Phytolith data in peat profile over the past 1300 years in the Xishan Mountains, Jiangxi Province, China

Abstract

Phytoliths are microscopic siliceous particles formed in the plants and preserved in the sediments after the plant death and decay. Phytolith formation is controlled by the plant genes and growing environments. As such, phytolith assemblages have been widely used in ancient plant composition analysis, paleoclimate reconstruction, and paleoenvironment reconstruction. For the effective utilization, phytolith description, nomenclature and classification are the most important. This article presents detailed original phytolith data from a peat profile (28°44′55.33″N, 115°39′59.80″N), which is related to the research article of “Climatic controls on peat swamp formation and evolution since 1300 year BP as recorded by phytoliths in the Xishan Mountains, Jiangxi Province, China” [1]. After extracted from peat, the phytoliths were observed under 400 × light microscope, described and nominated according to ICPN1.0 [2], and classified and counted more than 400 particles for each peat sample. 314 microscopic slides were observed and fifty types of phytolith were classified for the peat profile, including woody phytoliths, shrub phytoliths, herbaceous phytoliths and other unidentified morph types. All these provide basic information for paleo-researches. Keywords: Phytolith morphotypes, Microscopic observation, Description, Classification