Mangrove-bearing limestone from the Eocene Dammam Formation, Arabian Gulf: Implications for the mangrove dispersal controversy

Abstract

Fossil mangrove remains are found within the shallow carbonate strata of the Middle Eocene Dammam Formation of the Arabian Gulf. This formation is of wide distribution across most eastern parts of the Arabian Platform and represents the terminal stages of the Tethys Sea. The stand consists of well-preserved mangrove plant molds with the associated fossils of large foraminifera, gastropods, and barnacles. It forms part of carbonate ridges that circumscribe a present-day mangrove stand in Al-Khor estuary, NW Qatar. The two systems are comparable in many aspects in terms of sediment characterization and their faunal and flora contents. This finding supports the notion that mangrove ecosystems were common in the region at least since the Early Eocene and in alliance with the vicariance hypothesis, which states that earliest mangrove was restricted to the Tethys Sea. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.