A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO RECONSTRUCT THE LATE OLIGOCENE VEGETATION IN CENTRAL-EUROPE

An interdisciplinary approach has been taken in the evaluation of the paleobotanical record of Late Oligocene vegetation in the Thierbach me mber of the Weisselster basin, Germany. Sedimentological, paleopedolog ical, paleobotanical (megafloral and carpological), palynological and palynofacies, and biogeochemical investigations have been coordinated on an abandoned channel-fill sequence in order to develop a comprehens ive data base from which to reconstruct this setting, The benefits of using multidisciplinary data sets are outlined including how these dat a sets may not only be complementary or contradictory, but also how in dependent data sets amplify and validate interpretations. (C) 1998 Els evier Science B.V. All rights reserved.