The Miocene Purple Mountain Flora of Western Nevada (University of California Publications in Geological Sciences)

Book Description

In this study, nine florules from the Chloropagus Formation near Fernley, Nevada, are dated at 14.7-13.4 million years. The author finds that dominant mixed conifer forest and sclerophyll woodland species of the Sierra Nevada-Klamath region replaced exotic deciduous hardwoods in the two lowest sites. He concludes that this change reflects the loss of adequate summer rain as upwelling from a colder ocean resulted from spreading East Antarctic ice.