PLANT MEGAFOSSIL AND MICROFOSSIL ASSEMBLAGES FROM THE BRUNSSUMIAN OF HAMBACH NEAR DUREN, BRD

A series of 19 carpological samples, 9 of them from a 50 cm thick sect ion, were collected from Late Brunssumian deposits in the browncoal op en-cast mine 'Hambach'. They were analyzed together with two leaf asse mblages collected from the same horizon. They reveal a change from wet land forest to reed vegetation together with an increasing influence o f allochthonous elements. Some plant species new to the region were fo und: Carer appropinquata, Euphorbia palustris, Salix sp. (seeds), Urti ca dubia. The difference between the composition of leaf and carpologi cal assemblage from the same deposits is elucidated. The incorporation of palynological data helps to clarify the nature of the vegetation. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.