Tertiary and Quaternary fossil wood from Kerguelen (southern Indian Ocean)

Abstract

Kerguelen is now treeless but forest grew there during the Tertiary. Tertiary fossil wood is common there and was recorded and described by 19th Century workers. Recently discovered wood from a Pleistocene moraine shows that trees persisted into the Quaternary. A xylological study helps clarify the history and palaeoecology of the woody vegetation on Kerguelen.