Charcoalified wood remains from the Madygen Fossil-Lagersta¨tte (SW Kyrgyzstan): evidence of wildfire in the Triassic (Ladinian-Carnian) mid-northern latitudes
Journal
REVIEW OF PALAEOBOTANY AND PALYNOLOGY
Date Issued
2026-08
Author(s)
Spiekermann, Rafael
Moisan, Philippe
Voigt, Sebastian
Bomfleur, Benjamin
Uhl, Dieter
Abstract
Regarded as one of the most important early Mesozoic Fossil-Lagersta & uml;"tte, the Madygen Formation offers a unique window into a Ladinian-Carnian ecosystem established in the mid-northern latitudes of Pangaea. Despite the significance of this unit, its palaeobiota and the palaeoenvironmental conditions prevailing during its deposition remain incompletely understood. In this study, we present a detailed description of charcoalified gymnosperm wood remains from this formation. These charcoals, recovered from lacustrine strata, provide evidence for the occurrence of wildfire near the Ladinian-Carnian transition in the Madygen area. They also provide the first glimpse into the wood anatomical diversity preserved in the Madygen Formation, whose palaeoflora was previously known essentially from fossils preserved as impressions. This finding extends the current wildfire record for the studied interval and, together with the updated database of palaeo-wildfire proxies presented herein, suggests that such a phenomenon eventually occurred throughout the entire Ladinian and Carnian time span."


