DISTRIBUTION AND PALEOECOLOGY OF THE MESOZOIC WOOD GENUS XENOXYLON - PALEOCLIMATOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR THE JURASSIC OF WESTERN-EUROPE

Xenoxylon is a morphogenus used for a Mesozoic type of wood. Its distr ibution is circumpolar, limited to the Northern Hemisphere and belt-li ke. The lower the palaeotemperature, as estimated from geological infe rences, the lower is its mean palaeolatitude. The wood is frequently a ssociated with floristic or sedimentological indications of a cool and /or wet climate. Both synecology and autoecology suggest that Xenoxylo n favoured cool/wet climates. The sedimentological analysis of its occ urrence sheds new light on the relationship between palaeoclimatology and sedimentation.