellently preserved gymnosperm charcoal. Taxonomically most remains are identified as Dadoxylon-type gymnosperm wood. However, one woody specimen exhibits features that suggest a potential taxonomic relationship to the Corystospermales, a group otherwise represented at this locality by compressed fronds assigned to the genus Dicroidium. The occurrence of charcoal in the Um Irna Formation is in accordance with sedimentological data, as well as palaeoclimatic interpretations of this formation that suggest a tropical climate with alternating wet and dry seasons, favourable for the occurrence of wildfires. The charcoalified wood from the Late Permian of Jordan testifies for the first time to the occurrence of palaeo-wildfire in the low latitudes of northern Gondwana during; this period. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.