The Oman Gharif mixed paleoflora: a useful tool for testing Permian Pangea reconstructions

The discovery of a Middle Permian fossil flora in the continental Gharif Formation (Huqf area, Sultanate of Oman), combined with an ostracod fauna in the overlying marine Khuff Formation, provides new data that further refine paleogeographical reconstructions of the Paleo-Tethys during the Late Paleozoic. The macro- and microfloral assemblages, originating from a single fossiliferous bed of the Gharif Formation, demonstrate that this paleoflora represents a true mixture of Gondwanan, Cathaysian and Euramerican elements. These data furthermore show that the Huqf area occupied a paleogeographical location favorable for floral exchange at this time. The composition of this flora and its dating are of significance with regard to the relative position of the Arabian Peninsula during the Permian. The presence of forms belonging to the tropical rain forest of the Permian Cathaysian paleokingdom emphasizes the close relationship of the southwestern Paleo-Tethys realm and South China, two regions that were then characterized by the same climatic conditions. For this period, our new data indicate for this period a lower latitude for the Arabian plate and a much more reduced oceanic space between the Cathaysian blocks and the Arabian Peninsula. Therefore, the new data are more in accordance with the recently actualized Pangea B model, than with other, previously proposed Permian Pangea models.