Peats from the Okefenokee Swamp?marsh complex

Abstract

Surface samples from seven peat‐forming environments in the Okefenokee Swamp—Nymphaea, Panicum, Carex, and Woodwardia marshes; Nyssa and Taxodium swamps; and Cyrilla “tree islands”—revealed distinctive pollen and spore assemblages. Within the forested areas, surface samples were characterized by specific assemblages that would make each peat type easily recognizable in the subsurface. Of the marsh types, Woodwardia and Panicum peats had the most distinctive pollen assemblages; whereas, Nymphaea and Carex samples could be distinguished readily from all of the other types but exhibited only minor differences from one another. All paleoecological interpretations would be strengthened by the addition of analyses of plant fragments in microtome sections.